📘 Part 3: Music

This episode's vocabulary

Distracting (adj.) - making it difficult for someone to give their attention to something.

On an even keel (idiom) - regular and well-balanced and not likely to change suddenly.

Baroque (adj.) - relating to the heavily decorated style in buildings, art, and music that was popular in Europe in the 17th century and the early part of the 18th century.

To aid (verb) - to help.

To sway (verb) - to move slowly from side to side.

To capture (verb) - to represent or describe something very accurately using words or images.

To complement (verb) - to help make something or someone more complete or effective.

Auditory (adj.) - of or about hearing.

Aural (adj.) - relating to hearing.

Striking (adj.) - very unusual or easily noticed, and therefore attracting a lot of attention.

Earworm (noun) - a song that you keep hearing in your head.

To rouse (verb) - to wake someone up or make someone more active or excited.

Genre (noun) - a style, especially in the arts, that involves a particular set of characteristics.

Shift (noun) - a change in position or direction.

To preserve (verb) - to keep something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed.

Questions and Answers

M: What do you think about playing music for children in class?

R: It could be a good idea if it calms down the atmosphere and isn't distracting, or it might be nice as a reward. Though, I've not really had the pleasure of trying something like that out yet.

M: Why do many teachers incorporate music into the classroom?

R: Like I said, it can help keep things on an even keel, and it can reflect a side of the teachers maybe the students haven't seen before or aren't familiar with. I think Baroque music is supposed to aid studying, but yet to see solid evidence of that.

M: Are there any advantages to a shop that plays music?

R: Apparently so, actually. Supermarkets have their own radio stations and playlists to encourage people to stay longer, and so, if they stay longer, then customers are more likely to buy things. At least that's how the logic seems to go. I have no idea if it works or not.

M: How would people's shopping behaviour be affected in a shop with music?

R: Other than in the ways I said previously? I'm not really sure. They could move around to the beat of the music or just sway and enjoy it. And I know I've done that.

M: What would be the effect of background music in a film?

R: I think it captures the atmosphere or the mood of a scene if it's done well. Good sound and music design can also influence people's emotional reactions to things happening on the screen. It's quite impressive, really. I've no idea how they do it, but it's impressive.

M: Do you think very few people notice background music?

R: I think so, but mostly because its purpose is to complement the visual scenes. Which are the main attractions or features the director wants to draw attention to. It's a bit like a salad with a steak. No one mentions the side when the main course is the focus of the appetite.

M: And which one is more valuable for culture, paintings or music?

R: Oh, that's a good one. Oh, I don't know, because you can have a visual and an auditory or an aural impact, can't you? And sometimes images can be quite striking, but then you have earworms that stick in your head. So I don't know for that reason. I think they're equally important. And I can't decide.

M: How does music influence people?

R: Oh, in all kinds of ways. I mean, we just talked about how it could influence their emotions when they're watching something on screen. It could rouse them to some sort of cause, like, well, they used to have drums playing on battlefields about 300 years ago. So this kind of thing could also happen. So it's not just the emotional reaction. It can rouse people to the physical action as well.

M: Do you think the popularity of certain types of music changes over time?

R: Well, yeah. Culture is always evolving and changing, so it makes sense that what makes a particular genre interesting might fall in and out of favour as that shift happens.

M: And what role do you think music plays in preserving cultural traditions?

R: Well, music's connected to lots of different concepts in history and culture. So there are songs that are about particular moments in history which can be preserved and kept alive in people's heads this way. But there can also be songs about freedom from oppression as well, or there are songs that are linked to a particular cause. For example, lots of socialists and communists sang The Internationale. Oh, God, so it could, it can do lots of things like this.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers! They are music to our ears.

R: Ooh, I'm glad you came up with a pun. I was struggling.