Solving A Problem, Or Cheating On A Test?

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Did I cheat on a test, or was I just extremely brilliant in my thinking? Some years ago when i was in high school, I struggled with understanding Shakespere. Unfortunately the books of his we were forced to read would play a major part in our final exam for the year. Nervous about how I'd make the grade, i came up with a great idea. A little background. I have extremely sensitive hearing, and perfect pitch. White noise drives me nuts, and ear plugs only cause me to hear the blood rushing in my head, so in certain situations in school I was allowed to listen to music on my headphones. One of my preferences was wordless classical music, so my teachers did not see this as a distraction. In the weeks leading up to the exam, our school was under construction, and there was loud and distracting noise in the classroom where I took my class, and would later take the exam. The teacher gave me permission to listen to music with strict conditions, during the exam. Looking back, "condition" is he perfect word to describe what I did next, and the delightful pun was definitely intended. Prior to the exam, I picked a CD of classical music, I'd pop linto my diskman on the day of the exam. This was 1998, before iPods. For the week leading up to the exam, I listened to that album ONLY while studying Shakespeare. My thought was that I'd eventually come to associate the music with what I was reading, much in the way Pavlov's dogs associated the bell with food. No one would be the wiser, because I would not divulge this information, and all the teacher knew was that I was listening to wordless music to drown out the noise. After a week of studying in this manner, I took the exam, and passed with flying colours!!!!!!! My question is this. Did a struggling student cheat on an exam, or did I find ways to feet two birds with one crumb, eliminating the noise around me, and finding a way to help me recall what little I could understand of Shakespeare? I already know my own thoughts on this matter, but I'm curious to hear how others see this.