8 Tuesday May 24 2022 | the timesarts
ROSS HELEN/GETTY IMAGESClassical music, of course. Speaking to
me from his home in Newham, east
London, with a West Ham jersey given
to him by the club displayed on the
wall behind, Seagull — who works
as a maths teacher as well as a
presenter — explains his playlist is
based on a controversial 1997 book
called The Mozart Effect by Don
Campbell. “He [Campbell] was
trying to link music with memory and
found if you listened to classical
music it could relieve stress,
improve communication and
increase efficiency.”
The popular understanding
of “the Mozart effect” — that
classical music makes you (and
unborn babies) smarter — has been
repeatedly debunked. But that is not
to say classical music cannot help with
revision, Seagull argues. The key to
its magic, he says, is the music’s
soothing effect. “Listening to Mozart
can reduce your blood pressure and
heart rate, which makes it easier to
learn because your learning faculty is
heightened when you’re relaxed. So,
for example, the Moldovan Eurovision
song would not help with revision
because it gets you all excited.” Music
with lyrics is a “no-no”, he adds,
because it distracts you.
Seagull heads deeper into the
science, quoting research showing that
listening to works with 60 beats per
minute results in a dramatic reduction
in stress. This means baroque
composers such as Vivaldi, Handel and
Bach are the most appropriate. Bach’s
compositions are renowned for their
facilitation of maths learning — a
hack used by other University
Challenge veterans. “Bach’s music is
the one that gets him [Monkman] in
the zone. Eric is the one who first said,
‘Bobby, there’s a lot for you to read
about Bach and maths.’ He magnified
my interest in him.”
Yet when embarking on a project
as innocent as finding the perfect
playlist for students to revise to, there
have been discordant rows. When‘C
an you send me
your revision
playlist?” Sitting in
the university
library surrounded
by academic tomes,
I would hear that
question whispered
by friends and acquaintances who
had tired of their own music, whose
concentration had shrivelled to
a dry empty mothball that needed
a melodic boost.
The contents of these playlists
varied and were often unexpected
soundscapes. Although I am an avid
pop fan — Taylor Swift has been my
most-listened-to Spotify artist for
several years — mine was of the
psychedelic-guitar-riff genre, because
nothing matched the peace and
hypnotic focus inspired by ten-minute
instrumental versions of Grateful
Dead hits. Sometimes I ventured into
French indie-electronic territory,bopping my head to Polo & Pan as I
tried to conjure a punchy conclusion
to an essay on Polish magical realism.
But wouldn’t it be wonderful to find
the definitive music for studying?
Does it exist?
Bobby Seagull, the genius who
became a household name by
revitalising our Monday nights
through his infectious University
Challenge rivalry with fellow genius
Eric Monkman, seems to think so.
In a new Scala Radio show, The Study
Space, he presents a “perfect playlist”
to help students unaccustomed to
studying because of the pandemic to
get back into the habit. The secret?I personally am
not a big fan of
silent revision.
Life is too short
Bobby SeagullSeagull asked on Twitter what
classical music people found
best for studying, the author
Philip Pullman responded saying
that was not what classical music
was for and that it should be
treated with respect.
Seagull is genial about the
criticism. “He [Pullman] was trying
to say making classical music an
accompanying piece is too trivial,
as it should be listened to on its
own,” he says. “But once music
is released into the world it’s
for us to consume how we see
fit.” The tweet sparked a
debate that Seagull remembers
fondly. “It ended up getting lots of
feedback and hundreds of people
engaging, including celebrities and
composers.”
And what about the naysayers who
think revision is a time for silence; that
any melody is inherently distracting?
Seagull disagrees. “I personally am not
a big fan of silent revision unless it’s
something that requires absolute
concentration and exam conditions,
like past papers. But if you’re revising
you want to make it an enjoyable
process and not a miserable
experience. Life is too short for it to
be drudgery all the time.”
As someone who left Oxford
halfway through his maths degree
because he was not working hard
enough to get a 2:1, Seagull knows
first hand the importance of finding
enjoyment in working hard. “What
that experience taught me is: no
matter how smart you think you are,
if you don’t put in the time you’re not
going to get the grade.
“Classical music is a way to help
people set the right environment for
revision. I’m not saying it’s the be-all
and end-all but, if it helps, then why
not have this additional tool?”
I guess it’s time to ditch the indie
electronica and adhere to my dad’s
insistence on the supremacy of Bach
— I’ll start by downloading the
Goldberg Variations.Seagull’s
playlist
Ludovico Einaudi Nuvole Bianche
Meaning white clouds, this creates an
atmosphere of calm and tranquillity.
For burning the midnight oil.
Leonard Bernstein Maria from
West Side Story (Boulanger Trio)
I first encountered West Side Story,
below, as BBC’s World Cup 1994 theme
“America”. This dreamy interpretation
of Maria gets my brain in gear.
Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on
Greensleeves (London Symphony
Orchestra/De Burgos)
When studying indoors, this serene
piece evokes memories of walking
carefree along the riverside of the
Cambridge Backs.
Michael Giacchino Arachnoverture
from Spider-Man: No Way Home
This gives the sense of a superhero
about to embark on a revision mission.
WA Mozart Piano Sonata No 16,
andante (Vikingur Olafsson)
Light and calm, this simply beautiful
movement can restore the soul.
GF Handel Zadok the Priest
(Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh)
As a West Ham fan, I dream of usplaying Champions League football.
Tony Britten’s Champions League
theme is inspired by Handel.
Gabriel Fauré In Paradisum from the
Requiem (Balthasar-NeumannChoir/
Basel Symphony Orchestra/Bolton)
I was part of a choir performing Fauré’s
Requiem. In Paradisum can sprinkle the
tired mind with tranquillity.
Enya & Howard Shore May It Be
from Lord of The Rings: The
Fellowship of The Ring (Enya/London
Philharmonic Orchestra)
As a childhood Tolkien and Enya fan,
this is the Venn diagram intersection
of heaven. There is a feeling that
everything will turn out all right.
Camille Saint-Saëns The Swan from
Carnival of the Animals (Sheku, Isata
and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason)
The interaction between the cello and
two pianos captures a feeling of longing
for that joyous period after exams.
Pharrell Williams Happy (In The
Style of Vivaldi) (Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra)
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was one of the
first CDs my father bought me, so
infusing this upbeat song with a jet of
Vivaldi is uplifting.
JS Bach Aria from Goldberg
Variations (Parker Ramsay)
Essential for quiz revision.
Listen to the works chosen here on
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3wD52cindthcritic
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thinkbllThe music
to revise to
(baroque
beats rock)
Lyrics are a no-no, but
classical music can
really help concentration,
Bobby Seagull tells
Blanca Schofield
The Study Space with
Bobby Seagull is on
Scala Radio on Sundays
at 6pmli Ch i fbll