Meditative Music for Quiet Concentration


There are a number of threads on music for different occasions, but here is a tricky one for me:

What music helps you concentrate, or get through difficult tasks at home or depending on your job - at work?

There are few things in life that can ruin my weekend more than gathering receipts for taxes, opening bills, writing boring but necessary letters, reading legal documents etc.

So it would be great to put something on repeat - not too loud and not too engaging, but still something worthwhile to absorb while tackling the nightmares in the "inbox".

I found Keith Jarret Facing You perfect for falling asleep years ago, but never for working. Something was a little TOO hypnotic about them for me.

I thought the Bach 1 and 2 part inventions might hit the spot - but there is something a little distracting adn tinkly about them.

Beethoven symphonies I love but they are far too varied - I would much rather STOP working and just listen.

Mozart and Vivaldi might work in some cases, if they hadnt been played to death in Starbucks all over the world which irritates me and therefore increases my stress. So please, no coffee shop compilations!?

Some Miles Davis ALMOST works, except what I really want to do within about 3 notes of Kind of Blue, for example, is go out on the Upper West Side and eat and drink until well past midnight.

So what can you listen to, when you need to stay calm, really focus and crank through a mountain of work?

Of course, and as usual, EXTRA CREDIT for particularly good recordings.

Thank you.
cwlondon

Showing 2 responses by r_f_sayles

Western classical music involves my left-brain too much. It plugs me in. To raise my consciousness a chakra or three and find a "meditative" state something like Kitaro -In person or Ali Akbar Khan -Indian Achitexture or The Starseeds -Parallel Life or anything Massive Attach is more in order. "Ambient" in a word. In this case I find it is also not about being an audiophile so I turn off the turntable and plug in one of those dreaded silver discs. That helps with escaping the duties and clutter of a Hifi world and shows little responsibility to space and time. Who thought I would ever advocate a little silver disc over a black one with grooves in the same breath as speaking of a higher consciousness? Cheers!
Cwlondon, Curious I had a girlfriend that turned me on to Massive Attack years ago and it had the same effect for the both of us. Must be some kind of subliminal messaging. That beats the Beatles wizardry all to hell.

The Starseeds -Parallel Life was recommended to me by another young lady as the best sound track for enjoying the same. I highly recommend this one. ItÂ’s out of print but Amazon dealers and ebay often have a copy showing up.
Again, we liked it immensely. Ahhhh! the joys of music. Cheers!