Can listening to Classical music help you golf game?

I find myself cranking up the tunes on the way to the course.

My main interest is in the drums and base guitar notes.....the rythm of the song.

The funkier the better as far as I'm concerned. I'll throw in a Dave Mathews Band disc and crank it on the way there. Sometimes I'll even enjoy some tunes by our local legend, James Brown....."The Nighttrain" gets me pumped up and ready to swing a club.

On the way home, there's nothing better than Stevie Ray Vaughn.

I haven't tried classical music yet but could understand the timing and relevance to the golf swing.

Classical is such a broad term. It is usually used interchangably for any style featuring a certain instrumentation. Baroque, Romantic, and Modern styles played with certain orchestration often falls under the "classical" heading. I only mention that because I think it is important to find that right mood for pre-round music. Of course if classical made you want to claw your eyes out, it probably wouldn't put you in a good mood. If Green Day or The White Stripes relaxes you, I'd say go for.

As a former semi-pro musician, I know for a fact music can elicit emotions in most listeners. Sometimes the emotion that comes out is anger, especially if you are listening to something that you think really, really sucks. While I've learned over the years to find something in every style that I can appreciate, some styles are better suited to get me in the golfing mood.

For me personally, I have a CD of old school Dub and Reggae music that I listen to a lot on the way to the course. The "riddims" are just so layed back and the lyrics are so playful that the longer I listen the more relaxed I get. Some other favorites of mine are Don Williams, Willie Nelson (slower songs), and ANYTHING in 3/4 time.

Some of my favorite bands are the Rolling Stones, Jane's Addiction and James Brown. But I'd never listen to them on the way to the course. I can't help but get pumped up when I listen to these artists. By the time I get to the course I'm ready to do the mashed potatoe and not swing a club.

I've never heard of this. Before our basketball and volleyball games, we listened to music (mostly rap) and I think it was worthless. I'd much rather concentrate on what I'm going to be doing. "Getting my head in the game" is a phrase for it I guess. If music, regardless of the type, helps then why not?

Actually there have been a lot of valid studies in controlled environments that proved listening to classical musical prior to standardized testing improved the students' performances. I believe it was due to music stimulating the right side of the brain. Classical music in this setting was basically used to "prime the pump" on the portions of the brain needed for better performance in these tests. It is important in a lot of these test to be able to reason and use logic. Standardized testing is not as focused on rote rehersal and memorization. As best I remember those are more left brain tasks.

I´m always on the lookout for classical pieces that fit my ear. The first one did, the second not so much, even i like vocal classical music (You ever listened to Queen of the night sung by Diane Damrau? Really really good)