From our latest blog entry:

As we hiking through Henry Coe State Park last weekend, I found myself humming Chopin's Funeral March as I trudged up the long, steep hills on the last day. Admittedly, I was humming it a bit faster than the usual tempo, but still...A funeral march? When I mentioned this to M, she shared her own song of the day--The Star Spangled Banner. hmmmm. Must be an Olympic thing. It still seemed a better choice, but you can't always pick your tune!

At some point on every hike, I find myself marching to a tune in my head. With luck, it's something I really like, and it can really shorten the day's hike if it is. But M is more likely to find herself droning on to a song she actively dislikes, but unable to get the tune out of her head. Poor M. Her worst fear is a day full of bubble-gum pop music in the High SIerra..

I was trained as a classical musician, so I take this stuff pretty seriously. In fact, I've been known to pre-select a tune for my hiking pleasure, just to make sure that I like what I'm hearing. Think this is crazy? The next time you get a song stuck in your head, stop the music. Literally. Stop thinking about that song, and insert another one, one that you like a lot more, in its place. It works, but you have to pay attention!

Speaking of paying attention, I have even focused on a piece of music I am trying to learn, making sure I am getting the timing just right. There is something about putting one foot in front of the other that really drives home the downbeat. And all those little grace notes and syncopated accents fall into place very clearly when you have to hit the next downbeat with your right foot!

(If you want a real challenge, forgo the typical 4/4 beat of the march, and tackle a piece in 3/4, 6/4 or 6/8 time. That means that you wil be alternating the downbeat between right a left feet as you walk. Don't try this while you are chewing gum!) This has the added advantage of getting you to waltz up the Mist Trail with a pack on your back...something the other hikers will have never seen before, and will certainly share with their grandchildren!

So who needs an i-pod? We carry this music right in our heads--and we can adjust not only the volume but even the rhythm of the song to match the pace we need: slower inthe uphill sections, faster once we hit the open plains.

From the Halls of Montezuma to I took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, marching tunes are a part of our hikes every year.

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda... go ahead. Try to get that one out of your head!

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On the question of why to carry an ipod--it's the best treatment I know for driving out an unwanted ear worm. If you've ever had "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies stuck in your head for two days on the trail, you'll appreciate why this can be important.

Cheers,

Rick

Rick D
I'm with you, although I rarely carry an ipod, the continuous change is better than having one song stuck in your head, and the more often you replay it, the harder it is to stop. Once I carried my Sony cassette player with a Pink Floyd album up to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite and it was great.
Jim

I got to ask, Jim, which Pink Floyd album?

Ahh, that's an easy one, Jim! Only one song in your head at a time, make it a long song. I seem to get Strauss' "Alpinsinfonie" in my head, especially at a nice overlook or summit

Nice posting! As a classically trained bandie myself, I have to say you captured a part of the trip that I never really noticed until you described it.

Pink Floyd The Wall Watched the moon rise over the mountains from the spot near lake Tenaya where you look down the valley at Half Dome. I think I might have been having a smoke at the time.

Actually I played viola for 7 years and was in the high school orchestra. They say once a musician always a musician, phooey, not me. However I can enjoy a classical music station a lot more than my wife.

I think sometimes when I'm going up hill I march to the starwars theme of the Emperor - bum bum bum dumda dum dumda dum, you know the one.
Jim

I tend to write jingles for products like 7-up. Should have wrote that one down years ago. Hup, hup, 7-up, pour me another cup, hup, hup, 7-up I want another cup. Hup, hup, 7-up............:) That year, I had little water and was thinking about how good that watermelon in my fridge back home was going to taste.

Strding up a nice high arete, I get Pictures at an Exhibition running through my head, either that or 4th movement, Beethoven's Ninth..

I get stuff in my head all the time. and not even while hiking. it's sometimes annoying, but I'm more or less used to it... Most of the time it doesn't bother me. I do remember vividly a 700 meter scree ascent with Dr. Hook's "freaker's ball" going through my head for some reason.. I wanted to extract it from my brain with my trekking pole.. but most of the time I'm fine.

The army was very generous in inserting several different hiking/marching tunes into my head. They did such a good job that I have a hard time getting them out.

Other than that, I also love some good Czajkovski (Tchaikovski), Beethoven, Chopin, etc...

I used to do the classical things but they usually have too variable a tempo to be really good for hiking. I have found that some old-time Lutheran hymns (all in 4/4 time, although some are irregular) work better. Luther's "God Our Father Be Our Stay" (easy to remember because except for the first line of each verse, the words are identical for all 3 verses) is an excellent hiking tune. Another is Gerhardt's "If God Himself Be for Me, I May a Host Defy" (I only know the first two of the 15 verses by heart so far) is another. The tempo can be varied according to the terrain. For those who have experienced Lutheran hymns only at the dirge-like tempo of a poor organist (or a congregation that has gotten so conditioned to a poor organist that it refuses to sing faster with a good organist), neither of these hymns when played properly is at all dirge-like!

Of course if you can sing as you hike, you're either in amazingly good condition or going too slow. I generally "sing" them in my head. On the other hand, singing out loud might be a good thing in grizzly country. My squawks when attempting to hit a high note would probably scare off any bear within miles!

Ya want hymns and marching music?

http://regimentalpipers.com/48pd/kitshop/fields_cdn.html

I *have* that disc.. it's a deadly weapon to listen to before going backpacking. take my word for it - try doing three days on the trail solo (http://bofh.ucs.ualberta.ca/beck/pictures/limestone2009) when "The Athol Highlanders" and "The Maple Leaf Forever" on pipes and drums has wrapped it's way around your brain stem and refuses to leave.

You really have two choices, get annoyed about it, or just roll with it and whistle along.. that's just what I end up doing...

Of course, I actually like pipes. If you didn't I can't imagine the torture

Ive never considered bringing my music with me into the Bcountry....doesnt that take away from "it all"?

It's very much an HYOH decision. Now that the players are literally an ounce or two there's little weight penalty.

Music can be a mood lifter on a bad day (we all hope for nothing but good days on the trail but life intercedes) and can drown out noise when we're trying to sleep (tarps flapping in the wind, snoring tentmates, critters knocking our cookware around...). I find it really helpful on the grind back to the car, when I'm conflicted about going home.

I also catch up on my podcast backlog. And with that, I'm wondering whether there are any mp3s of first aid instructions, emergency response, field techniques and the like available? I think those would be great to have along as ready references.

I have to admit I didn't expect this thread to attract such attention--and so many good ideas!

I don't take anything along for music...partly because I AM getting away from it all, but also because I backpack with my wife, and I like hearing her voice when she talks to me.

I think the sounds of nature are part of the experience...but I also don't use an i-pod on my bycicle, because I want to hear what's around me.

Now when I am on a plane, or in a noisy hotel room....ahhhhh.