Do you listen to music while reading? Does this change if you’re reading in or out of your house? Do you have a preference of music for such occasions?
I occasionally do but probably less than 25 percent of the time. Whether I do so out of the house depends on the setting. Thus, on airplanes I almost always listen to music whereas outdoors or someplace else I generally do not.
At home, my wife may have the radio or stereo on and I can generally tune right out of that. If I do intend to listen to music while reading, I tend to listen to jazz. Songs with lyrics have more of a tendency to distract the “word part” of my brain. Jazz seems to slide right into the “music part” of my brain while leaving the “word part” free to do its own thing. I’m guessing I can filter out songs, DJ talk and ads from the radio because it isn’t anything my brain picked to listen to.
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music
Aldous Huxley, Music at Night and Other Essays
I like a background of music, but I have to choose carefully so as not to be distracted. I tried jazz, classical and yet I was distracted. But I think I have found my perfect answer
Yes, certain lyrics distract me, so silence is often golden.
Here’s mine, Tim:
https://thebookresort.blogspot.com/2009/09/musing-mondays_21.html
I like this quote by Aldous Huxley very much! 🙂