Listening to music can be entertaining, and some research suggests that it might even make you healthier. Music can be a source of pleasure and contentment, but there are many other psychological benefits as well. Music can relax the mind, energise the body, and even help people better manage pain.
The notion that music can influence your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours probably does not come as much of a surprise. If you've ever felt pumped up while listening to your favourite fast-paced rock anthem or been moved to tears by a tender live performance, then you easily understand the power of music to impact moods and even inspire action.
1) Music Can Reduce Stress
It has long been suggested that music can help reduce or manage stress. Consider the trend centred on meditative music created to soothe the mind and inducing relaxation.
participants took part in one of three conditions before being exposed to a stressor and then taking a psychosocial stress test. Some participants listened to relaxing music, others listened to the sound of rippling water, and the rest received no auditory stimulation.
2) Music Can Help You Eat Less
The researchers suggest that music and lighting help create a more relaxed setting. Since the participants were more relaxed and comfortable, they may have consumed their food more slowly and have been more aware of when they began to feel full.
You might try putting this into practice by playing soft music at home while you eat dinner. By creating a relaxing setting, you may be more likely to eat slowly and, therefore, feel fuller sooner.
3) Music Can Improve Your Memory
Lots of students enjoy listening to music while they study, but is that such a great idea? Some feel like listening to their favourite. music as they study improves memory, while others contend that it simply serves as a pleasant distraction.
Research suggests that it may help. But it depends upon a variety of factors, including the type of music, the listener's enjoyment of that music, and even how musically well-trained the listener may be.
In one study, musically naive students learned better when listening to positive music, possibly because these songs elicited more positive emotions without interfering with memory formation.
However, musically trained students tended to perform better on learning tests when they listened to neutral music, possibly because this type of music was less distracting and easier to ignore. If you tend to find yourself distracted by music, you may be better off learning in silence or with neutral tracks playing in the background.
4) Music Can Improve Motivation
There is a good reason why you find it easier to exercise while you listen to music. Researchers have found that listening to fast-paced music motivates people to work out harder.
One experiment designed to investigate this effect tasked 12 healthy male students with cycling on a stationary bike at self-paced speeds. On three different trials, the participants biked for 25 minutes at a time while listening to a playlist of six different popular songs of various tempos.
Unknown to the listeners, the researchers made subtle differences to the music and then measured performance. The music was left at a normal speed, increased by 10%, or decreased by 10%.
5) Music Can Improve Endurance and Performance
Another important psychological benefit of music lies in its ability to boost performance. While people have a preferred step frequency when walking and running, scientists have discovered that the addition of a strong, rhythmic beat, such as fast paced musical track, could inspire people to pick up the pace.
Runners are not only able to run faster while listening to music; they also feel more motivated to stick with it and display greater endurance. The ideal tempo for workout music is somewhere between 125 and 140 beats per minute.
6) Music Has A Positive Influence On Youth
“We are all struggling right now and that’s okay,” Hannah says. “As time passes so will it (meaning the pandemic). There are so many memories you can make during this time.”
Hannah was very quiet as a young child. When she was eight, however, she discovered that she was comfortable expressing herself with very loud musical theatre. She says she was taught, “Whatever you have going on in your life, use that, harness it, and put meaning in your singing.”
Hannah has been busy singing in the garage, sometimes accompanying herself with a ukulele, and playing upbeat tunes in the car. Just as often, she’s listening to slow melancholy songs such as “Grow as We Go” by Ben Platt, relating to the message that you don’t have to be alone when you are going through changes and becoming who you are as a person. Hannah connects daily with her three closest friends and laughs as she mentions that she is constantly talking on the phone. At night, she drowns her thoughts with the steady beats of lo-fi music.
Negative Effects of Music on Kids
Some studies indicate that children who are allowed to listen to music containing sexually explicit lyrics such as some rap music, violent music or heavy metal music have a tendency to be more emotionally charged, depressed, emotionally confused and sometimes even suicidal or homicidal.
Many people would argue this theory as in our society, there are many genres of music that advocate abrasive, loud, and over-stimulating songs.
That said, one thing that should be addressed regarding kids' music is lyrics. Children who are exposed to the above kinds of music will definitely be stimulated but will the stimulation have a good effect or a bad effect? Children tend to remember everything they hear so being exposed to inappropriate language or music that promotes violence or racial slurs can influence children to adopt this kind of attitude.
Even certain levels of tonality in music can have a detrimental effect on children. It’s said that the shrill screeching of guitars or other instruments in heavy metal music can have a disquieting effect on children exposed to it and can cause nervousness, anxiety, and depression. While advocates claim that they seem to be "tuning it out," another theory is that they are retreating into an avoidant place and it may, in fact, be damaging their psyche.
