Which genre will be your study date?

Throughout my years of schooling I was never the girl that could listen to music while I did school work. I found it distracting, overbearing, and downright annoying to have people belting out notes through my earbuds, as I attempted to focus on the words in front of me. That was until I came to college. It has been hard to find a perfectly quiet spot on campus, and if i do find it, I am left alone sitting in the silence thinking about everything but what I am supposed to be doing. This being said, I often find myself in high populated places. Whether it is crowded study rooms, annoying pests in the library, or roommates who never slept, I find it easier to focus when I have a constant, but not too distracting, beat playing in my head. Everyone is different and listening to music while studying may be beneficial to some, but definitely not all.

When sitting down to complete my assignments I have a large range of genres, specific artists, and songs to choose from. Based on articles I’ve read and studies shown, the best genre to listen to is classical. Classical composers such as Beethoven, Back, Brahms, and Mozart all fall under this category. Allison Engel from the University of Southern California says, “A number of academic studies recently zeroed in on classical music, showing that 
listening benefits the brain, sleep patterns, the immune system and stress levels — all helpful when 
facing those all-important end-of-semester tests.” I know that I have found myself studying in my room stressed by the amount of school work I have, but when I put on my “6 Hours of The Best Beethoven – Classical Music Piano Studying Concentration Playlist” on YouTube, I find it easier to focus, and I am more relaxed and aware of what I need to accomplish.

“The Mozart effect” refers to a set of research results indicating that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as “spatial-temporal reasoning and abilities.” Copious studies have been done on this research. In a recent study that was conducted on arousal, mood, and the Mozart Effect, the question was posed of people doing better on tests after listening to music composed by Mozart. Participants of this study completed a test of special abilities after the listening to music or sitting in silence. While measuring enjoyment, arousal, and mood, the subjects listened to a Mozart sonata, which is an enjoyable and lively piece, while others listening to Albinoni adagio, a down tempo and gloomy piece. In conclusion, the study proved that the tasks performed by the subjects were significantly better after listening to Mozart than after they sat in silence. However, for the Albinoni group, there was no effect on the way the subjects performed their tasks. Ultimately stating that listening to Mozart is beneficial to the way that students focus while listening.

On the other hand, there are some people who say listening to any music at all is not beneficial to students while completing their work. Arguing “silence is golden,” David Cutler of Brandeis University has a different view on studying and listening to music, based on a lecture he sat in on led Dr. Nick Perham. Perham argues that “Improved performance has more to do with the preference of sound one listened to before engaging in such work.” Perham also argues that classical music may help, but listening to music with lyrics and strong beats can be one of the most harmful things to do while studying.

In conclusion, everyone has varying opinions based on listening to music while studying or not. In the end, listening to music or not is all preference and is determined solely by the individual. Take me for example, I used to hate it, and now I love being accompanied by classical composers while I complete the mountains of work given to me as a college student!

studying-with-music

Sources:

https://www.examtime.com/blog/music-for-studying/

https://news.usc.edu/71969/studying-for-finals-let-classical-music-help/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect

Click to access 248.full.pdf

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/dont-listen-music-while-studying-david-cutler