For the longest time, I have been jealous of everyone that can listen to their favorite music while studying or doing work. I’ve tried time and time again but somehow I always end up getting distracted by it or find myself accidentally writing the lyrics in the middle of my essays. One day I decided to try listening to classical music and discovered it was perfect for me. With no lyrics and just the sound of instruments playing along, I was able to actually get my work done in peace. I had heard several times that listening to classical music can actually improve your studying but never looked into this idea. In this blog, I will investigate whether this rumor is in fact true or false.
Check out Mozart, what a babe
While researching, I came across this study that involved 249 students wherein they were split into two groups and then attended the same lecture. However, one group listened to classical pieces by composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Bach during it. It was found that when tested afterwards, the group that had listened to classical music scored higher on the test than the group that did not.
According to this article , the reasoning behind this is that classical music’s beat pattern stimulates both the right and left sides of the brain. As a result of this, the brain is able to retain more information easily. Not only that but music can also increase your blood pressure and heart rate, allowing you to concentrate more effectively.
Another interesting factor that can play into improved studying is emotion. This report includes how classical music can stimulate the hypothalamus. This is a region in the brain that controls many functions including emotional activity. I decided to add this in on account that there is a correlation between mood and motivation. If you find yourself in a good mood you may also notice that your drive towards accomplishing something (such as studying or homework) is increased as well. Of course, Andrew would point out that CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION, so it is safe to say that one may not necessarily cause the other, but it is not uncommon to see the two go hand in hand.
Maybe next time you study you’ll consider listening to a little Mozart. If I had told you to try this only based off of my own interesting experience, you probably wouldn’t trust it as much because that would just be considered an anecdote. However my research obviously shows that classical music can help when studying. So don’t just take my word for it, try it out yourself!!
Sources:
–sciencedirect.com/…/pii/S1041608011001762
–classicalforums.com/articles/Music_Brain
–sciencedirect.com/…/pii/S1053811905004052
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Really good post, and the idea of using non-lyrical music when doing highly mental work is something that I can relate to. I generally listen to movie soundtracks when studying because orchestral notes help me concentrate, and classical music just makes me want to sleep. Coincidentally, right now I’m listening to Ariana Grande and having a hard time concentrating on this comment because I just want to sing along to the lyrics that I know. I looked up if I could find something on knowing vs not knowing lyrics affecting mental performance but was unable to find anything on it. The only thing I could find was in agreement with the fact that lyricless music would be better for performance (https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/introducing/publicengagement/workingwithschools/youngscientistsprogramme/pastprojects/does_music_affect_concentration___lola_rigg.pdf) I would still like to see a study in the future about songs people know vs ones they don’t and how that would affect performance!
Jen, I enjoyed the humor in your post. I have also wondered and have heard rumors that classical music can enhance your study and school-related work habits. Although, I do not listen to classical genre, I like to have various artist and styles of music playing on Spotify while I am doing homework or studying. I found a website that list some suggestions for those who wish to try the classical music while studying theory.
http://www.ocweekly.com/music/10-classical-albums-to-listen-to-while-studying-or-writing-6605761