What works best for me is Christian music. It keeps me calm, and allows me to stay calm during trying times when im playing.
Music in Chess
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Aug 16, 2009
0
#3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9FxatnBUX4
^ that works too....but mostly I listen to Metallica...which makes me play more aggressively!!
seek & destroy! \m/
Dave Brubeck jazz actually helps me concentrate. I listen to it often during an hour-long Tactics Trainer marathon.
I normally listen to indie rock, but when I'm playing chess I like to listen to classical and jazz music on Pandora. I find it helps me concentrate in that it helps block out distractions without itself distracting me, like other types of music sometimes do. Sometimes if I'm somewhere noisy I will put on white noise (which I recommend to people who often find themselves distracted by the noise around them, if you haven't tried it already).
dnleary wrote:
I like to listen to Indian-raga type music while studing chess - brings the board alive.
CPawn- what is Christian music?
Without sounding presumptious...its probably not what you are thinking. Try this and take a listen.
air1.com
Bach!
Aug 17, 2009
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#8
Most often total silence or else I listen to easy listening, acoustic guitars, piano solos, just chill relaxing music. Rock is distracting.
Classical music is supossed to boost brain performance
Aug 17, 2009
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#11
RainbowRising wrote:
Black Sabbath.
Oh yes!! I'm just now listening to Black Sabbath - Paranoid! 
chessoholicalien wrote:
Classical music is supossed to boost brain performance
I don't know if that's true, but it is the most enjoyable.
Yeah paranoid not bad. I don't like much classical music
Metallica are the lords of music!!
I also play guitar and it is a great help.
Oct 29, 2009
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#16
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I see a LOT of players listening to headphones at tournaments, and sometimes on the Internet I will put on a tune or two while playing.
The trouble is, I don't see any titled players doing it. I wonder if music while playing is a patzer thing lol.
Don't talk bad about Metallica, they are great!!
RainbowRising wrote:
Metallica are rubbish. Anyone whois good at guitar knows this.
I am exceptional at guitar, and i think Metallica are far from rubbish. And I dont listen to any music when I play. And I dont play chess when I go to a concert.
Oct 30, 2009
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#20
Skwerly wrote:
I see a LOT of players listening to headphones at tournaments, and sometimes on the Internet I will put on a tune or two while playing.
The trouble is, I don't see any titled players doing it. I wonder if music while playing is a patzer thing lol.
I always imagined they were listening to white noise (maybe waves/wind or something of the sort) to block out outside noise in a tournament hall or etc.
I cannot really play chess if some kind of noise is breaking my concentration & music is particularly hard to tune out so I cannot really imagine or understand why someone would want to listen to music while playing.
I have read some research about how classical music helped increase brain performance with relation to spatial visualization & perhaps even calculation (I cannot remember the exact details, as this was several years ago) and tried listening to that while playing. After a while I found that either I successfully tuned the music out and just forgot that I was listening to it until after the game, or was unable to concentrate & ended up listening to the music instead, so had to take the headphones off to be able to play.
I have also read a study about the effects that listening to lyrical music while doing homework had on students. The conclusion was that the students' performance was generally impaired, but that with "practice" (ie listening to music anytime you do mental work) those effects were lessened over time. One can only assume that the brain is eventually able cope more easily with the music.
There is a some controversy about this subject, but I think that ambient music (music without lyrics) is supposed to be less impairing, or maybe even beneficial, depending on the person.
I must apologize about not being able to cite sources as I read about these studies several years ago.
I'm almost sure the music helps in our chess performance. But, what is the type of music that gives us the biggest extra to our performance?
I started to listen rap, a little agressive rap and gives me the sensation of wanting to struggle to the end! Eminem, D12 and Xzibit specially.
I think calm musics even being your favourite songs being played it will not estimulate as much as rap or some disco really fast songs, as long as you like them.
What is your oppinion?