Music & Art

Music and art are two things that often go hand in hand- listening to music while creating art often allows for people to focus more- so its no wounder that listening to music helps you enjoy art more while looking at it. Johan Idema talked about this, saying,"Music can articulate or enhance the emotion, thematic or dramatic aspects of art,"(32). Music allows us to tie emotion to other things, and in a place full of art, music will help bring out even more emotions, which is very beneficial when looking at or creating art. Idema also talked about how music helps us understand and see color and shapes better, saying that it helps widen our understanding of abstract art (32).

Some types of music can effect mood better then others. When thinking of music that could match with art to enhance our experiences, our first thoughts turns to classical, because of the simple elegance and calming of the music, that also fits with the time period of a lot of the pieces. I found this to be untrue.

In my experience, switching through different musical genres while walking through the museum, looking at art, I personally liked listening to R&B out of all of them. It had a similar type of mood to classical, but was ultimately more modern, and allowed me to slip into the world of art easily.

Rock also, surprisingly worked well. Even though the music became more intense compared to R&B and classical, it made it a little bit more exciting. It was also interesting how the music made the art feel more alive, and also filled the silence that the museum was encompassed in.

Listening to music did changed the way I looked at certain art pieces, and the diversity of the pieces influenced the type of music I listened to.

What does listening to music help you accomplish through out your daily life?

Idema, Johan. How to Visit an Art Museum: Tips for a Truly Rewarding Visit. BIS Publishers, 2014.