zlacker

>>notkai+(OP)
Am I the only person who can't listen to anything while coding? My attention goes straight to the music, and I can't concentrate on the task at hand!

When I was in high school, my math teacher would play Mozart during tests, claiming it would help us. It would drive me crazy, and I doubt that my grades improved as a result of the distraction.

For what it's worth, I have a BMus in Piano Performance. I love music... but never as "background noise"!

>>coreyp+0i
When I am doing a task that requires full mental thought, I need silence. However, for more repetitive or mundane tasks, I need music to drown out the various stray thoughts in my head that would otherwise distract me from the task at hand.

For really repetitive thought-free stuff (e.g. mopping a floor), music that I would listen to while just sitting down is fine. For less repetitive stuff, either something with a set pattern (like 8-bar blues) or something I know well enough to "tune out" when I need more focus on the task at hand is better.