Setting the Mood in My Home With Music

My mother used to play classical music for us when we were small children in the evenings. It was something her father would do for his children at night. My grandfather was a poor uneducated farmer in Mexico, who had the common sense to fill his 9 children's hears with beautiful sounds. His wisdom is evidence for me that knowledge doesn't only come from books.

You have probably heard that classical music calms the mind. It's not hard to believe that idea because I myself find that I rest better if I fall asleep listening to classical music. And for my babies, classical music seems to contribute to easier transitions and longer naps. I have also discovered that classical music seems to calm everyone in the home especially during that morning rush or when I feel tense and overwhelmed.

I have also used other genres of music for different times during the day. For instance, if I we are working on Math subjects or Math drills, we will listen to Rock n' Roll and Metal. This idea came from my son's therapist, who suggested to us that listening to this kind of music stimulates cognitive function. So far, yes it does seem to help, but we are very careful that we play positive music and most of the time its Christian Rock.

Another time when I use music to set a mood in our home is when we are cleaning. Dance music seems to really motivate us and makes time go by faster. We house clean to any kind of dance music from Disco to Cumbia.

Creating playlist is great for us because I can limit our cleanup or Math lessons with music that will fill a certain time period. For instance, if I want to clean the house for 1 hour, then I will play our House Cleaning Boogie playlist that contains 1 hour of dance music and it will automatically stop after 60 minutes.

Happy listening and ROCK ON!!

Music Psychology resources:

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/10/05/how_classical_music_can_reduce_crime_benefit_your_mood_and_increase_your_spending.htm

http://cognitive-psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/psychology_of_heavy_metal_music

http://musicouch.com/musicouching/music-and-the-mind/

Music listening websites:

CLAA's Sacred Radio:
http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh182333542409935592

http://www.catholicmusicnetwork.com/

www.grooveshark.com/

www.pandora.com/

http://www.ilike.com/