Music becomes story: creative interactions to write better (today) and read more (tomorrow)

Abstract

Music, reading and writing play a crucial role in opening emotional channels. The purpose of this article is to present the integration of two disciplines in the classroom through research carried out (with different developments), in two different academic levels (pre-university and university). The developed action responds, through the methodological techniques of participant observation, documentary analysis and self-assessment, to the hypothesis of the positive effect of music as an incentive for textual production. Musical listening sessions are scheduled, non-consecutive, and made up of several development phases: a first of shared listening in a group, a second of individual textual production and a third that self-assesses the degree of concentration, creativity, emotion and satisfaction experienced together with the identification of the preferred sensation or emotion provoked by the music. The results show how the emotional channels awakened by music favor concentration, and therefore, the introspection necessary to develop textual creativity. They report a pleasant literary practice and markedly improved creative writing. And they predict a growing interest in developing the reading habit.