classic driving

I don't always listen to the same type of music when I'm driving. I go through phases. For a while it might be classic rock. Then jazz. Or pop. (Never country -- I get plenty of that genre in Alex's truck.) Sometimes, but not often, I'll play one of my own CDs. Usually I'll do that when I acquire a new one and I want to get to know it. Then, I'll play it over and over for a week or so, until I'm sick of it.

Currently, and for a while now, maybe 6 months, I've been listening exclusively to classical music on KUSC. A few years ago I went through an extended classical music phase that lasted the better part of a year. I find it so much more calming and conducive to sane driving than any other genre, including jazz. If music were food, I'd place classical music in the health food category. (And there's a hell of a lot of junk food music out there.) NPR is also in the health food/music group but I find talk radio to be distracting when I'm driving. Not good. Classical music, on the other hand, provides pleasant background noise that rarely interferes with my concentration on the road. Also, I'm learning to appreciate the range and richness of a genre I would otherwise neglect.

However, I never listen to classical music at home. When I'm alone, I mostly listen to Siddha Yoga chanting music. Actually, if there were a chanting music radio station on the dial, classical music would quickly get nixed for that. But I'll save my discussion of chanting music for another blog entry. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this classical music driving phase while it lasts.

What do you listen to while driving?