Comments on: Introduction of series “Tapping new sources of happiness” http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/10/introduction-of-series-%e2%80%9ctapping-new-sources-of-happiness%e2%80%9d/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:58:38 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Nick http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/10/introduction-of-series-%e2%80%9ctapping-new-sources-of-happiness%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-127 Nick Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:55:31 +0000 http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/?p=204#comment-127 Hi Soraya, Thank you for your good comments! I agree that he or she has to get pleasure from it quickly (getting "hooked on" as you say) - I tried to incorporate this principle into my next post. Thank you, Nick Hi Soraya,

Thank you for your good comments! I agree that he or she has to get pleasure from it quickly (getting “hooked on” as you say) – I tried to incorporate this principle into my next post.

Thank you,

Nick

]]> By: Soraya http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/10/introduction-of-series-%e2%80%9ctapping-new-sources-of-happiness%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-106 Soraya Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:45:39 +0000 http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/?p=204#comment-106 As a suggestion, I would argue that you can get the majority of people interested in classical music. The only key of success is that they need to enjoy it and they need to be able to personally relate to it (Leonard Bernstein was a genius in making classical music accessible for a wide range of people). As you stated, it takes a certain "investment" in order to draw happiness out of an activity. If there is no intrinsic motivation to take up an activity or expose yourself to a new form of art, the chances are also relatively low that the individual will stick to it. However, if the individual has an initial crucial experience, he or she will most likely get 'hooked on'. The majority of people (and obviously you as well) become interested in a field, which they have not explored before, the moment there is some sort of social interaction involved or quite simply: if somebody introduces you to it. In order to guarantee a "positive" outcome, the individual has to experience some sort of satisfaction, progress or simply joy. The moment you can ski down your first slope without collapsing is the most rewarding achievement for every inexperienced skier. The same can be applied to music: The more you recognise, the more you will enjoy listening to it, since you already know what to expect. At that point you can focus on the different ways of interpretation, you become an expert if you can mentally read the score while the music is performed in front of you. The first step however is to establish a basis, which makes you able to identify certain elements in the piece of music. The moment you are able to recognise a short phrase, since you have heard it before, you are guaranteed to feel satisfied. Being able to memorise the melody of one phrase or movement slowly but surely leads to knowing the whole piece off by heart. After some form of introduction, I guess a simple way to get somebody interested in classical music is to sit him or her right in the front row of a concert and let this person experience how the magic is created right there and then and how it is gone forever after the piece is over. If you get somebody to experience this, to live the music through while it is played, I'm sure he/she will always turn back to this form of art which like no other allows you to experience every emotion from pure bliss to utter desperation. As a suggestion, I would argue that you can get the majority of people interested in classical music. The only key of success is that they need to enjoy it and they need to be able to personally relate to it (Leonard Bernstein was a genius in making classical music accessible for a wide range of people).

As you stated, it takes a certain “investment” in order to draw happiness out of an activity. If there is no intrinsic motivation to take up an activity or expose yourself to a new form of art, the chances are also relatively low that the individual will stick to it. However, if the individual has an initial crucial experience, he or she will most likely get ‘hooked on’. The majority of people (and obviously you as well) become interested in a field, which they have not explored before, the moment there is some sort of social interaction involved or quite simply: if somebody introduces you to it.

In order to guarantee a “positive” outcome, the individual has to experience some sort of satisfaction, progress or simply joy. The moment you can ski down your first slope without collapsing is the most rewarding achievement for every inexperienced skier. The same can be applied to music: The more you recognise, the more you will enjoy listening to it, since you already know what to expect. At that point you can focus on the different ways of interpretation, you become an expert if you can mentally read the score while the music is performed in front of you. The first step however is to establish a basis, which makes you able to identify certain elements in the piece of music. The moment you are able to recognise a short phrase, since you have heard it before, you are guaranteed to feel satisfied. Being able to memorise the melody of one phrase or movement slowly but surely leads to knowing the whole piece off by heart.
After some form of introduction, I guess a simple way to get somebody interested in classical music is to sit him or her right in the front row of a concert and let this person experience how the magic is created right there and then and how it is gone forever after the piece is over. If you get somebody to experience this, to live the music through while it is played, I’m sure he/she will always turn back to this form of art which like no other allows you to experience every emotion from pure bliss to utter desperation.

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