📘 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.

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, music usually comes down the atmosphere, okay? So it makes people to calm down, and also the atmosphere becomes more peaceful, like if music isn't distracting, okay? And music could be a nice reward for children in class.

R: I think so. Some kids love listening to music.

M: Yeah, and often teachers play music for children, for them to relax, for them to go crazy, to run around. So it could be like a party break. You know? During the lesson. They do some tasks, and then, like, a fun piece of music comes up, and they kind of like... They start running around. And also teachers play music in class for children to sing along. So children learn the lyrics, and they can sing songs in, well, in their native language or in a foreign language.

R: It's fun.

M: Yeah, just for fun, you know? And also for learning purposes. Like to have this musical break. So we say that teachers incorporate music into the classroom so they incorporate, they use music in their classes.

R: Do you do this?

M: Well, yeah, yeah. When I taught General English students, I did use music. Yeah. We listened to songs, we learned the lyrics, and we worked with the lyrics. And yeah. Yeah, it's very nice.

R: Can you use it for IELTS?

M: Well, for IELTS, you can, if you have enough time.

R: You can do it, Maria, I believe in you, I would never do it myself. I think that's terrifying.

M: Teachers sometimes switch on some background music while learners are on a task. Some maybe classical music is also possible as background music. And then, Rory, you said, like it can keep things on an even... On an even what?

R: Keel. An even keel. It just means it keeps things level. Keeps things level and calm and going normally. It describes an emotional state. It's an idiom. Gosh, if only someone had created some kind of course or sequence of episodes dedicated to idioms.

M: And could you give us another example with keel?

R: Yes. When I have enough food, it's easy for me to stay on an even keel emotionally.

M: Yeah, on an even keel. Continuing or operating without problems or sudden changes. And you can say that music aids studying, so it helps people to study. But then you can say like, oh, I don't have solid evidence of that, so I'm not sure why teachers do this, and I don't have any evidence that music helps learning. Okay? So solid evidence like convincing facts to prove that, yes, it helps people to learn. Shops very often use music. Yeah? So if you go to a Zara shop or some other shop, you will hear music playing. Supermarkets have their own radio stations and playlists. And different shops have their own playlists. To encourage people to stay longer and to encourage people to buy things more quickly.

R: The magic of marketing.

M: So customers are more likely to buy things. So probably customers will buy more things and will be more energetic in the shop.

R: I think so. I think that's how it's supposed to work. But do you think it actually works?

M: Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. Because music does affect our brain. And you go in there and then you kind of, you hear this energetic music, and you start moving in an energetic way, like grabbing the things, like moving quickly. So, yeah, it's like psychological. That's why, usually, we hear some energetic music to keep us moving, you know. And then Rory again, says, no idea if it works or not. So if you're not sure, you can say, well, I have no idea if it works or not, and people's shopping behaviour is affected by music, okay? Or music has an influence on customers' shopping behaviour.

R: That's a weird question to ask, though, just after this one about the advantages to shops playing music, surely they're similar questions.

M: And you can say that people could move around to the beat of the music. So move to the beat, to the rhythm of the music.

R: Or just sway, move from side to side gently and enjoy. But yes, like I said, this question is very similar to the other one. So rather than saying like I said, you could say other than the ways, or other than in the ways I said previously. But remember, it's a rhetorical question.

M: And also, dear listener, you can say that music stimulates the subconscious mind of the customers.

R: Oh, my god, does it?

M: Yeah, well, they play for a reason, Rory. It's like all research, psychology, brain, neuroscience. You know? Music reduces the stress hormones in our bodies.

R: Crazy.

M: And music does increase sales, dear listener. And there was a survey, and everybody knows that. Yeah, and also, like music creates a calm atmosphere, a nice atmosphere. And like stimulates, encourages us to buy things. And also, music improves the visual experience during your shopping.

R: Really?

M: Yeah, it's actually fascinating stuff.

R: Do you have a degree in marketing?

M: Well, I have a degree in searching the internet. But can you imagine, like you go to a shop and there's no music? Silence. It's very weird, like strange. Cause like a silent store, a silent shop. Can you imagine this? It's just crazy.

R: No, that would be my store. Get in, get where you need and get out.

M: No, no, no, no.

R: I know, I know. I have to faff around and do all of this stuff.

M: Exactly. And then the music is playing, you know, like you like it, like, you know, you just hang in there.

R: Mental. All of it.

M: It helps the shop to build the right atmosphere, to enhance the retail experience. Retail? Like selling and buying experience, enhance the customer's experience. There is a research, dear listener. And you can say that research shows that the music you play affects not only the store's environment but also shoppers' moods and feelings. Shoppers? Customers are people who buy things. You see, dear listener? Okay? Background music in a film. So when we watch movies, we hear soundtracks and also some background music. Have you ever noticed background music? Because very often, like we don't. You know? Like...

R: Yeah, it's not designed for that.

M: But it's nice when, like this, like some quality background music.

R: Yeah, but it's you don't notice the music. You notice the emotional effect that it has, usually, which is very interesting, psychologically speaking.

M: So we can say that music captures the atmosphere. Captures? It's like...

R: Represents.

M: Represents the atmosphere. And the mood of a scene. A scene is like a moment in a film. Like good music, design influences people's emotional reactions.

R: And if it's a film, it's happening on screen.

M: And it's impressive.

R: Quite impressive.

M: Music also complements the visual scenes. So scenes? Moments in the film. The music complements or matches the visual, what we see, visual scenes. And then Rory compares it to food very nicely. It's a bit like a salad with a steak. No, Rory, you don't have a salad with your steak.

R: What do you have with your steak?

M: Oh, my God. It's like steak with pepper or steak with, I don't know, cheesy sauce. But actually, steak is like, it's good on its own.

R: The point is, the steak is the key thing that people are focused on. It is not the thing that comes with the steak.

M: Right. Yeah. So the steak is the key thing, and the film moments, the film scenes are key, and music just complements the scenes. Okay?

R: Now, this is not something that's mentioned in the IELTS criteria, but it is mentioned in other measurements of high-level scores and ratings for English. If you can use metaphors like this effectively or similes, in this case, then it's a sign of a C2 level of language ability, or a band nine level of language ability.

M: Yes, that's it, dear listener. So you can compare different things to food. And you can just start like, it's a bit like eating an ice cream. It's a bit like having a steak. It's a bit like french fries with ketchup. Yum, yum, yum. It's a bit like going to McDonald's, yum, yum, yum. Beautiful. Yeah, metaphors. So compare things creatively, dear listener. When we talk about songs, we can talk about earworms. So if a song is stuck in your head, like Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory. So it does get stuck into your head, and you get up and you start singing Rory, Rory, Rory. So it's an earworm, dear listener. Earworm.

R: And if it sticks in your head, it stays there, and you cannot get rid of it, which is part of having the audio or the aural. The different spelling of aural. Not oral, but aural. Meaning for things you listen to. So there's an aural impact for things you listen to and a visual impact for things you see. One of them we use to talk about music and one of them we use to talk about paintings or some other kind of image.

M: We can say that different genres of music, different kinds of music fall in or out of favor. So sometimes people like this, like pop music. Sometimes people prefer jazz. So different genres fall in or out of favor. So different genres are popular in different time periods. Hey! How are you doing, dear listener? Are you all musical now? I hope so.

R: Because we've been talking about this for a solid half hour.

M: Let your heart be full of music. Let music flow into your life. Spread music. Dance to music. And don't forget our hit. Rory, Rory, Rory.

R: But if you do, pick something else. Bye!

M: Bye!

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