I have read this thread with interest as for many years, teachers and trainers 
have been encouraging their students to play Baroque music low in the 
background when studying for exams.  Much research s done in the 90s on 
accelerated learning and it was found that the beat of Baroque music was 
similar to that of the of heart beat during light exercise.  When students 
revised or did activities with this in the background they retained more 
information than without.

It apparently, among other things, evens our breathing and thus oxygen intake, 
making us more alert, is often rhythmical meaning that you read or do the 
exercise a little quicker because you pick up the 'flow' and rhythm of the task 
and ... I was surprised by this one, even people who don't like 'classical' 
music quite like a few pieces of Baroque.  In order to maximise its use, it is 
advised to have a variety of pieces to play (I remember the trainer who had 
been told music aided learning and played a Celtic Harp version of my heart 
will go on for EVERY exercise for two days.  By the middle of the second day 
one of the delegates accidentally trod on the CD ... He got a round of drinks 
bought for him that night ... If he hadn't done that by the end of the week we 
would have been homicidal).

I personally like to use Purcell as not many people are familiar with him but 
Mozart and Vivaldi work just as well and Handle to some extent.  I would 
suppose that non classical music would work as well if the beat was similar.  
There were a number of meditative CDs around in the 80s based on traditional 
music such as Clannad and at some point I might do some tests in my training 
sessions to see the results.

Other research has shown that background noise can be disturbing as it is 
unpredictable so something which blocks out the background noise but is 
rhythmic helps ... Think of the child who will sleep with the radio on but 
won't when its quite ... Same principal.

I've always felt that this is why lacemakers work so well when they meet in a 
group.  The rhythmic sound of the bobbins is very often at the same rate as 
your heart and so we work faster and better in a group.  The Aussie, who has 
bad tinnitus, finds the doing of my lacemaking soothing as the bobbins click 
and clack. In fact, recent unscientific tests have shown that if he shoots 
things on the play station whilst I make lace next to him, his score improves.

Kind Regards

Liz Baker

On 1 Aug 2013, at 07:50, "J D Hammett" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi Ruth and fellow Arachnids,
> 
> I like music while I am doing a pattern I know. However, I find that it has 
> to coincide with the rhythm of moving my bobbins or near to my normal rhythm 
> to be enjoyable. When working on something new I prefer silence. With needle 
> lace I do not find this so important.
> 
> Happy lace making,
> 
> Joepie in sunny East Sussex, UK
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Earl & Ruth Johnson
> Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2013 2:30 AM
> 
> 
> When I am starting a new pattern and concentrating on learning it, music can
> sometimes be distracting or even annoying, however, once I am confident in
> what I am doing, a little background music is wonderful.
> 
> 
> 
> Ruth Johnson
> 
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