Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
Does classical music really make you depressed? I heard this among some people and was wondering if it really did make you depressed if you hear it 24/7...
24/7? Do these people not sleep? That's really something..
And why should it make you depressed? It only makes me depressed when I realize I suck, or when my LH sometimes refuses to play a simple scale in fast tempo (I'm still mad about that.. arghhhhhhhh)
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
I doubt anyone can listen to music for 24/7, regardless of genre or other... But even if one could I'd doubt it would make one depressed. Classical music has so many different styles that is wonderful to listen 24/7! Perhaps a little bored after a few weeks, but depressed? No way!
maybe inherently sad pieces like Tchaik 6 or Mahler 9...but people who don't listen to classical regularly spew out all sorts of [censored] about it (it's boring, it's "for musicians only", its for old people) and it wouldn't surprise me to see "it's depressing" added to that list.
And why should it make you depressed? It only makes me depressed when I realize I suck, or when my LH sometimes refuses to play a simple scale in fast tempo (I'm still mad about that.. arghhhhhhhh)
I can sympathise with you. Specially when i try to play funerailles and after hours and hours my left hand still stiffens up too much
You might have worded your post more concisely. I'm sure you don't mean 24/7 (no sleep, will definitely lead you to go mad, no matter what kind of music you're listening to). So, I'll assume you mean a lot.
I don't think there has been any conclusive evidence one way or the other.
I'm very skeptical about studies on the psychological effects of listening to "classical music." (including ones that say it makes you smarter, relaxed, etc)
Does listening to a fast, violent work have the same effect as listening to a soft, soothing work? Does large, contrapuntally complex orchestral music have the same effect as a beginner-level harpsichord solo? Does instrumental music have the same effect as vocal music (and does it matter if one understands the lyrics of the vocal music)? Does an atonal composition have the same effect as a romantic work or a baroque work?
Surely not - so how can one make any definitive study or generalization about the effects of listening to any "classical music"?
And that's not even getting into whether or not one ENJOYS the piece at hand. The same piece of music can have wildly different effects on different listeners, depending on whether the listener enjoys it or not. Furthermore, the same piece of music can even have wildly different effects on the SAME person depending on that person's mood at the time.
That's a different question, which has nothing to do with music. I enjoy eating ice-cream. But if I had to constantly eat ice-cream for an entire week, I'd probably not enjoy it so much anymore.
maybe inherently sad pieces like Tchaik 6 or Mahler 9...but people who don't listen to classical regularly spew out all sorts of [censored] about it (it's boring, it's "for musicians only", its for old people) and it wouldn't surprise me to see "it's depressing" added to that list.
I've heard the "depressing" argument from several young, classically ignorant people. I think it's a safe assumption that the person the OP heard it from was such a person. If your musical standard is beautiful, superficial teens & 20 somethings preening about the exciting, flashy tangibles of life, you may find that clashing, incomprehensible, lengthy classical music simply bores and irritates by its lack of the same. I think depressing is just teenage exaggeration for something lacking excitement value.
LOL, I just hit thirty, but that statement makes me sound way older. But I can take consolation from the fact that I wrote a research paper my senior year in high school that involved some of these topics, and I would have said the same thing then that I do now. I guess, probably like many of us, I have looked down on much of pop culture since I was old enough to be aware of it.
This has got to be one of the sillier thread topics I've yet seen here. The only thing depressing is that classical doesn't sell as well, nor is as popular, as the inane crap you hear while sitting at a red light from the idiot in the car next to you who feels everyone else should partake in his ignorance.
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
This has got to be one of the sillier thread topics I've yet seen here. The only thing depressing is that classical doesn't sell as well, nor is as popular, as the inane crap you hear while sitting at a red light from the idiot in the car next to you who feels everyone else should partake in his ignorance.
Do you think this is a new development or has always been the case?
I generally agree with you in your assessment of modern popular music.
.
![[Linked Image]](https://forum.pianoworld.com//gallery/42/medium/10968.png)