Students tend to listen to a little bit of everything these days: Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Clarkson, Jay-Z. But, believe it or not, some students also add Mozart and Bach to their playlists.
“It really puts you at ease,” says junior biochemistry major Kwan Ngai.
Much of classical music is instrumental, so students say it’s less distracting than most pop music.
“It’s hard to read a book and listen to lyrics,” says Mario Stylianou, a graduate student in public policy, “but you can assign as much attention to classical music as you like.”
Jarl Hulbert, who lectures a course on the history and fundamentals of music, says playing an instrument is a big factor in one’s appreciation for classical music.
For instance, Paul Freeman, a sophomore aerospace engineering major, became interested in classical music when he played French horn in grade school. The French horn sparked his interest in several instruments.
“I really wished I could play the trombone part in this one piece,” Freeman says.
While studying music can be a factor in students’ interest in classical music, it’s not the only thing.
Ngai never played an instrument, but she started to appreciate the style when she took a music class in elementary school in Hong Kong. She’s been hooked ever since.
Pre-dental hygiene and accounting major Jon Kugel started listening to classical music as a matter of convenience: The classical music station had the strongest signal in his hometown.
Although the genre is frequently overlooked at record stores, some students say they can dissect and appreciate the dozens of chords that go into a piece.
“In rock, there are three or four sounds, which were probably ripped off of something similar,” Freeman says, and “pretty much serve their purpose.”
Kugel says he respects classical music because of its timelessness.
“To stand the test of time is a testament of how good it is,” he says.
When you break down classical music into different categories, students diverge in opinion. Freeman prefers the Classical period – including Mozart and Beethoven – saying the music has more structure and boundaries than the more free-flowing and feeling-oriented Romantic period – including Tchaikovsky and Brahms.
Stylianou, alternatively, is more selective.
Many songs “don’t resonate with my mood,” he says, noting he likes the earlier styles of Baroque (Bach’s time) and Renaissance music because of the more “discreet” sound.
Students primarily listen to classical music on the radio. Recently, Kugel has been jotting down his favorite pieces he hears on the air waves. For Stylianou, rather than selecting songs from his music library, he listens to online radio through iTunes because he trusts the disc jockey’s judgment.
Freeman tends to listen on his mp3 player or computer, but admits only a small part of his collection is actually classical – compared to other flavors of alternative rock, country and blues. However, the amount of time Freeman devotes to listening to classical leaves all the other styles in the dust.
Fellow classical listener and sophomore cell biology and genetics major Paul Gallo agrees. “It’s more musically interesting than a lot of popular music.”
Contact reporter Ellie Falaris at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.
