Music and Visual Art

Do you listen to music when you make art? I asked the artists on two mailing lists several months ago and got very different replies. On one list the artists listen to pleasant, upbeat or classical music while they paint. On the other, they use music mostly to drown out other distracting noises. This group leans toward jazz, rock and more contemporary sounds. Some find music too distracting and don't listen to anything. A few keep a TV going in the background. Ever since I read Music and the Soul I've been convinced that artists can select music to complement the emotion they want to express and it will help them bring it out in their work. I'm looking into this. My son, Kurt Leland, wrote the book, and it was a revelation to me. He recommends that you make a playlist of music that inspires you and record it to listen to while you work. I wonder if some of our blocks come from having the wrong music playing in the background.