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The Effects of Music
Group 6:
Nathan Bowles
Josh French
Matt McNaul
Ross Piermarini
Paige Vickerman
Anna Wu
EDP 101B
Music is an important part of our everyday lives. We hear music almost everywhere we
are, whether it’s in the car, in a restaurant, or just walking around anywhere with an Ipod. Music
affects us in so many ways, many of which we don’t even recognize. Some of the most
influential and important things music affects is our learning, society, people, brain, mood, and
stress.
How Music Affects Learning (Ross Piermarini)
Music has a great impact on our ability to learn and retain information. This is because
certain types of music, mostly those which have 60 beat per minute patterns, activate both the
left and right hemispheres of our brains. This is important because the brain is most powerful
when both sides of it are working at the same time. When both hemispheres are activated, our
learning potential is maximized and so is our ability to retain information. Thus, when we study
to music such as Mozart, which has a 60 beat per minute pattern, we are more likely to retain
more information and keep it in our memory for a longer period of time. For example, Dr.
George Lozanov did a study where he taught students a foreign language while they were
listening to music that had a 60 beats per minute pattern. Dr. Lozanov was able to teach students
an entire semesters worth of vocabulary in just one day due to the increased learning potential
from the use of both sides of the brain at the same time. Not only did his students learn more
information in a quicker period of time than normal students, but they also had a 92% retention
rate. This means that their ability to learn new information was increased and so was their
memory. Listening to music isn’t the only way to activate both hemispheres of the brain though.
Musical activities, such as playing an instrument and singing also activate both sides of
the brain. This is why when we are very young, we learn the ABC’s through singing. It helps us
learn them faster and it is easier to remember because both sides of our brain are activated by the
singing. Taking part in such activities improves the brains ability to learn. A study by the
Association for Physcological Science showed that test scores were higher for students who took
keyboard or singing lessons, than those who didn’t. Also, a group of boys aged 6-15 with
musical training scored higher on a memory test than students who had never taken any musical
lessons.
Music is an important aspect of human life. It is used in almost every culture around the
world and has been for some time. Music has an effect on us unlike many other things in life.
Not only can music put us in a better mood and make us feel good but it also helps with learning
and memory. Music allows for the brain to reach maximum learning potential and allows for us
to retain more information for a longer period of time.
How music affects society (Josh French)
The society that we know and live in today has undoubtedly been affected by music in
one way or another. It would be ignorant to say that music has played no role in society and
never will. Being known as the “melting pot” means a variety of different cultures make up
American society which in turn means a variety of different music.
Folk music in the 1960’s is one example of how music has helped shape our society to
what it is today. The Civil movement was taking place during this time and people wrote music
about this in order to express their opinion. By people listening to this music, they were
influenced by the songs message which helped shape their view on the subject.
The Vietnam war was also a highly debated topic of this time period which led people to
make music in order to voice their opinion regarding the issue. This music contributed to
societies overall view of the war and perhaps influenced Richard Nixon to pull the troops out of
Vietnam.
Music also affects society in the sense of what we look at as entertainment. Ever since
Woodstock, concerts have been looked at as something that we the people are willing to spend
money on to attend. Society spending money on concerts as well purchasing CD’s boosts the
economy which is clearly an effect of music.
While there are many positive effects of music on society, it can also be argued that
music has a negative effect on the children of our society. People doing drugs, people killing
others, and self-mutilation are all themes of some songs that kids of America listen to. Some say
that these song’s themes influence children in a negative manner and do not promote a healthy
future.
An example of a negative effect of music could be the incident in which eighteen year
old, Phillip Morton, hung himself in his closet (av1611). Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall” was
playing in the background during his death. Songs such as Goodbye Cruel World and Waiting
for the Worms were on this album and it can be argued that these songs influenced young Phillip
Morton to do what he did.
But that’s what music does. It influences us. Whether the influence is good or bad, the
music will take its effect on us, and that is why we listen to it. So once again I will make my
point clear. Music does have an effect on society. It can be argued either way but I believe the
majority of Americans would say that the effect of music is that of a positive one.
How music affects people (Paige Vickerman)
For as long as man has lived on this earth, music has been a vital part of the culture,
lifestyle and memory process. Ancient cultures used music as a mnemonic device to keep stories
and myths and tall tales in their minds.
People can use music to incite themselves to perform at a high level. They may use a
favorite song to bring your energy and emotions to the front of your mind. Chanting at sporting
events places the athletes in a more psyched up mood for their game. There are also political
rallies that use chants to bring the crowd to their feet and clap and allow them to connect to the
candidate. Music can lift people’s spirits and alter their state of mind anywhere from a
melancholy or sad to excited state. Music can also soothe someone’s temper. (Levitin)
A personal favorite song can stimulate the adrenaline in a persons system and get them to
move faster. Theme songs from action movies seem to provoke powerful responses where
people also feel like they can indeed take on the world. Some famous examples of soundtracks
that make peoples adrenaline rise are Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and “Eye of the
Tiger” from Rocky III.
According to the American Music Therapy Association, music is therapeutic and
uplifting for a wide variety of conditions. It can be used as help with certain physical
rehabilitation facilities and assisting people with disabilities. Music therapy can help to ease the
pains and troubles that happen during chemotherapy. Music can lower anxiety or lift a depressed
person's spirit. Insomniacs can also use music to help themselves sleep. As cited by
the American Cancer Society, music is quite obviously not able to cure cancer or any type of
chronic disease, but it can be used to have relieve aches and reduce symptoms while enhancing a
patient's joy and general wellbeing. (Staum)
Autism Research Institute published a paper demonstrating the clinical use of music in
assisting autistic children with speech therapy. Key questions and answers were set to music,
and over time the music would no longer be required for the child to react with the appropriate
response to each question. With music therapy recognized today as a medical tool, colleges in
most states and Canada are offering bachelor's degrees in the field. As a result, some are even
pursuing careers in music thanatology to help hospice and terminal patients and their loved ones.
(Staum)
Music is a way of expressing a thought or thoughts about something or someone in a
certain melody. Music is something that can be enjoyable, relaxing, heart throbbing, and can
provide people with so many other emotions. So in a way music can “set” your mood. Music
can affect a person’s attitude towards people, animals, and everything else. It depends on the
person on how they react to certain types of music. One person listening to classical music may
be happy and soothed, while the person sitting next to them may be bored and agitated that they
have to listen to this song. (Levitin)
Music has an effect on every single aspect of some people's lives. Rap, for example, can
exemplify the true meaning of this argument. Some kids who listen to rap talk like rappers, dress
like rappers, and may treat women the way that they see rappers treat women. Music can be
used as a way to express oneself.
Music can unlock and evoke powerful religious emotion. The church has a century old
history of music in their worship. The medieval church recognized the ties between music and
our emotions and composed hymns for God. These songs tended to echo the words of God. The
Apostle Paul suggested encouraging oneself or other Christians to incorporate worship through
song and cantors help to guide their congregations through song. (King James Bible) Most of all
words and worship in Judaism is set to beautiful vocal music. In Islam, the muezzin, the crier
who invites Muslims to worship five times daily, must sing his calls. This person usually has a
saddened quality in their voice.
Most everyone understands how music becomes elegant in courtship and romance. A
piece of music heard even once might be forever joined to a personal sense of place and
powerful sense memories. People chose a wedding song due to the lyrics, but also the melody.
Certain songs can capture an entire vacation, or long car ride. Even if a person hears a song 5
years later they can still go back to that one moment they had with those people.
Music is powerful at an individual level because it can create multiple responses and it
can release people’s deepest emotions. As people get older, their taste in music develops and
changes. As children, they seem to like more innocent, quiet music; usually what parents
provide. When entering the teen years, they start to appreciate music that expresses a little more
emotion, such as punk, rap, rock or hip-hop. When entering the adult hood stages, there is still an
appreciation for the music that was listened to when at a younger age, and that music grows older
as people age. The next generation might not appreciate the music that was listened to. The
reason a person’s taste in music changes is because they have different emotions throughout
different times in our lives. Music is a very strong type of personal expression.
How music affects the brain (Matt McNaul)
While music may have a larger effect on the right brain hemisphere, there is no music
center of the brain. Different types of music can engage either hemisphere as well as different
parts all over the brain. While some brain circuits only act in response to music, others share
roles. For example, the part of the brain concerning perfect pitch is also active in speech
perception. The right side of the cortex is crucial for perceiving pitch as well as pieces of
melody, harmony, timbre, and rhythm. Just as with words, the left side of the brain is good at
processing rapid changes in frequency and intensity. However, both hemispheres must be
working together to completely understand rhythm. (Baker, 2007)
The specific sets of neurons involved in perceiving and reacting to music depend on the
type of music stimulus. Depending on whether someone is listening to music, whether it is
lyrical, and whether they actually play it themselves, different networks of neurons are activated.
(Lemonick, 2000)
A study led by Christo Pantev of the University of Muenster’s Institute of Experimental
Audiology in Germany has shown an enlargement of parts of the cerebral cortex due to rigorous
practice of a musical instrument. The cerebral cortex is also associated with higher levels of
brain function. Additionally, music has been shown to affect the levels of certain hormones in
the body. These include cortisol, testosterone, oxytocin, and endorphins which are involved in
arousal and stress, aggression and arousal, nurturing behavior, and euphoria respectively.
(Lemonick, 2000)
Music has been seen to lower blood pressure in certain situations and may even increase
the heart’s oxygen consumption efficiency. Music is often used in conjunction with drugs to
help control the erratic changes in blood pressure in patients after going through a heart bypass
surgery. Music has also been shown to help premature babies gain weight faster than they would
if they were placed in silence. (HARVARD)
A team of researchers at Stanford University using, fMRI brain scans of people listening
to music, showed that music affects the areas of the brain that control paying attention, making
predictions, and updating events in memory. Interestingly, brain activity was at its highest in test
subjects when there were a few moments of silence between pieces of music. This study focused
its attention on how the brain sorts out events stores them in meaningful segments after first
breaking them up into smaller chunks based on transitions. This process is called segmentation.
Researchers were able to visibly determine which areas of the brain are activated by transitions
from different types of music. When a new piece of music starts, following a brief pause, the
right side of the brain is busy with activity. Initially, the ventral fronto-temporal network is
activated, followed by the change being noticed when dorsal fronto-pariental network being
activated. Once the music starts after the pause, working memory is updated. The idea behind
this is that our brains have anticipations about what will come next, and when these anticipations
are defied, such as due to a period of silence, the brain becomes more active to take notice. This
can be related to the old study trick of taking breaks after shorter periods of studying. The
thought is that students remember the beginning and end of studied material better than the rest.
So creating more beginning and ends by breaking it up helps students remember more. This
likely happens due to a similar mechanism to the way working memory is updated during
musical transitions. (Baker, 2007)
How music affects mood (Nathan Bowles)
Music is something that a lot of people listen to calm them or to get their blood pressure
up for activities, or what a lot of people call it is getting hyped up. Music effect’s your mind and
or mood in so many ways. Athletes are a big example on how music affects your mind. For
physical sports, players listen to music that is hardcore to get pumped up or something soft and
pleasant to keep their body relaxed. It does not matter how old you are, music does the same to
you since you have been a little kid playing sports. Always listening to your favorite songs
before you play your game or an individual competition like boxing can help. If you have ever
been to college athletics or a professional game, all of the players have their songs to walk out
on. Baseball players hear this song as they walk up to the batter’s box and the pitchers hear this
song as they warm up when they first come in. This song is usually to get your mind in that
warrior phase or to calm you down mentally to stay calm. There is so much adrenalin that runs
through your body just because the spotlight is on you and you are really jacked up about it.
As an athlete, I picked that song that has the really good beat and the lyrics are the ones
that everyone will listen to and hear. It is always the song that catches everyone’s ear and the
song that I always choose is something I can relate to. It puts me in that mood where no one can
stop me no matter how hard they try or what they do. Walking up to the plate, hearing that song
that means something to you, puts that much more fire into you at the moment of competition.
Mentally it also calms you down in a way. For me it is just confidence to the fullest. I feel like I
am unstoppable.
For people that are not athletes, your mood is altered a lot by music. People that go
through depression, people that feel like outsiders, or the world is about to end, etc. The music
choice is usually soft and depressing as well. Destruction songs are another thing that can be
chosen also. The anger built up inside one can be released through that music. The hardcore
music that talks about killing, death, running away, committing crimes, and so on will suffice
very easy. Everyone just has their own ways of dealing with different things.
Music is a way out in my life. When I get in different moods my headphones are always
in on full blast where no one can get my attention. I listen to every kind of music but it just
depends on my mood. Every genre has the songs that will just relax you or get you hyped up.
Some songs are made for sorrow for when you lose a loved one or someone that is really close to
you. Songs for remembering someone is something a lot of people always have. And a lot of
times that person you lost has their favorite song as well. This song would probably turn into a
song you listen to when you’re down on yourself. The song could make you happy because it
reminds you of memories, or it could just make you think back on something that someone has
said to you that makes you happy. It all depends on you and who you are. For me I have my
favorite song for every genre. And those are my ways out.
How music affects stress (Anna Wu)
When you get inside your car, start the ignition, put on your seatbelt, do you press the
little button that says "Power" to listen to your favorite song? As you're driving on the road and
going home, do you start singing and hitting the beats with your steering wheels? Music is one of
the most fascinating inventions created by humans. Not only is music fun to hear and dance to, it
also can save your life.
Music therapy is therapy that uses theories of music, musical acoustics, musicology and
other musical related themes to create a soothing environment away from stressors. According to
the American Music Therapy Association, they believe that music therapy interventions can
"promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, express feelings, enhance memory, improve
communication, and promote physical rehabilitation" ("Music Theraoy Makes a Difference"). It
benefits because it relieves stress and helps patients with emotional, physical, and mental stress.
In fact, "music’s form and structure can bring order and security to disabled and distressed
children. It encourages coordination and communication, so improves their quality of life"
("Research on Music").In addition, "music therapy significantly reduces emotional distress and
boosts quality of life among adult cancer patients"("Research on Music"). According to
PsychCenteral, "A Cochrane Systematic Review found that listening to music could decrease
blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of anxiety in heart patients. Living with heart disease is
extremely stressful. The uncertainties and anxieties surrounding diagnosis and the various
medical procedures involved in treatment can significantly worsen the condition. For example,
stress can increase blood pressure, leading to increased risk of complications. Music listening
may help to alleviate stress and therefore reduce this risk."("Music Relieves Stress").
But you don't need music therapy to help you relieve stress you can listen to your favorite
music. Have you ever been waiting for that red light on the intersection to turn green and when it
finally does, you step on the gas pedal and a red convertible comes zooming by, cutting you off,
and almost hits your precious car? After you roll down the window to flick the guy off or mutter
new names for the guy, do you push that button that says "power" to listen to your favorite
music? Doesn't it feel nice as the music slowly soothes your rage away? According to
About.Com, listening to music while paying bills is beneficial because "[music] can help take
your mind off of financial stress you may be feeling, and make the task more enjoyable" ("Music
and Stress Relief: How To Use Music In Your Daily Life"). People think that they listening to
music while doing a difficult task is a waste of time but it actually takes the stressors away and
thus increasing productivity.
How does it exactly relieve stress from your body? Well it targets different points in the
body such as breathing, it causes your breath to slow and deepen. When you listen to your
favorite tune, it "increases serotonin. Often called the "feel good" chemical, serotonin is a
neurotransmitter in our brains that affects our feelings of happiness, comfort and
relaxation."("How Music Relieves Stress"). It also helps lower blood pressure and you get a
slower heart rate as a result of steady breathing. Human beings may be comforted by music as a
cause of being in our mother's womb and listening to the steady heartbeat and feeling comfort
and warmth. As a result, steady music and beats calms us down.
As you can see, music plays a large role in most aspects of life. These aspects include
learning, society, people, brain, moods, and stress as demonstrated in this project. Next time you
are listening to music, try to think about how this effects you and the people around you.
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