The Music Of Bach

Music of various minimalistic and calm genres has the ability to silence any sleep-preventing thoughts, with the positive distraction of music being safer and as much effective as a sleep medication.

Ambient beats, dreamy landscapes and delicate strains of the piano or the sitar (an ancient Indian guitar) naturally imbues positive mental states, infusing rhythmic color and emotions and creating hypnotic pulses that promote sleep.

Though any slow music can promote sleep (provided it has around 60 to 80 beats per minute) classical music goes further and even impacts the ‘parasympathetic nervous system’ of the body, which is responsible for resting and digesting food.

Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturnes, 21 solo piano pieces that transform the mind into a dream state, are masterpiece compositions that even mimic the oncoming of sleep by ending without any ending, similar to how one never registers the exact moment one falls asleep.

• There is still ambiguity if listening to or playing the music causes the benefits.
• It is not known if stimulating or relaxing music is doing the healing.
• It is not known if the music is the person’s favourite music or of his liking, as opposed to something chosen by the experimenter.
• There are several other factors like a group playing vs individual playing of music, or a large random trial, which needs to be looked at in the future

• In the 1960s, the radical new rocky sound emerged from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones.
• The minor seventh chords were introduced through funk, soul, and disco in the 1970s.
• In the 1980s, there was a blip where the introduction of arena rock meant that music lacked diversity.
• New technology, synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines marked the second major style shift in 1983.
• In 1991, rap and hip-hop went mainstream. This revolution doesn't use a lot of harmonies. Emphasis is on speech sounds and rhythm.

When a task is clearly defined and repetitive in nature, music makes it more enjoyable.

It isn’t the music itself, but rather the improved mood your favorite music brings that will give a boost in productivity.

Moderate noise level can get creative juices flowing, but the line is easily crossed; loud noises made it incredibly difficult to concentrate. 

Bellowing basses and screeching synths will do you more harm than good when engaging in deep work.

Current achievements provide happiness, but the memory of past accomplishments do not appear to produce long-lasting happiness.

The waning of ability in people of high accomplishment is particularly difficult psychologically. Retired athletes struggle profoundly after their sports career ends. They are prone to depression, addiction, or suicide.

"Unhappy is he who depends on success to be happy. For such a person, the end of a successful career is the end of the line. His destiny is to die of bitterness or to search for more success in other careers and to go on living from success to success until he falls dead. In this case, there will not be life after success."

It’s best to listen to music you are familiar with if you need intense focus for a project. 

New music is surprising; since you don’t know what to expect, you are inclined to listen closely to see what comes next.

For activities that don’t require concentration, music with lyrics has some benefits. But with immersive tasks, lyrics are especially destructive to our focus.

Trying to engage in language-related tasks ( e.g. writing ) while listening to lyrics would be akin to holding a conversation while another person talks over you… while also strumming a guitar.

Music is a very powerful tool during quarantine. People in Italy, Spain, and the wider world are using music to bring their communities together.

When you're making music, you submit your mind and body to its regulation. When you're doing the Macarena with your neighbors, you're contributing to the larger goal of the group and inspire global solidarity.

Since the time of ancient Greece, medicine claimed that maintaining a positive mind can help treat physical disease.

• During the Renaissance, patients were encouraged to compose and study art and play music.
• When plague approached England, Henry VIII chose his organ player as one of the five men he quarantined with.

Music asks that we laugh, and sing, and dance, and seems to be a real antidote to fear, just as the Renaissance doctors claimed.

This happens because music stimulates the entire brain and not just segments of it. Using this knowledge can help you in various ways.

• Meditation. Some people use music to help them clear their minds.
• Listening to music while studying or working can help you remember more of the information.
• During exercise. It takes the mind’s focus off of fatigue.
• Focus on sleep. Music calms the mind and causes you to focus on your rest.

Ambient music at 70 decibels will increase specific creative tasks by activating the parts of the brain that think in abstract ways.

The 2010s was the decade African stars got globally recognized, and ‘Afrobeats’ went mainstream, with artists like Davido, Wizkid, Mr Eazi, and Burna Boy.

American pop icons like Kanye West and Beyonce took inspiration from African talents, with many collaborations and fusion albums.

Korean Pop kicked off a global fan frenzy in the 2010s. The 2012 megahit ‘Gangnam Style’ kickstarting the rage.

This pop-culture milestone was followed by a string of slick K-Pop hits with glossy and doll-like stars whose dance moves and catchy music gives stiff competition to the ‘mainstream’ music scene in the west.

Rockers like Chuck Berry and Bill Haley, who idolized the legend Louis Jordan, strangely enough, sounded nothing like him. The new rockers, influenced by the previous generation of music, looked and sounded completely original and breathtaking.

Bill Haley and The Comets were a runaway success in 1955, having an R&B style yet a unique sound of their own.

... were recorded by producer Sam Phillips of Sun Label including Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis among other stalwarts.

The tunes were mostly rebellious, catering to the teen crowd, and the ‘Marginal Americans’, those living in the ghettos or doing lowly jobs. This segment helped rock & roll explode in the mid-Fifties, making it a social and generational disruption of the highest degree.