Classical Music Is So 'relaxing'

Guided meditation involves music with a narrator or speaker that directs your energy flow and focus, or offers positive affirmations. Contemporary research suggests music has significant power to help reduce stress and anxiety, relieve pain, and improve focus among many more benefits. If testing anxiety causes sleepless nights, classical music can help soothe insomnia. A team of researchers at the University of Toronto found that tuning into classical music before bedtime helped people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Works by Brahms, Handel, Mozart, Strauss and Bach were effective sleep aids because they use rhythms and tonal patterns that create a meditative mood and slow brainwaves, the study found. Experts promote playing classical music to help babies’ brain development when they sleep.



Still, I believe that everybody, ignorant or not, mislead or not, we all are curious about new stuff. So if you give people the opportunity to listen to something quite different from what they are used to, they will at least be interested. One of the nice things about classical music is that it is such a large and variety rich body of works, there's something to find in it for everyone's taste. The downside is that many people need a little help navigating this large body of music, simply because of its sheer size.

Active, engaged listening puts us in touch with the visceral qualities of music and human emotion. It should be challenging and thought-provoking, because it has to something to say. It has been found that listening to classical music significantly reduces a person’s blood pressure.

Even the ones who know very little will at the very least be aware of the great variety of different styles within the large body of classical music. They wouldn't make blanket statements that put the entire body of classical music into one box, such as "relaxing". I think we instinctively take offense that classical music is relaxing because it was not written with the intent of being relaxing. Quite on the contrary each musician, artist, composer, philosopher, author, even chef tries to make a piece of art that will PROVOKE and CHALLENGE the audience. One of the most important forces of mental health therapy is human connection. Finding other people who are going through the same things you are is one of the most effective ways to get over any mental health challenge.

I'm sorry someone reacted negatively to my post about insipid Baroque composers that our local classical music station seems to play so frequently. Personally, I prefer music that engages me and doesn't simply invite me to sit back and let it wash over me. There is a guy named George Lipsitz who writes a lot about social issues whom you might find interesting. I could make the arguement that classical music as presented in many of these threads is based largely upon a Eurocentric cultural experience and therefore bound relaxation music by that to a large degree. It is defined by practitioners by what it is not, as much as what it is. In the end, however, the individual must set aside cultural bias and experience it for themselves.

Notably, Debussy’s renowned work has appeared in movies like “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Twilight,” to name a few. Debussy’s most recognizable work consists of soft, melodic tones that illustrate a peaceful setting of serenity and soothing colors. The work embodies the essence of a calm lake with a mountainous landscape. “Clair De Lune” will carry the listener into a calming atmosphere filled with tranquility through the harmony of the work. In 2004, various British railway stations began piping in recordings of Mozart, Bach and Handel, which resulted in a one-third drop in the number of robberies and other crimes. Psychologists speculate that the relaxing melodies had a tranquilizing and disorienting effect on potential criminals.

— brain activity is improved when listening to classical music. This means you can perform tasks quicker with better results. — in studies, students’ sleep patterns were greatly improved when they spent 45 minutes listening to classical music before going to bed. Joe Goetz is Music Director for WFIU 103.7 FM in Bloomington, Indiana, and has eleven years of experience hosting and producing classical music programming for public radio.