

Ask HN: Is Music Bad For Concentration? - shawndumas

As a homeschooling dad I am trying to weigh the pros and cons for allowing the kids to listen to music while working. Any thoughts?
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lukeqsee
I was homeschooled. I listened to tons of music. I have found it probably
decreased my ability to concentrate. However, I have a friend (also
homeschooled) who swore by the "Batman Begins" soundtrack to accomplish his
math studies. So I think it depends purely on the person.

And, on another note, _music_ is the least of your worries as far as
distractions go.

(And on a purely suggestive note, let your kids explore anything and
everything. That is how I am what I am today. I took way too many breaks in
English to go learn about this, that and the other [especially programming and
computers]. I still turned out okay—A's on all my college english papers so
far.)

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Irene
According to several studies in cognitive psychology, introverts and heavy
multitaskers perform less well in the presence of music (especially ‘pop
music’) than extraverts. Music seems to be especially distracting for
introverts involved in reading comprehension activities. Coding tasks are
slightly less affected.

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cicero
I'm an introvert, and you stated my experience exactly. If I need something to
drown out external noise like a TV in the next room, I find that Gregorian
Chant is less distracting because it is not rhythmic, and I can't understand
most of the Latin words.

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JonLim
Depends what I'm doing.

When I'm feeling a bit too tired, I generally like listening to music to wake
me up and get me through what I'm trying to do, usually lets me focus a little
harder.

When I'm energetic and at full focus, I will sing along to the music I'm
listening to, obliterating all my productivity.

Either way, also depends on the person. Have plenty of friends who can't deal
with any audible distractions, and have plenty who can't work without it.

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JCB_K
I think it really depends on both the music and the person. For me personally,
I can only really concentrate with music on, preferably on headphones. This
way I can really close down from stuff happening around me. On the other hand,
if the music is very lyrics-based, I'll usually start focussing on that
instead.

So for me, the amount of lyrics in the music I listen at a given moment is
inversely proportional to the level of concentration I need ;)

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BillGoates
For me personally, I couldn't work without music. It blocks out environment
noise. In a silent area it's like every small sound is amplified tenfold. It
could be I'm different, but I had very productive weeks, while on the other
monitor Farscape was playing for the nth time.

So I would say, let them choose for themselves what works best. Loosing
concentration once in a while because of the music might be a natural stopping
point, and listening to music for a short time gets the brain rested enough
for a next period of concentration.

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eswat
For me, music that I’m listening to for the first time is very distracting
because I want to consciously analyze what I’m listening to—what genre is
this, who sings this, what rating would I give it in iTunes, etc.

Songs I’ve listened to for months or years have the opposite effect and if I’m
working in a noisy environment find it hard to get into flow unless I have
something to drown out the noise, and music I’m used to already fits the bill
without being distracting.

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jeffool
I can only speak personally of course, but...

Is music bad for concentration? Yes. But is music bad for WORKING? God no.

It really depends on what I'm doing. Playing music makes work (and made school
work) far more pleasant (and thus easier) to do. But there are time when I
need to concentrate, and for that I turned down the music. So, the answer? "It
depends."

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tritogeneia
Music with lyrics is distracting; classical instrumental music is usually ok,
and techno (at low volume) actually helps me work.

Also important: music that you change often (e.g. youtube videos) is more
distracting than music you turn on and leave alone (e.g. radio).

