Do you find yourself working at your computer for extended periods of time? Designing web pages, hammering in code, adjusting photos, video editing or writing volumes for your blog? I’d like to let you in on a secret of mine. When I have to sit down and concentrate on something and plow through it and get it done, there is only one way to do it.

With classical music.

And none better to jam to than Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The 9th was Ludwig Van’s very last symphony in 1824. It is the most interesting, confusing, and mysterious classical work by any composer. You know it when you hear it. The first two notes and consecutive descending octets set the stage for one of music’s greatest most triumphant anthems. There are many layers to the 9th. If you take the time to carefully listen to each movement. Musical scholars to this day have not been able to figure out the 9th’s ubiquitous nature. Historians have been left guessing and coming up with all kinds of conclusions at to what the symbolism behind it is. Personally I don’t think it matters what he had in mind while composing it. It matters more what it means to you when you listen to it. In my opinion the 9th is one of the greatest artistic and musical masterpieces of all time. It keeps company with the Mona Lisa, Pietà, the Statue of David, and the Sistine Chapel. I urge all you creative people out there to use Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to fuel your creativity, pave the road to inspiration and open the doors to a clear mind.
Metallica, Shiny Toy Guns, U2, and all my other favorite bands have their place, but it’s usually not at the office desk when I’m trying to get work done, son. We can all thank Ludwig Van for the greatest symphony of all time, the 9th!

• Step 1: Get a nice pair of headphones
• Step 2: Cue up the 9th Symphony (preferably the long version)
• Step 3: Turn it up to 11
• Step 4: Be amazed and enlightened.

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