I recently heard of an artist who experimented during a workshop by encouraging spontaneous responses to the music playing in the background. He discovered that “Music which irritates the artist-listener often has a detrimental impact on the painting. Unpleasant music may produce dark, strong marks or, at its extreme, a blank stare at a blank canvas.”
This fall we offered a couple of art workshops for children in our vibrant Ananda Mumbai Center. In one of the workshops, so many children were in the small space that the room began to get loud and a little chaotic. It seemed as if nothing we adults were saying had any influence!
Then I gently increased the volume of Swami Kriyananda’s music playing in the background while the children were doing their art. It was miraculous! All of a sudden the energy shifted; almost instantly they became more calm and content. I was amazed.
We always use Kriyananda’s music in workshops and at Ananda, but this time the impact was so sudden and obvious, it really struck me just how effective this “secret tool” we’ve been using really is!
Swami Kriyananda’s music calms the heart and is uplifting to the soul. It changes our consciousness. Since I have been on my journey at Ananda, I, like many others, have found great benefit from listening to and singing his music. When I started painting, I would always play some of Kriyananda’s music in the background. When I look at some of my art from years ago, I honestly feel that his music alone has helped me bring a more uplifting vibration to my art!
A Musical Experiment
I have been taking a course by an illustrator, and one of his suggestions is to put together a music playlist for a project you are working on. He says it will have a beneficial impact on your work. Meaning, if you associate a playlist with a project, turning on that particular playlist will automatically help you get into a flow of creativity. Interesting experiment?
“Music is so much more than entertainment. It doesn’t merely reflect a state of consciousness: It also generates it.” — Swami Kriyananda
Music and its power has been on my mind a lot this month, and I wanted to share these thoughts with you. Pay attention to the music in your environment. Choose music that inspires you and consciously make it part of your art process and daily life.
And for the artists out there, I would go as far as saying, music can really make your art!
Originally published in India November 5, 2019
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