sometimes i invite her to go the room. She uses a portable pc, so not a big problem. Perhaps i am not so nice always…
however i never listen more than 1 hour continuously. If doing something else, the music is switched off.
I do a job that some see as stressful but I am a laid back person so I never really get that, but I cant sit still. As I get older I am feeling a bit more tired than I used to and my running/cycling times are getting longer/slower … I drive my wife mad sometimes as I am always “on the go” but the one thing I do that I sit down and in her words “chill” is listening to music. For a happy marriage I try and do it as much as I can 
It is the ONLY thing thing that has that effect on me.
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Errr … probably not wrong !
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Are you sure you didn’t mean solace rather than solitude?
Mike is very clear what he means and I’m not sure picking at his words really helps. Solace is something rather different in any event. It’s a really interesting topic, whatever its title.
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I was just trying to understand what emotion Mike was seeking to portray. There is quite a difference between simply getting some peace and quiet and ‘chilling out’, and consciously isolating oneself from others and turning in on oneself.
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Mike was clear “ finding solitude in music as finding peace”. Peace is something more open than solace. It’s an openness to the world with a freedom of congested mind.
We all need to be connected to ourselves deeply, instead of searching infinite outside distractions.
I know, some will answer “ om mani padme hum”…
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Most times when out seeing a band concert or performer, there is that few minutes of uncomfortableness and being conscious of changing my experience of listening.
There is a local chap who we go and watch quite often in packed boozers. He is incredibly talented and plays all the usual classics and some oddities using just his vocal, stomp box and an acoustic guitar. The first few minutes I usually find myself welling up with strong emotions and having a hot flush. After which I loosen up and start smiling 
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I think of ‘solitude’ as meaning being alone, often meant physically, but can mean mentally when in tne presence of others. And whilst some people view solitude as negative, it has never had that connotation for me unless except where someone is forced into unwanted solitude by circumstances beyond their control.
Solitude to me can be a time for one’s own thoughts - introspection if you like - never a bad thing! Depending on what I am doing with the time in solitude, music can be an important part - but not exclusively so: E.g. going for a long walk on my own, or a walk accompanied by others but not engaging in idle chatter, I never drown out the sounds of the environment with music. But sitting at home In solitude, or perhaps on a plane journey, music can be a very stimulating factor, whether something cathartic through a traumatic or depressing subject, or something joyful in itself. Prog rock and classical music are particularly good for introspection!
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Which came first, your inability to listen for long, or your taste in music? The two may be related! Try good prog rock or classical: with them there the hours disappear and you wonder where the time went! 
From a more serious angle, do you find it tiring to listen for long? If so, the limiting may be something to do with your system.
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i am completely involved and concentrated when i listen to music. Sometimes 2 hours but in general 1 hour by session. It may be 1 hour on morning and 1 hour on evening.
I don’t find at all it can be tiring. It’s just like that that i like to enjoy the music. At 100% during 1 hour or 1 hour and half.
I like to diversify my pleasures.
I am walking in woods maybe 12 hours per week, watching maybe 15 hours movies, serial, documentary, reading a few hours per week, going to sauna, and cooking every day. You know all now 
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How many hours trawling for images?
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you can add 2 hours per day on the forum…you are right.
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We all agree that there’s little point in getting a high-end system if you fiddle around while listening to music. “Solitude in music”, of course (and solitude is the correct word) but also music in solitude - not in loneliness.
To quote Purcell (I don’t know who actually wrote the words):
O Solitude
O solitude, my sweetest choice!
Places devoted to the night,
Remote from tumult and from noise,
…but not remote from music.
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wow Xanthe , that was a very honest post , glad it helps with the negative thoughts because suicide is a huge problem in men and anything that helps is very important .
I really enjoy lyrics that are uplifting like eric bibb and larry norman . songs that give you encouragement . one of my favourite is this
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…err, wrong gender! 
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Suicide is a big problem, full stop. In women, men …and, even sadder, in children.
Anything that helps push kill the negative thoughts, or even just push them back in the corner, is good, and music does indeed seem to have this ability - it is an amazing human phenomenon, and maybe what is needed is more music in many people’s lives.
[Edit - I had to edit because Apple changed my typing of ‘suicide’ to ‘solitude’, a particularly unfortunate substitution given the thread subject!]
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I enjoy spending time with friends/loved ones, but also enjoy time on my own. When alone, music is very important to me, it gives me great pleasure, and after an evening with music, I feel like myself, well centred.
When my wife died in 2016, the love of my close friends and family was the most important thing, but after that came music, it centred me and gave me peace, whether. Beethoven Quartet or a Bowie album, great music helped me stay together.
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