The Study Space with Bobby Seagull

Exam season is upon us, which is why we’re offering the perfect playlist to accompany your revision sessions. Join maths teacher, TV presenter and University Challenge contestant Bobby Seagull for 'The Study Space'.

Listen to the latest episode of The Study Space here.

Bobby is providing the perfect soundtrack to help you concentrate, featuring immersive works providing ample opportunity for you to get in the zone. Bobby will encourage you to try out his brainteasers (the ideal way to warm up that grey matter!) and take appropriate breaks with his Sunday evening party pieces. He will also discuss subjects that might be concerning students - and their family members - at this time of year, such as revision planning and coping with nerves.

We caught up with Bobby to find out how he is feeling about his new show starting on Sunday 22nd May.

You’re presenting a four-part series, ‘The Study Space on Scala Radio’ on Sundays from 6pm. What can we expect?

Firstly this will be a collection of music and pieces that will help people concentrate. Whether you're someone that's in the middle of exams, revision, or someone that just wants to be able to focus on a task, it could be simple as getting you to do this together!

But also, I’m a Maths teacher, I like my puzzles, so you're going to get some brainteasers testing both your mathematics and your linguistic ability to test both sides of the brain. And we're also going to have some discussions on how best parents and young people can manage this challenging exam period.

What are you looking forward to the most about your new show?

I like to think about it from a mathematical perspective. So, using circles and Venn diagrams.... One circle is I'm an educator and another circle is I love listening to music, especially classical music. If you intersect the two Venn diagrams, you get education intersected with classical music. This is a chance for me to show the public the connection between education and listening to classical music.

What do you think it is about listening to classical music that makes studying easier?

So there's one element of the soothing, calming aspect. You can have someone like Ludovico Einaudi and that just really gets you in a calm, relaxed manner. Or sometimes you want more upbeat, motivating music, such as the Rocky soundtrack. I recently found out that not everyone agrees with this. I tweeted asking people about their perspective on what music they listen to when they're studying or revising. The great author, Philip Pullman said, ‘You must treat music with respect’, he thought it was trivial to listen to classical music as an accompaniment to revision. This sparked a discussion between composers and celebrities including Pullman, Armando Iannucci and David Arnold.… So I find it attracts a spectrum of views.

Because you're a math teacher, how would you encourage your students to listen to classical music?

As a mathematician, I would try and bring in relevant examples from the real world. I might use examples such as the Great British Bake Off or Strictly Come Dancing, or the music charts and the rankings there - finding numbers in the real world.

I think music is the same thing with classical because if I initially time tell my students to listen to some Bach or Mozart, they might think, ‘Oh, sir, it's not for me’. But if you show them the video games that they play or the films that they watch which have classical music in them, actually they'll say, ‘Oh, I might give that Bach or Mozart a chance’.

What would you listen to when you're trying to concentrate?

Firstly, I’ll admit, I can't stand silence. I need music. Forget this white noise nonsense. It has to be real music. If I'm feeling that I need to have a bit of concentration, but not too much. I might put on something like Enya so that I can handle the lyrics.

But if I’, doing something very difficult, like reading through a contract or marking a challenging piece of homework, then I'll put on Ludovico Einaudi because that doesn't have any lyrics on it and is perfect meditative music.

Did you listen to classical music growing up?

We had an eclectic taste in music, so my dad would play us nursery rhymes, ABBA, the Sitar music of Ravi Shankar from India, but also quite a bit of classical. I remember I used to go to the charity shop a lot and he bought a CD collection of Verdi’s music. In fact, Verdi opera was the first composer I really got into!

Was that your earliest experience of classical music?

That wasn't the earliest, but it was the first time I recognised it was classical music. Before that my dad indoctrinated us by playing Disney's Fantasia. Stravinsky’s Foreboding Rite of Spring or the uplifting sounds of Dance of the Hours by Ponchielli.

So actually Fantasia was my camouflage education into classical music.

What was the last piece of classical music that stopped you in your tracks?

I'm a West Ham fan. And whilst we’re not quite in the Champions League yet, that is the aim for any football club. Every Tuesday and Wednesday night, clubs will come out to Tony Britten’s Champions League theme. If you're a classical music fan, you will recognise that it's inspired by Handel's Zadok the Priest. So that for me, no matter how many times I've heard it, still gets my hair standing and it's lovely.

When is Bobby Seagull on Scala Radio?

You can hear The Study Space with Bobby Seagull from Sunday 22nd May at 6pm.

The Study Space Premium Station

Our 'Study Space' Premium station is perfect for easing your mind into a state of concentration. Scala Radio Premium is our fantastic subscription service that gives you more control over live radio than ever before. You can listen live with no ad breaks, skip up to 6 tracks per hour on the web player and app, and access exclusive on-demand music, shows, and specials from across the world of classical music and other genres.

Promising zero distractions, The Study Space on Scala Radio Premium is the perfect accompaniment when trying to be more focused.

Try 'The Study Space' on Scala Radio Premium.

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