Chess and music -  is there a connection?

Hello and welcome to my experiment. I can almost promise an intresting
read below. (Yes it is long, though)

Probably like most of you, I listen to music while I play chess, at least
online. I have wondered if the music I listened to has ever assisted me
in playing better, so I set out in an attempt to find out. The results
were unexpected, and may change the way many of you play chess.

My hypothesis: Listening to music while playing chess will affect the
outcome in a small but general way. Furthermore, certain types of music
will attribute either a negative or positive effect.

To set up this experiment, I needed to find a fairly consistant player
who was nearly equal in skill to myself. The obvious answer to this was a
computer. In the past, I have used preset personalities on Chessmaster GM
edition to attempt this very idea. I used a customized version of
chessmaster, with a rating of around 2400. (This personality was not new
to me, I have indeed won half the time and lost the other half with him
previously.) I did not use chessmaster himself, as he is quite difficult
and I usually only beat him around one out of every five times. Also,
each game had a 2 hour clock for each player.

Now to select the music. I played an equal number of games while
listening to each of these music genres, and as a control I played an
equal number of games in silence. I also played 20 games listening to a
mixture of many genres, playing only songs that I like. All others were
arbitrary.

Rock/pop - 20 games
Metal - 20 games
Rap/hip hop - 20 games
Classical - 20 games
New age (rain, thunder, ocean) - 20 games
Country - 20 games
Mixture - 20 games
Silence - 20 games
TOTAL - 160 games

Listening to the music itself also needed to be controlled. Of course,
the moment I started playing, I turned on my ipod, and I never stopped
playing a game before it was finished. (Doing so would have allowed me to
think about the game elsewhere, away from any musical interference.) I
decided on an arbitrary volume, not too loud, but loud enough so I could
properly hear it, otherwise around 5/8 of the bar on my ipod. I chose
music that was fairly consistant in itself, none that had long silences
inside of it or too many weird instruments playing. (Gotta have more
cowbell! Lol.)

And now...the results - 81-57-22. In retrospect, I think I was marginally
better than the computer from the start, and it didnt help my experiment
that I started to see the computer's weaknesses more clearly toward the
end. Still, that affect might have been negligible.

I should also point out that no matter how hard I tried, I was still
colored by my own prefrences and prejudices. For example, I dont like
rap, and I didn't do well in that area. All I can give you is my word
that I did my best throughout the entire experiment, the facts, and my
own thoughts.

As I said, my choice in music was also arbitrary. I chose a few songs
from many popular artists, which I will list the majority for each. In no
way did I chose only music that I like. (except for the mixture.)

Also note that i did not draw the majority of the time, but most matches were constituted as wins or losses. If you have any experience in long term playing against a handicapped computer you will know why. The computer makes blunders because it has to, whether I see them or not will usually affect whether I will win or lose, if I don't see them or fail to capitalize on them, I usually lose, because the engine is still operating at maximum capacity. As another user aptly put, it plays like a "drunken grandmaster" Therefore, draws are a minority.

Silence - 12-6-2
Playing 20 games against the computer in silence at the start, I felt we
were near equals. I had planned to abandon the particular personality if
I won too many or too few, but decided it was okay.

Rock/pop - 8-7-5
This was my most equal section. I drew 5 games, 3 of them in the first 5
games. In my lineup I had some aerosmith, green day, no doubt, and
britney spears, to name the majority. (NO I do not like her, okay?! It
was for the sake of science!) Spears was annoying, but I tried not to let
her get inside my head. I did worse than my games in silence, but I doubt
that was due entirely to Spears. I noticed that I did tended to think
longer in this section, probably because a part of me was concentrating
on the music.

Metal - 7-10-3
I like metal, but I don't think it helps much during a chess match. It
was loud and distracting, and I remember regretting my choice of volume
control.(It wasnt hurting my ears, it merely felt like a lot of
background noise, like a cafeteria.) Hence, I tried to finish games more
quickly so I wouldn't have to listen as long. Lineup: Static X,
Metallica, Nine inch nails. (Remember, I only chose consistant songs, so
I only chose nine inch nails songs that were actually metal. This applies
to all my musical choices.)

Rap/hip hop - 4-13-3
I can safely say that listening to rap definitely affected my chess
games. Listening to someone talking (and rhyming) into your ear nonstop
is probably inadvisable for your chess gaming experience. Nevertheless, I
didnt like rap much from the start, so that factor may have been
involved. Lineup: Kanye West, T.I., Ludacris.

Classical - 14-5-1
Fascinating! I did great while I played listening to classical, but it
wasn't only that - I felt better. More calm, I suppose. I had heard that
letting babies listen to Mozart will make them more intelligent when they
grow up, and now I think that may have some merit...It wasn't
distracting, it was peaceful, and sometimes I forgot that I was listening
to it. Perhaps it was affecting my brain in an unconscious way.
Nonetheless, my score stands at 14 wins, which is quite remarkable.
Lineup: Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin.

New age - 11-7-2
The music I listened here is hard to describe. Some of it was just
listening to ocean sounds. The others were simply strange tunes of
celestial sounds and rhythms. And I didn't do too bad, but listening to
hours of thunder and lightning got boring quite fast, and eventually
turned annoying. Lineup: I'm not sure, but most of this music is just
made by certain companies. (And I don't know who they are)

Country - 9-8-3
I also don't like country too much, but I didn't do as bad as I did in
rap. Most country singers try to tell some sort of long dramatic story in
their lyrics, which can be distracting. The instruments also got on my
nerves too. I believe I was almost as annoyed and distracted as I was
during the rap section, but I was getting somewhat better against the
computer at this point, which might have helped. (who can know) Lineup:
Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith.

Mixture - 16-1-3
Two possible factors assisted in my steamrolling of the computer here: I
only played music which I loved, and, well, I don't think me and the
computer were equals anymore at this point. I mean, he only beat me once.
Once! The music came from many genres, so a lineup is useless here.

Conclusions
What can be learned from this? Does music help at all? I'm still not sure. Other variables were not taken into consideration, such as my growth in skill against the computer, or how well this would work against a human. I think however, listening to music that you love, or classical will affect your playing ability, even in the smallest way. The search continues...

And finally, has music affected any games you have played in a notable way?

Dawley
"Hard work and dedication always look like luck to saps."

I listen to music all the time when I play chess, even in real life. Personally, to me, it helps to concentrate and think out my moves further than usual because it's kind of "exersicing" your brain. I found your article interesting. Thanks for writing it!

Not really.

wow pretty interesting! is it allowed to listen to music during a real tournament?

In my opinion, yes definitely there is. And this idea is not totally new. check my previous post:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/does-the-music-youre-listening-to-affect-your-game

Haven't tested it a extensively as you did, though...

I don't think you can listen to music in real tournaments, as silence is pretty fair.

Music and its connection to our brain chemistry is not understood very well, in some cases it almost looks like magic. While strong types of music have a direct effect on the game at hand, others might be subconscious, and we may never know about them.

Very Interesting. It reminds my of studies dones in from 1960 through the 1980s regarding music and the abilty to perform mathematical calculations. There is a great correlation between music and one's ability to perform certain tasks. You should examine the relationship between chess and the musicians themselves. Excellent work, thanks for posting it (we need more scientific studies here)!

The problem with music; is that it doesn't offer deep concentration... Generally I don't have any real problem with listening to music; it offers some concentration; but when I really concentrate music gets in the way.

Certainly; I've read about similar things; some are more productive when listening techno,... When I play games I find that rock/metal works specifically well.

Those who listen to classical music have a tendency to experience Alpha waves; barock music, and Larghetto music should prove to be the most appealing in that aspect.. Alpha waves improves memory function and ones ability to concentrate

I've mainly thought that the conscious mind becomes more preoccupied by the music; letting memory patterns through eaiser; For an example; when I play tetris I find that the more distant; and the more I think of something else... the better I play.

The experience of flow that you sometimes experienced while listening to classical music; is usual for those who meditate regularly; focus and concentrating is enhanced; creative thoughts enabled...

Alpha waves may be experienced by visualization techniques too.... most emotions are simple to evocate... Various techniques can be used in order to experience different moods... you can become happy, motivated or calm by simple visualization and affirmation. Many tend to forget that emotions are purely chemical, and that one can experience the release of serotonin/dopamin by recalling previous moments of happiness/motivation. If one wants to he can become calm in the most stressful situations.

Very interesting article.  I almost always listen to classical music when I play chess.  I have found it helps me concentrate. 

I have one question, what was the style(s) of music used for your mixture category?

Thanks for the input guys, and that was very interesting about the alpha waves. I did not know that. So then it is possibly true that music, classical in particular, will subconsciously and positively affect your chess playing? This would raise further questions, such as: how can we maximize our results? What are the absolute best songs? (or sonatas) Does it affect everyone in this way? And then possibly the biggest question, if this can affect our chess abilities, what else can?

Just another reason we are better than a machine.

And about the mixture category...I have about 3 days worth of music on my ipod, and i picked quite a bit of it out to listen to here. There were around a dozen genres in total, (including some classical) so it would take a long time to give any accurate list. Mostly, this section was intended to see whether music that I liked in particular helped, and ill daresay it did. If you love a bunch of rap/rock songs, then that's what you should probably listen to. (try classical first though, lol)

I've always been curious about the positive or negative influence of music while playing chess, so thanks for sharing these results. It doesn't really surprise me at all that playing with classical music on gave you the best results. 

Two things crossed my mind on your self-experiment:

1. How might these results have been different under shorter time controls? (particularly with rapid & blitz)

2. How might your results have been different playing against other humans? I only raise this concern because I know that for myself, I find it difficult to be at my competitive best against a computer, as I tend to feel rather indifferent about the game's result.

I listen to metal while I play, symphonic metal styles seem to improve my chess. I also agree with Cratercat, I can't seem to seriously try against a computer.

also you have to look at the idea that you played the same personality 160 times. therefore you have to look at the factor that you may have improved against that personality, and gotten better yourself.my oppinion you need a human opponent of equal skill to your own to play against(him with no music and you with)to get a real accurate sollution.

Ok about the computer, as some of you seem critical on it: I had to find a consistant player to fight, to rule out any possiblity that there might have been other variables involved. It was not only the best decision, it was the only one. The computer will never get better or worse, while any human player could range from playing very poorly to their very best, it was important to eliminate that variable. If I had actually managed to find a human who was willing to play 160 games with me at my choosing, with the requirments I set, the music factor would have been hidden throughout the other factors.

Yes it was difficult to try my best every time I faced the computer, but I did manage to restrain myself from any apathetic detriment.

Ummmmmmm.........

Any guesses on my music choice?

I tend to think linearly while playing chess so jazz would probably mess me up.  Three chord rock?  I know I'm showing my age but some riffs or overlays over a repetitive rhythmic beat would probably be best for me. 

Misty Mountain Hop?

Great experiment!!  Thanks for posting!!  As a 1st time experiment, I think your choice of a computer was the right decision.  You even made mention of the fact that YOU got better as the games went along, but that also is inevitable.  I imagaine that ANYONE will be better after 160 games against the same opponent.

Personally, as a Rock & Roll musician (actually, I'm not a musician, I'm jut a drummer ), I take issue with the category "Rock/Pop."  Britney Spears does not belong in any category with Aerosmith and Green Day.  That would be like putting Michael Jackson in the same catagory as Eddie Van Halen, or Rob Zombie in the same category as Lionel Richie, or Nelly in the same category as Tim McGraw. 

You are partially right, it depends on the people, if they feel comfortable and concentrated listening to music while playing chess. Then, you are right with the types of music, it happens the same to me (again, personal experience).