Just curious, dopers. When I try to read with music on that I like, I get too involved with the music to concentrate on the reading. How do other people deal with this, if you do ?
Music, for me, shuts out distractions and allows me to focus on what I’m doing. When I was working as a word processor, I was the only guy who was allowed to listen to music on headphones while working because my productivity went up without all those other people yammering in the background.
Then again, I have a BA in music and literally went to college to learn how to focus on something when there’s a lot of music going on all around me, so YMMV.
Listening to music while reading is no problem. The music becomes background noise. If the book is interesting enough, I can even read in the same room with someone watching TV.
I don’t, but I can.
My sister is a dancer. I grew up reading books through tap practice and ballet competitions. I can shut out pretty much anything when I have something to read. I don’t put music on now for reading because I don’t really hear it.
Instrumental music (classical): Yes, absolutely; that’s my preferred way to read.
Something with vocals makes it more difficult to concentrate on what I’m reading, I guess because they’re competing for the attention of the verbal part of my brain.
I listen to a lot of instrumental rock music* and a little classical, jazz, electronica, etc - I agree that vocals make it a lot harder to concentrate on other language-related activities. I usually read in bed, so, silence. But I read a lot on computer, and almost always have music playing, mostly instrumental music.
*I also play in & compose music for an instrumental rock band.
I can’t read without music.
Or the TV.
Silence drives me to distraction.
Yeah, I can read with any kind of background noise but since I now live alone I mostly don’t have to. I very rarely have TV or radio on at home and only listen to music while reading once in a while.
Easily. Madonna’s Material Girl still makes me think of Heechee Rendezvous because it was always on the radio when I was reading it.
Music helps me shut out distractions. And gives my work a tempo.
I can, but I prefer silence when I’m reading.
it depends on all kinds of things, but mostly what I’m reading.
also a bit on my mood and what kind of music.
in general, I prefer silence to read.
It depends on the music. My personal taste in music leans toward stuff with strong lyrics, i.e. I chose it because I liked the words. This includes rap in general, because the lyrics are usually one of the primary focuses of the music. So I find it difficult to read while listening to lyric-strong music - it divides my attention.
So if I’m going to listen to music when I read, I choose instrumental music, or foreign-language music. Foreign-language music is effectively “instrumental”, since to my ears the human voice just becomes another instrument in the ensemble.
I can’t listen to music and read at the same time but have this ability to enter the Cone of Silence when I read and block out all sounds, so that it is not a problem for me to read when music is on; I just don’t hear it at all.
I read with movies or TV shows on. I get bored and antsy with only one thing taking up only a percentage of my attention.
EDIT: Unless it’s actually a really good, engrossing book. An easier, less interesting book or re-read needs a video accompaniment.
Me too. If it’s too quiet I can hear my ears ringing, and that bothers me far more than any music would.
Yes, but I won’t hear the music at all, so there’s no real point to it.
I can, but I have to tune it out, so I guess there’s no point. I’m not actually listening to the music.
No, not really. If it’s music that interests me, I stop reading and listen. And if it’s music that doesn’t interest me, I find myself gritting my teeth and plowing on with reading. I much prefer to read in silence.
It does distract me. When I was going to school, I would play a tape of a thunderstorm as white noise when I studied. Music’s out when I’m reading, whether it’s recreational or otherwise.