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Effects of Music on the Mind

How does music influence the working of the human mind and brain? What are the effects of music on the mind? Read on to find out.

The study of how music affects the mind has been a subject of interest for many. The interconnection between music and the physical and mental health of human beings has been researched on since long. Research has concluded that music does have positive effects on our mind. It has the power of healing certain ailments. Indian classical music has been found to have the strongest healing powers. Music has a calming effect on the mind. It is known to speed the recovery of health ailments. It helps fight anxiety and has a soothing effect on the brain. Effects of Music on the Mental State Fights Depression: Feeling depressed, gloomy or inadequate? Soothing music can help you. Depression reduces brain activity and hampers the mind's ability to plan and carry out tasks. Lack of the neurotransmitter, Serotonin, results in a depressed state of mind. Soothing musical notes help increase the Serotonin levels of the brain, thus alleviating mental depression. Natural musical notes are known to make the mind alert. Relieves Anxiety : Anxiety is a feeling of fear or uncertainty that clouds your mind and the feeling is mostly about an upcoming event having an unknown outcome. The result is what you are afraid of or worried about. Increased anxiety levels and stress lead to sleeplessness. Prolonged periods of anxiety may even lead to anxiety disorders. But, music can come to rescue. It calms the body nerves and soothes the mind. Flat musical notes induce sleep. Improves Learning Abilities : Music affects the process of learning and thinking. Listening to quiet and soothing music while working helps you work faster and in a more efficient way. Music has the ability to make you positive and feel motivated. Research has shown that music brings about remarkable improvements in the academic skills of students, who are made to listen to certain kinds of music while studying or working in the lab. Listening to pleasant music, while doing a difficult task, can make it seem easier. Boosts Confidence: Music has a positive effect on the interpersonal skills of an individual. Lack of confidence and very less or no desire to learn is most often the reason behind a failure. It's not always inability. Students obtaining poor school grades do not necessarily lack intelligence. It's their disinterest in the subjects or the lack of motivation that leads to poor academic performance. Music lessons during school can help the students fight their mental block. Music proves helpful in

encouraging young children to venture new fields. It increases their capacity to believe in themselves, that is, in boosting confidence. Effects of Music on the Brain Increases Concentration Levels, Improves Memory : It is known that music helps increase your concentration levels. It helps improve memory. It has been found to increase memory levels of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. Research has shown that the silence between two musical notes triggers brain cells which are responsible for the development of sharp memory. Flute music, and instruments like santoor and sarod are recommended for the enhancement of concentration and memory. Classical music improves the ability to recall what's retained in the brain in the form of memory. Strong beats cause the brain waves to resonate in synch with the beat, thus leading to increased levels of concentration and increased mental alertness. This also trains the brain to change speeds of processing easily, as need be. Learning music helps increase self-discipline. Increases Creativity and Problem-solving Skills : Music plays a vital role in enhancing creativity. Music has a positive impact on the right side of the brain. Music triggers brain centers which deal with the enhancement of creativity. Certain ragas are known to activate the chakras of our body, thus giving us an added advantage in other creative tasks. Music increases spatial and abstract reasoning skills. These are the skills required in tackling problems, solving puzzles and taking decisions. Listening to Mozart's music is known to have a positive effect on the spatial-temporal reasoning, simply put, it makes you smarter. Makes Learning Easier: Have you tried learning anything by combining it with music or rhythm? For example, counting with a certain repeating pattern, or learning the alphabet by giving it a tune. Or remember learning poetry by reciting it musically? Didn't that help you learn things faster? Basically you can remember songs because they are musical compositions and not plain words lacking music or rhythm. This is what music does. It makes learning easier. Learning beat patterns (talas ), helps improve math skills. The study of rhythm is known to help students learn math. Music stimulates the brain centers that deal with thinking, analyzing and planning, thus enhancing one's organizational skills. Speeds Healing: Music helps in the secretion of endorphins that help in speeding the process of healing. It acts as an effective distraction from pain and suffering. It not only diverts the mind from pain, but also helps bring about certain chemical changes in the brain that help speed the healing process. Music therapy is recommended for patients of high blood pressure, heart diseases and even cancer. Music is therapeutic in pain management. Listening to melodious, comforting music is sure to have a positive effect on the physical and mental well-being of patients. If not cure every ailment, music definitely creates hope in the minds of patients - a hope to recover. And when nothing else works, only hope does. How does Music Affect your Mood? Some look at music as a hobby; for some music is their passion, while some pursue music as their career. Music has a direct influence on your mood. Book stores, restaurants and shopping malls often keep some music playing in the background. The kind of music they choose to play depends on the kind of audiences they target. Music is found to enhance customer experience. Music in

malls and restaurants peps up customers' mood. People tend to spend more time in the mall or hotel that plays pleasant music. Music brightens up the atmosphere around you and cheers you up. Music can make you cry, music can make you smile; it has a direct impact on your mood. How music affects your mood also depends on what you associate that piece of music with. A tune or a particular song that is in some way related to your childhood can bring back memories. A song you associate something or someone in your life with, can remind you of that person or thing. Negative Effects that Music Can Have For music to have positive effects on the mind and brain, it should be complex enough to involve brain activity. It should be synchronous and generate sound waves that are in tune with the body's internal rhythm. It should be played at a volume the listeners' ears can accept and should have regular beats to have any good effects on the body and mind rhythm and functioning. Here are some of the negative effects of music. Very loud music can disturb the symmetry between the right and left halves of the brain. Loud music results in a disturbed state of mind. Exposure to harsh or disruptive music at an early age can lead to learning disabilities and behavior problems in children. According to a study by Dr. John Diamond, an Australian physician and psychiatrist, body muscles go weak when subjected to the stopped anapestic beat in hard rock music. He also says that shrill frequencies and irregular beats are harmful to the mind and body. Disharmony in music has been shown to reduce retention levels of the brain and lead to aggression and hyperactivity. Heavily repeating musical patterns can lead to feelings of anger and boredom. So, the effects music can have on your mind or brain depend largely on the kind of music you choose to listen to. To experience positive psychological effects of music, you should listen to only good music. A sound which spells melody is good music. It's the sound that has the power of creating a calm. That's the magic of music, I think. Listening to music gives me divine pleasure. What about you? By Manali Oak Last Updated: January 27, 2012 Tweet

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Great article it also helpped me deal with my math class so thats good - Breanna [January 6, 2014] Music and Emotions
The most difficult problem in answering the question of how music creates emotions is likely to be the fact that assignments of musical elements and emotions can never be defined clearly. The solution of this problem is the Theory of Musical Equilibration. It says that music can't convey any emotion at all, but merely volitional processes, the music listener identifies with. Then in the process of identifying the volitional processes are colored with emotions. The same happens when we watch an exciting film and identify with the volitional processes of our favorite figures. Here, too, just the process of identification generates emotions. An example: If you perceive a major chord, you normally identify with the will "Yes, I want to...". If you perceive a minor chord, you identify normally with the will "I don't want any more...". If you play the minor chord softly, you connect the will "I don't want any more..." with a feeling of sadness. If you play the minor chord loudly, you connect the same will with a feeling of rage. You distinguish in the same way as you would distinguish, if someone would say the words "I don't want anymore..." the first time softly and the second time loudly. Because this detour of emotions via volitional processes was not detected, also all music psychological and neurological experiments, to answer the question of the origin of the emotions in the music, failed. But how music can convey volitional processes? These volitional processes have something to do with the phenomena which early music theorists called "lead", "leading tone" or "striving effects". If

we reverse this musical phenomena in imagination into its opposite (not the sound wants to change - but the listener identifies with a will not to change the sound) we have found the contents of will, the music listener identifies with. In practice, everything becomes a bit more complicated, so that even more sophisticated volitional processes can be represented musically. Further information is available via the free download of the e-book "Music and Emotion - Research on the Theory of Musical Equilibration". or on the online journal EUNOMIOS: Enjoy reading Bernd Willimek - Bernd Willimek [December 30, 2013]

Jay Z is the best in the game - Alex Boles [December 17, 2013] very much helpful to me in my presentation.. - Sanober Nadeem [December 1, 2013] *love - BIG D [November 25, 2013] omg this really helped me with speech ! - Jade [November 14, 2013] I loss concentration after listening to loud music. - Aditya [June 16, 2013] What kind music may have bad effects in ones brain or mind? - Bongani Ngema [May 13, 2013] Wow! I Didn't Know That Music...Can Make You Gain All of That!? That's Awesome! TheWWEWrestler [May 6, 2013]

My next door neighbor has been listening to "boom boom boom" for months. Every song sounds
the same. I've had cats for three years. Suddenly she develops an issue with them, and she has been becoming more aggressive and paranoid. I attribute her behavior to what she is putting into her mind. I dread hearing it through my walls. It has a soul-killing effect, is depressing, and lowers my vibration. - Phillip [April 17, 2013]

I lvoe it - Potatop [April 16, 2013] These are so true! - Florence [April 8, 2013]

 I think I'm going to do my senior research paper on this...it's perfect - Miranda [October 10, 2012] I can see how some music makes people get aggressive since I'm one of those many people,
but I've been listening to death metal for a good while now and I've been able to do things slightly faster than usual, I've been more focused, cheery and creative...then again I listen to tons of other genres too XD This article on how music effects the brain helps me out in my research, not stuff for college or any thing like that, but my research. - Fallenhero [July 17, 2012]

Yes good articles... this help me in doing my assignment on EVG(ethics values and governce)gosh i wana say a big thanx to the team...lol - Lechie Lewaravu [July 8, 2012] i love music that touch my feelings thay goes to the lyrics - Lechie [July 8, 2012] i love music .! - Goofy [May 14, 2012] very helpful and now i know alot more ...THANKYOU - Morgan C [May 13, 2012] This was very help full and helped me very much ... thanks :) - Anoumnys [April 30, 2012] Great artcilce. Very helpful! - Giz [March 31, 2012] not that bad - Fuzzbut [March 9, 2012] THIS HELPED ME WITH MY SCIENCE PROJECT A LOT THANK YOU:) - Isabella [February 10,
2012]

CHEEESE! - PICKLE12345 [February 10, 2012] hey mikey love ya come over for some fun - Christa [January 27, 2012] To Tyler Aka TyLeR:
I agree with you entirely. Also- Good article but next time, please cite where you got the data from. It would definitely make the article more believable and less like it was copy-pasted or made up. Thanks. - Michael [January 22,
2012]

 Very interesting article. It definitely helped provide info for an experiment I performed about the effects of music on math worksheet performance. - David [January 22, 2012] thanks, that really hlped my report - Krystal [January 11, 2012] it gives you a sense of pleasure hey giggity giggity goo - Ldkkadka [November 15, 2011] ~(continuation)
Also, I have found supporting research in other places. For others who would like to use this as it is a lot of good information but no citations :*( - Ananomous [November 3, 2011]

~(continuation)
It helped my project loads and loads - Ananomous [November 3, 2011]

When was this last edited, problem with site not the article. Love the article. - Ananomous [November 3,
2011]

i found this really helpful for my school project ! thanks so much :) - Collette Harkin [June 9, 2011] okay - Chloe Smells [June 9, 2011] this really helped for my school paper and i am in elementary! :) thankS! :)) - Miley R [May 12, 2011] its awesome ! can u pls tell wat kind of music we can listen while reading? - T.RITHVIK KUMAR [May 7,
2011]

any suggestions to help solve my problems? i need serious help. I think its becaue i listen to kesha too much which leads to me poopin in my panties.. - Diarrhea [May 2, 2011] I haven't read it yet ha - L [April 21, 2011] Very helpful for my research project. Thank you! - Sydney [April 7, 2011] Thank you! This helped me for my science fair project! :) - Sarah [March 25, 2011] when was this article written? - Daniel Chiappet [March 16, 2011]

 wow love the information ! - Monica [March 2, 2011] There isn't any references or citations included to support any of this nor is there an experiment
presented and/or discussed. I was hoping to maybe use some of this in a paper, but because there is no supporting citations or anything, it would only be a reference to the author's "opinion". Sure there's a lot of good information here, but nothing to even remotely support it as fact. Doesn't hold up very well as far as professors are concerned. Pity. - Disappointed [March 1, 2011]

who wrote this article - Bob [March 1, 2011] i think young people should not listen too much of music - Andy [February 28, 2011] hahahaha lol :) - Ur Mama [January 14, 2011] sweetness - Imani J [January 14, 2011] very cool - Imani [January 14, 2011] this is an amazing article everything i want to hear perfecto - Lucious [January 11, 2011] i tried an experiment with my classmates and averages showed that people that were not
listening to music worked faster that the group of students that were listening to their ipods... - Janie
[January 6, 2011]

I found the concept to be interesting. I read this while listening to the soothing sounds of Little Light by Sam Ock and Clara C. - Emmy [December 30, 2010] amazing specifications - Avo Cado [December 28, 2010] I LOVE THIS ARTICLE. I have a horrible time with concentration, comprehension and memory.
Therefore, I listen to brain concentration music, water relaxation music while studying and before an exam on youtube website, This article will help me continue listening to brain music. THANKS FOR THIS ARTICLE - Vera C [December 19, 2010]

I like cheese. - Hi [December 3, 2010]

 to SeLeNa
why would you write LiKe ThIs it's annoying as hell and who would take the time to capitalize every other letter. im not trying to say youre wrong for doing it, but it just annoys the hell outa me - Tyler Aka TyLeR [December 3, 2010]

hey this is important were did you get your information becase i have a project to do. - Trixie Martin
[November 21, 2010]

how is this exactly ment to be persuasive?

haha FAIL - WattaHead [November 13, 2010]

i think rap music should not be listen to - Unknown [November 2, 2010] cool article but when was it downloaded - Wee Wee [October 6, 2010] i think that this is a great article for projects reports and just genaral information - Morgan [October 3,
2010]

This article has absolutely no cited content. "Surveys have shown that..."-- what surveys? Do
you mean "research"? -What research? If you are going to write intelligent content, please remember to read the research and cite it in your entries. - Jennifer [August 30, 2010]

This article has absolutely no cited content. "Surveys have shown that..."-- what surverys? Do
you mean "research"? -What research? If you are going to write intelligent content, please remember to read the research and cite it in your entries. - Jennifer [August 30, 2010]

This article is informative and i believe much of it to be true. however, i am subject to believe
much of what is stated in this article to be opinionated and without backbone, as said by Karl in a previous comment. Include citations and i as well as others will be more liable to take this information more seriously. - MusikFreakk [May 19, 2010]

i think iloveyou. - Tator [May 10, 2010] Thank you for writing this article! I think people should know how the music they are listening to is
effecting them. Hopefully it will make them think twice about what they are allowing to enter their mind. - Lil'butterfly14 [May 7, 2010]

 Cut the malarchy - My Name [April 15, 2010] This article is amazing! I'm extremely passionate about music, so this is such a great place to
begin to understand what kind of effects music has on human emotions. Thank you for posting this! =) - Michelle Ann [April 14, 2010]

this is great =) - Jake [April 14, 2010] Include citations, would you? Who knows what false information you're planting in our minds? YOU BRAINWASHER [April 7, 2010]

awesome information... - Aditya Shanker [March 11, 2010] this is a good article to reasearch in. - Erika [March 3, 2010] As a college student, I am understanding the claims you are making as erroneous. They are
without backbone, and I would accuse you of obfuscation. Include citations. Specifically: "Flat musical notes induce sleep, while natural notes provide the mind with alertness." "Certain ragas are known to activate all the chakras of the listeners body, thus benefiting him/her in the performance of other creative tasks." "Research has found that the silence between two musical notes triggers the brain cells and neurons, which are responsible for the development of sharp memory. Flute music, and instruments like santoor and sarod are recommended for the enhancement of concentration and memory." - Karl [March 2, 2010]

music does have a effect on your mind but it does not effect it in any bad way.People have been
listing to all type of music sence they began.there has been no reports ever in any news or anything about people going out and killing people or doing what the music says.Rap has been blamed for main things like killings,shooting,and many more things but its not the music its just the people. - Dr. Phil Rogers [February 19, 2010]

rad now when i wanna bring my i phone 2 skool i m not gonna b in trouble 4 listening to music Whodouthinkitis [February 12, 2010]

This article helped me a lot for my Science Experiment! Thanks! - Elizabeth [February 8, 2010]

 Great, very helpful. But I'm still curious about the effects of different genres (apart from classical. i.e. punk, heavy metal, jazz, funk etc). - The Music Ninja [February 3, 2010] cool i like it no i have a project topic to do :) :) :) - Halley [January 17, 2010] this article is very informative thanks for the help because im sure to get an a on my project . :) Courtny [January 17, 2010]

this is freat but do you know how it affects your concentration? - Emily [December 14, 2009] what music makes you angry - Chad Ludswick [December 14, 2009] who wrote this article and what is the date of access? - Jane [December 9, 2009] really good info for my project thank you for having this! - Abby [December 1, 2009] This article you wrote is really helpful for me than any other article that I've read for the past
month I've been researching! Thank you very much! Because of you I know I can get an A! - Ashley
[November 22, 2009]

Thank you for writing this. Im currently writing a paper and it helped me to understand further the affects of music. - Rachelle [November 17, 2009] really helpful for me because i really like music as well...and i dont know how music will effect my life..thanks to you... - Abdul Mutalib [September 9, 2009] Yes,music is a brain healer and gives a positive vibration to anyone who listen to it.Life would be dull and lifeless without music. - Shals [July 26, 2009] I am doing a report on music and how it affects us, and this article has really helped Thanks! - Adam D [April 23, 2009] This really helped me with my science project! - Taylor [March 8, 2009] how does music affect concentration? - Elizabeth [March 6, 2009]

 very very very well written article. Very informative! - Sage [February 13, 2009] interesting
NOW I GOT EXCUSE FOR LISTENING TO MY MP3 IN SCHOOL! :P XD - Andres [January 12, 2009]

add project ideas - Andres [January 12, 2009] ThIs aRtIcAl iS ThE bEsT eVeR...
I gOT AlOt Of rEsErCh fOr mY ReSeRcH PaPeR... fOr sCiEnCe FaIr! :]]]]]]]]]]] - SeLeNa. [December 16, 2008]

this artical is really good i found a lot of good information. for my research paper... - Alyssa [December 11, 2008] Wow! This article was awesome! Now I know why I can concentrate so well while I'm doing something creative and listening to my mp3! - Anonymous [November 18, 2008] Good Article! - Jo Mama [November 4, 2008]

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