Do you like background music while working, or do you prefer a quiet office? When I used to go out to visit clients, I had to adjust to all kinds of background noise, like factory machines, piped-in music and snack-crunching cubicle mates (they’re the worst). In my home office, I like to keep things quiet – just me, the fan, and the ticking clock.
Listening to Music
The only time that I’ve listened to music voluntarily while working was many years ago, when I was writing my pivot table books. After supper, I’d put on my headphones, and listen to music – but not just any kind of music.
Most of the time, my choice was acoustic guitar, with Canadian guitarist, Jesse Cook, as a favourite. Back then, the Pandora music streaming service was available in Canada, so I’d listen to nuevo flamenco stations for hours. No singing, just soothing guitar music.
Other Music for Writing
The other music that I listened to was by singer-songwriter Patty Griffin. I downloaded a couple of her albums, long ago, when I had an eMusic subscription – back then then you could get a couple of albums every month, at a low price.
I’d pick a favourite song, and play it over and over, in an endless loop. Do you ever do that, or is it just me? Anyway, here’s an example of one of Patty Griffin’s songs that I’d listen to.
Walking with Music
These days, the only time I listen to music is while walking, in the morning and at lunch time. Usually I listen to the local radio station, and occasionally I’ll pick a peppy Spotify channel with Latin music, like you’d hear in a Zumba class.
One song that’s been playing on the radio recently is Two Punks in Love by bülow. It’s certainly not peppy, but always catches my ear when it plays.
It sounded familiar, and I realized that it reminds me of an old Weepies song — Take It From Me. Do you hear the similarity, starting around the 0:20 mark in both songs?
Anyway, they’re both nice songs, but I won’t be listening to either one while I work.
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Background Music While Working
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I don’t listen to music often while working. I find it too distracting. But sometimes I’ll put on some blues, just picking a blues station on Amazon Music.
I do listen to music while driving and while cooking. I’ll choose an Amazon station with 90s Alternative, or 80s Rock, or sometimes Classic Rock. Or sometimes I’ll pick a station based on a favorite band, like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Z Z Top, etc.
Oh, I forgot about driving music! We used to make a jump drive with our favourites tunes for long trips, or bring a stack of CDs. We won’t talk about the one car that had an 8-track player.
I used to listen to Vivaldi when I wrote. Now I listen to nothing. For virtually all other kinds of work, I listen to one of a few Pandora stations (depending if I want to stick it to the man or nurture my inner teen angst).
Wow, I never reached Vivaldi-level writing! And I don’t think there was teen angst music back in my day – just a few Dead Man’s Curve type songs.