PLAYING MUSIC TO RELIEVE STRESS IN A COLLEGE

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
E ileen F errer
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University

P olong L ew
Los Angeles Chinatown Senior Citizen Center

S arah M . J ung
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University

E milia J aneke
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University

M ichelle G arcia
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University

C indy P eng
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University

G eorge P oon
Los Angeles Chinatown Senior Citizen Center

VlNISHA RATHOD
S haron B eckwith
C hick F. T am
School o f Kinesiology and Nutrition Science, California State University
Music therapy can be an effective treatment that prevents stress from
contributing to the etiology of disease. For this study, the participants,
college students enrolled in an annual Alternative Nutrition class at
California State University, Los Angeles, were instructed to select a
song to present during class. After listening to each song selection,
participants provided written feedback based on a 9-question survey.
Self-perceived stress was measured using a Likert scale from 1 to 10,
with 10 being the highest level of stress. Microsoft Excel 2007 Data
Analysis, was used to calculate t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Meansat
a 5% significance level (a <0.05), and Descriptive Statistics to deter
mine standard deviation with a confidence level for mean at 95%. Re
sults across all four years were statistically significant, demonstrating
overall stress reduction in the study sample. The authors recognize that
the study sample was derived from a population known to be partic
ularly vulnerable to stress. However, beyond the college population,
listening to music can benefit anyone subject to the effects of stress.
Keywords: music therapy, college, stress, stress-reduction, relaxation
techniques

481

482 / College Student Journal

Introduction
Time spent in college can be a priceless
experience, but it can also be a stressful
one. In recent years, the academic circle has
noted stress to be an important topic of in
terest, due to the many stresses of daily life
(Agolla & Ongori, 2009). There are a variety
of reasons students experience stress, which
may include: being away from home for the
first time; trying to balance the demands of
classes, work, extracurricular activities, and
a social life; the pressure to perform well
academically. Even though some of these
may be perceived as positive changes, any
departure from a familiar routine can bring
about some degree of stress (Richlin-Klonsky & Hoe, 2003).
Some students may not know how to ef
fectively cope with the demands of college
life. As a result, having severe and/or pro
longed stress may lead to reduced academic
performance. This type of stress can poten
tially hinder a students level of contribution
and participation in campus life, and increas
es the likelihood of substance abuse and oth
er destructive behaviors (Ross, Neibling &
Hecker, 1999). Coping with unhealthy stress
begins with recognizing the signs of building
stress levels and the stressors that cause them.
While stress can be caused by external events,
the events themselves may not necessarily be
stressful. In fact, it is the way in which an
individual interprets and reacts to a stressor
that is responsible for producing stress (Busari, 2012). Consequently, although various
methods exist to help college students cope
with stress, the appropriate method must be
selected for the individual.
According to Romano (1992), the inter
actions between an individuals perception
and reaction to stressors are what result in
stress. While many may be unaware of the
danger of stress, the American Institute
of Stress (2012) claimed stress to be the
number one health problem for Americans.

While stress itself can be debilitating, its

main effect on public health involves in
creasing risk for diseases such as cancer, di
abetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease.
Stress can also lead to depression and its
related conditions. Moreover, overall health
and wellness is a matter of concern among
populations with elevated levels of stress.
College students, subject to pressure from
many areas, fit into this category.
Music TherapyInterventions fo r Health
Music therapy (MT) is defined by the
American Music Therapy Association
(2011) as the clinical and evidence-based
use of music interventions to accomplish
individualized goals within a therapeutic
relationship by a credentialed professional
who has completed an approved music ther
apy program. According to the American
Music Therapy Association (2011), music
therapy is a well-established health program
and it is used therapeutically to address an
individuals physical, emotional, cognitive,
and social needs. Furthermore, a study by
Lu and colleagues (2010) defined MT as a
form of psychotherapy that is safe, enjoy
able, and inexpensive.
The goal and purpose of this study was
to examine the role of music as a potentially
stress-alleviating therapy among college stu
dents. The correlation between music ther
apy and stress was examined, and research
was conducted to investigate the effective
ness of stress reduction via music within an
academic population in classroom settings.
Statement of the Problem
What is Stress and how does it function?
Emerging scientific evidence suggests that
psychosocial factorswhich are the interre
lation of social factors, individual thought,
and behavior from emotional states, behavior
dispositions, and psychosocial stresscan

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 483

directly influence both physiologic function

and health outcomes (Rozanski, Blumenthal, & Kaplan, 1999; Kiecolt-Glaser, 1999;
Baum & Posluszny, 1999). Additionally,
if adequate coping skills are lacking, a so
matic or psychological dysfunction may be
expressed in the form of chronic pain and
illness, gastrointestinal distress (GI), sleep
disturbances, fatigue, high blood pressure,
headaches, or stress emotions, such as anger,
anxiety and panic, fright, guilt, shame, sad
ness, and depression (Yehuda, 2011).
Stress has also been known to affect the
immune system through an intricate route of
neural and hormonal pathways (Besedovsky
& DelRey 1991; Maier & Watkins, 1998).
Furthermore, behavior can be affected by
stress, manifested by acting impulsively,
making poor exercise and nutritional choic
es, excessive use or abuse of alcohol and/or
drugs, and withdrawal from relationships or
social situations (MedicineNet, Inc., 2011).
Therefore, it can be strongly argued that
stress contributes to the etiology of disease.
The main organ responsible for the stress
response is the brain, which determines
what constitutes as stressful, along with de
termining the behavioral and physiological
responses to specific stressors (McEwen,
2008). McEwen and Stellar (1993) also
stated that the brain is the main target of
stress and it is structurally and chemically
changed by acute and chronic stress.
The chief hormones involved in the
stress response are glucocorticoids and
catecholamines. Glucocorticoids are steroid
hormones produced in the adrenal cortex in
response to adrenocorticotropic hormone
(ACTH) from the pituitary gland (McEwen,
2008). A specific glucocorticoid, cortisol, is
the main stress hormone that becomes ele
vated during stress. Cortisol manages stress
ful situations by preparing the body and the
fight-or-flight response (Yehuda, 2011).
Catecholamines are hormones produced

by the adrenal glands, which are released

into the blood during times of stress. The
key catecholamines are dopamine, norepi
nephrine, and epinephrine. These hormones
increase during the fight-or-flight response
as the body requires stored energy, glucose
and fat to be immediately available to cells.
Additionally, the immunological system
that responds to stress releases stress mark
ers that provide the body with the energy it
needs to escape from the real or perceived
danger (Yehuda, 2011; American Diabetes
Association on Stress, 2011). Understanding
the mechanism of stress provides a backdrop
for the effectiveness of mind-body therapies
(MBT) as a treatment for stress reduction.
Techniques and
Management

Therapies

for

Stress

There are various helpful techniques and

therapies for individuals who require stress
management. Music is known to be an effec
tive therapeutic treatment. Music therapy is
a treatment most commonly applied during
a form of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM), a practice that involves
using the mind to improve health. As defined
by the National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (2008),
mind and body practices focus on inter
actions among the brain, mind, body, and
behavior, with the intent to use the mind
to affect physical functioning and promote
health (para. 9). Lu and colleagues (2010)
stated that stress in early life can affect the
biochemistry of the immune system. There
fore, health can be directly influenced by
emotional, mental, social, spiritual, experi
ential, and behavioral factors with the use of
a wide range of healing practices known as
mind-body therapies (MBT) to support im
mune functions as shown in Figure 1.

484 / College Student Journal

Figure 1. An interrelationship among genetic self, immunity, and environment

(epigenetic factors)

Research has proven that music thera

py can produce ameliorative effects upon
immune systems that have been negatively
affected by stress. Lu and colleagues (2010)
found that stress increased serum corticoste
rone and interleukin-4 levels in rats. With ex
posure to music, the stress-induced elevations
in these immune system biomarkers became
normalized, proving that music therapy can
produce a clinical effect (Lu et al., 2010).
Decreased levels of immune system reactants
are associated with decreased stress and in
creased relaxation.
It is an unfortunate fact that while relax
ation is critical for stress relief; many indi
viduals do not spend an adequate amount of
time relaxing. This is common among college
students, who are constantly on-the-go or
dealing with stressors involving academic
concerns. Academic stress has been defined
as the product of a combination of academ
ic related demands that exceed the adaptive

resources available to an individual (Wilks,

2008). The amount of stress a student may
experience is something that should not be
taken for granted, which may result in adverse
effects to a students overall adjustment (Hus
sain, Kumar & Husain, 2008).
Purpose of the Project
The purpose of this study is therefore to
investigate the effectiveness of music thera
py, and demonstrate how different forms of
music influence stress levels before and after
a musical selection in a college classroom
environment. Specifically, this study aims to
investigate how music can affect stress by
observing changes in levels of stress among
students before and after listening to a mu
sic selection. It is hypothesized that music
self-selected by the participant will reduce
stress levels. The experimental design was a
qualitative descriptive study.

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 485

Materials and Methods
Design of the Project
Participants
Participants consisted of college students
attending California State University, Los
Angeles, enrolled in an annual Alternative
Nutrition class designed to study mind and
body medicine, as well as stress management
using music therapy and nutritional supple
mentation. This nutritional science course
requires a general nutrition class as an aca
demic prerequisite to qualify as a participant,
and to be a student enrolled in an Alternative
Nutrition class from the years 2008 to 2012.
Participants were separated by cohort for the
respective year they were enrolled into this
class. All student participants remained anon
ymous and strictly confidential.

Procedures
As a required project of this class, partic
ipants were to select any song, and present
it to their cohort during the class period (3
hours, 50 minutes). All participants were
informed of the procedures by the Instructor,
and were provided a handout on the proce
dures of the project. Songs varied in genre,
from classical, pop, altemative/rock, to cultural/ethnic music and more.
Participants were asked to listen to each
song, and provide written feedback at the
end. Feedback was provided with the use
o f a measurement tool, a 9-question survey,
provided by the Instructor. The Music Ther
apy Survey Form was created and provided
by the Instructor. A sample of the survey
form is presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Music therapy survey form

MUSIC THERAPY SURVEY FORM
1.

AGE__________YRS

2.

GENDER__________

3.

WEIGHT__________LBS

4.

MAJOR____________________

5.

SUBJECTIVELY, WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT STRESS LEVEL (WITH 10 BEING THE HIGHEST
LEVEL)?
CIRCLE ONE: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.

DID YOU LIKE THE MUSIC?

CIRCLE ONE: VERY MUCH [1] GOOD [2] SOMEWHAT [3] DISLIKE [4]

7.

DID YOU FIND ANY MEANING IN THE SONG?

CIRCLE ONE: HAS MEANING [1] NO MEANING [2] DONT KNOW [3]

8.

DO YOU FEEL HAPPIER AFTER LISTENING TO THE SONG?

CIRCLE ONE: YES [1] NO [2] DONT KNOW [3]

9.

SUBJECTIVELY, WHAT IS YOUR STRESS LEVEL AFTER THE SONG (WITH 10 BEING THE
HIGHEST LEVEL)?
CIRCLEONE:! 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

HEIGHT__________ FT/INS

486 / College Student Journal

Data Analysis

Questions ranged from demographics to

the feelings participants had about individual
songs. Self-perceived stress was measured
using a Likert scale, from 1 to 10, with 10 be
ing the highest level of stress. The two main
questions utilized for this experiment were
question 5, and question 9, which asked to
subjectively choose current stress level before
and after listening to each song. It is import
ant to mention, participant data was omitted if
a survey was not completed, in which either
question 5 or question 9 were not answered
or there was no information on means. Next,
participants collected completed surveys after
presenting their song, and were required to
compute question 5 and question 9 for the
mean value. To examine individual cohorts,
the pre-calculated means for questions 5 and
question 9 provided by each participant was
collected, and computed to determine the
overall mean value. A summary of each co
hort is shown in Table 1.
These procedures were also repeated us
ing songs provided by the Instructor. Four
songs, chosen by the instructor were: Musi
cal Selection 1 (contemporary Latin jazz);
Musical Selection 2 (1970s soul); Musical
Selection 3 (1990s pop rock); Musical Selec
tion 4 (1950s pop).Data was collected from
partcipants during the years of 2008 to 2012.

Microsoft Excel 2007 Data Analysis,

was used to calculate t-Test: Paired Two Sam
ple for Means at a 5% significance level (a
<0.05), and Descriptive Statistics to determine
standard deviation with a confidence level for
mean at 95%. The first part of the experiment
includes a compilation of four years of data
collected from participants, starting from 2009
to 2012 for the self-selected song choice. The
second part is data collected from song choices
made by the Instructor from 2008 to 2012.
RESULTS
For all four years, student cohorts study
results demonstrated a statistically significant
overall decrease in stress. Results are shown
in Table 1 for the years 2009 to 2012.
The summary shows the results of all four
student cohorts. In 2009, the mean before
listening to various songs is 4.97, with a stan
dard deviation of 0.43, and after the mean it
is 3.88 and a standard deviation of 0.53. In
2010, before the mean is 4.90 and the standard
deviation is 0.38, and after the mean is 3.95,
with a standard deviation of 0.41. The year
2011 showed another decrease in stress. This
cohort had a mean of 6.27 and a standard devi
ation of 0.40 before. The mean is 4.49, with a

Table 1. Summary for Student Song Choices for years 2009 - 2012

Mean

2009

2010

2011

2012

(n = 59)

(n = 44)

(n = 64)

(n = 56)
Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

4.97

3.88

4.90

3.95

6.27

4.49

5.22

3.94

0.09

0.17

Variance

0.19

0.29

0.14

0.17

0.16

0.37

Correlation

0.73

0.62

0.42

0.39

58

43

63

55

1.15E-30

4.66E-22

4.32E-34

1.14E-30

0.05

df
P(T<=t) two-tail (a < 0.05)
Standard Error

0.06

0.07

0.06

0.06

0.05

0.08

0.04

Standard Deviation

0.43

0.53

0.38

0.41

0.40

0.61

0.30

0.41

Confidence Level (95.0%)

0.11

0.14

0.11

0.12

0.10

0.15

0.08

0.11

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 487

standard deviation of 0.61 after various songs
being played for 2011. The final year 2012,
had a mean of 5.22 and a standard deviation
of 0.30 before, and after the mean is 3.94 with
a standard deviation of 0.41. Overall, for each
cohort, the p-values of most results were high
ly significant (0.0000 being highly significant),
which confirmed a decrease in stress for all
songs played during an entire class period.
The results from the second part of the ex
periment, (Table 2 to Table 5), utilized songs

chosen by the Instructor, also demonstrated an

overall reduction in stress with the four differ
ent songs in all five cohorts. However, there
was only one song, Musical Selection 1 for the
year 2010 cohort that had no significance in
stress reduction. The p-value was 0.27, which
is greater than a = 0.05; not statistically signif
icant. However, the decrease of the mean value
from 4.27 to a mean of 4 after the song was
played indicates there was a small decrease in
stress levels.

Table 2. Summary for Musical Selection 1

2008

2009

2010

(n = 48)

(n = 36)

(n = 45)

2011

2012

( = 61)

(" = 54)

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Mean

5.08

4.21

6.06

4.86

4.27

4.00

6.62

5.23

5.59

4.50

Variance

5.18

4.08

4.34

5.44

3.75

3.77

3.64

4.48

3.60

3.46

Correlation

0.71

0.69

0.67

0.69

0.74

47

35

44

60

53

df
P(T<=t) two-tail (a
< 0.05)

0.00

0.00

0.27

0.00

2.724E07

Standard Error

0.33

0.29

0.35

0.39

0.29

0.29

0.27

0.32

0.26

0.25

Standard Deviation

2.28

2.02

2.08

2.33

1.94

1.94

1.94

2.27

1.90

1.86

Confidence Level
(95.0%)

0.66

0.59

0.70

0.79

0.58

0.58

0.55

0.64

0.52

0.51

Table 3. Summary for Musical Selection 2

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

(n = 59)

(n = 54)

(n = 48)

(n = 58)

(n = 51)

Before

After

Before

After

Before

Mean

6.04

4.73

5.11

3.91

4.88

Variance

4.46

4.49

4.40

4.95

4.96

Correlation

0.30

0.75

0.72

48

53

47

9.584E05

df

After

Before

After

Before

After

3.92

6.22

4.72

5.59

4.11

3.23

3.62

4.62

4.09

3.53

0.54

0.80

57

50

2.678E07

3.515E11

P(T<=t) two-tail (a
<0.05)

0.00

5.039E07

Standard Error

0.30

0.30

0.29

0.30

0.31

0.26

0.25

0.28

0.28

0.26

Standard Deviation

2.11

2.12

2.10

2.23

2.23

1.80

1.90

2.15

2.02

1.88

Confidence Level
(95.0%)

0.61

0.61

0.57

0.61

0.65

0.52

0.50

0.57

0.57

0.53

488 / College Student Journal

Table 4. Summary for Musical Selection 3

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

(n = 47)

(n = 54)

(n ==46)

( = 57)

( = 55)

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Mean

5.47

4.62

6.20

5.06

4.61

4.07

6.0

4.36

5.91

4.69

Variance

4.43

5.89

5.34

4.85

3.84

5.80

3.50

5.41

3.79

3.48

Correlation

0.58

0.75

0.76

0.55

0.75

46

53

45

56

54

P(T<=t) two-tail (a <

0.05)

0.01

2.372E06

0.02

1.047E07

1.471E08

Standard Error

0.31

0.35

0.31

0.30

0.28

0.35

0.25

0.31

0.26

0.25

Standard Deviation

2.10

2.43

2.31

2.20

1.96

2.41

1.87

2.33

1.95

1.86

Confidence Level
(95.0%)

0.62

0.71

0.63

0.60

0.58

0.71

0.50

0.62

0.53

0.50

df

Table 5. Summary for Musical selection 4

2009

(n = 45)

(n = 53)

2012

2011

2010

2008

( = 61)

(n = 48)

( =

51)

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Mean

6.27

5.04

5.55

4.68

4.96

4.31

6.62

5.23

5.76

4.70

Variance

3.29

5.13

5.02

4.61

5.02

4.94

3.64

4.48

3.42

4.15

Correlation

0.54

0.82

0.82

0.69

0.82

60

50

4.362E08

52

0.00

2.006E05

0.00

4.160E09

Standard Error

0.27

0.34

0.31

0.29

0.32

0.32

0.24

0.27

0.26

0.29

Standard Deviation

1.81

2.27

2.24

2.15

2.24

2.22

1.91

2.12

1.85

2.03

Confidence Level
(95.0%)

0.55

0.68

0.62

0.59

0.65

0.65

0.49

0.54

0.52

0.57

df
P(T<=t) two-tail (a
< 0.05)

44

Discussion
As it has been emphasized, music can be
used to produce health benefits, especially
for the study population. There are many
potential stressors affecting college students.
Pressured with balancing academics and a
personal life, many students can fall victim to
stress. Listening to music for a short period
can alleviate the effects o f these stressors.
Research has proven that music may be

47

an effective medium to help college students

reduce the effects o f negative emotional states
(Labbe, Schmidt, Babin, & Pharr, 2007). Re
sults have suggested that listening to at least
ten minutes o f soothing music has a relaxing
effect (Lai, 2004). However, stress-related
changes such as those that occur in serum
hormone levels, which can affect mood, can
be seen in as few as six minutes (Mockel,
Rocker, Stork, Vollert, Danne, Eichstadt, &

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 489

Hochrein, 1994). Thus, music is an easily
accessible and efficient therapy to utilize for
college students that is also cost-effective.
Listening to music does not require a licensed
musical therapist, and can be done at the time
and location that is convenient to the individ
ual. The only requirement is equipment for
playing music, which is already accessible to
many students.
In some study participants, listening to
music did not produce any effect. Among
individual responses, there were some songs
that appeared to have caused participant
stress levels to increase or have no effect at
all. But as the results show, for the overall
study population, self-perceived stress levels
were reduced in multiple categories from the
pre-selected songs to the songs chosen by the
instructor. One possible explanation for this
reduction in stress levels is that music thera
py utilizes the power of the mind to express
emotions, potentially influencing all aspects
of health and well-being. As it shows in the
results, listening to personally selected music
had the most impact on stress levels following
each song, ft could be that hearing the var
ious types of music provided an emotional
response.
There were a few limitations for this mu
sic therapy intervention. Because this was a
self-administered experiment, the length of
the experimental period for listening to all
individual songs was limited to only a cou
ple of class meeting days. Due to time con
straints, each participant had to introduce and
play their songs consecutively with minimal
breaks in between, which could have pro
hibited full focus on each musical selection.
Limiting the amount of songs to be played
per day to approximately ten or less could
provide additional time to respond to each
participants choice of music before reflecting
on ones own self-perceived levels of stress;
fewer songs played per day may also allow
for additional time to prepare for the next

song to be played. Conducting a longer study

on a single population during the entire length
of the academic quarter would demonstrate
musics effectiveness over a period of time,
and possibly provide a more truthful percep
tion of stress level from participants.
In addition, the effect of music genre was
not specifically explored in depth for this
intervention. It was mentioned briefly that
music genre did not have much influence;
however, most studies have demonstrated that
soothing, pleasant music, such as classical,
has shown to reduce stress levels the most.
Further study assessing music genre would
provide insight as to which genre is most ef
fective against stress and anxiety or to prove
if genre selection makes any difference at all
within the same study population. These lim
iting factors present an opportunity for future
studies to be conducted.
Overall, listening to music is a function
al, inexpensive, and effortless intervention
to utilize in various stressful situations. As
this intervention has evidently proven to be
successful amongst college students, research
has sufficiently established the efficacy and
benefit of music for diverse populations in
varying age groups. As more people and
healthcare professionals become aware and
accepting of mind-body therapies and other
CAM treatments, music can be widely uti
lized as a complement to all areas of conven
tional healthcare.
The Body s Response to Music

The use of music therapy has been closely

associated with alleviating stress, anxiety,
pain, and a myriad of other physical and/or
mental health diseases or disorders. Relieving
such health issues is attributable to how the
inherent patterns and structures of music in its
entirety convey meaning to the brain (Miell,
MacDonald, & Hargreaves, 2005). Building
upon the basic understanding that the left
brain is the thinking side and the right brain is

490 / College Student Journal

the feeling side, the left part of the brain was
found to be more stimulated during cognitive
analysis of music or during sad or unharmonious sounds, such as single predicable chords,
whereas the right part of the brain is stimu
lated more with happy and pleasurable sounds
(Salimpoor, 2013).
The region of the brain involved with con
veying meaning and emotions is the limbic
system. It is located deep within the cere
brum, near the auditory cortex where music
and sound are processed, and is composed
of several brain structures, which include the
amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus
(Office of Population Affairs, 2012; Lemon
ick & Bjerklie, 2003). In addition, the lim
bic system processes the intuitive, creative,
and imaginative information that induces
the bodys psychophysiological responses
(Guzzetta, 1989).
Thaut (1990) stated that feelings of re
ward, pleasure, punishment, and pain also
occur in the limbic system. Therefore, lis
tening to music becomes an instant reward,
releasing enkephalins and endorphins to
change moods, evoke relaxation, and alter
pain perception. Understanding the role of
the limbic system provides insight as to how
relaxation comes about, and where emo
tions are processed when listening to music.
Furthermore, when the mesolimbic system
(amygdala, hippocampus) recalls a memory
triggered by the sound stimulus, the mes
sage is eventually delivered to the forebrain,
which then sends neurochemicals through
out the entire body to produce tension or
relaxation (Brattico & Pearce, 2010).
According to Bunt (1994), there are three
essential elements to music that create its
patterns and structures: rhythm, melody, and
harmony. Each of these elements is important
in producing different responses in the body;
both the physiological and psychological re
sponses of a listener can be affected (Chian &
Tracy, 1999). Furthermore, music is unique in

that it can act as a powerful sensory stimulus,

engaging the brain in retraining neural and
behavioral functions that can be applied to
non-musical context in everyday life, such as
therapeutic needs (Yehuda, 2011). Emotional
states are developed through music that al
lows an individual to achieve relaxation.
Music Therapy and Relaxation Response
Music therapy produces a relaxation re
sponse, in which Maranto (1993) states music
promotes relaxation by physiological and/or
psychological entrainment. Entrainment, a
principle of physics, occurs where two objects
vibrate at similar frequencies causing a mutu
al sympathetic resonance that vibrate at same
frequencies. This concept of entrainment is
realized with the direct use of music to gen
erate relaxation (Maranto, 1993). Changes
to the bodys physiologic processes due to
entrainment, are the result of specific musical
stimuli, such as rhythms and tempos that act
as synchronizers to cause the change (Saperston, 1995). Such responses include release
of endorphins, and changes in catecholamine
levels, facilitating pain relief as well as lower
ing blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate,
oxygen consumption, and serum lactic acid
levels (Guzzetta, 1989; Gardner, 1990; McCafifery & Beebe, 1994; Pert &Chopra, 1999).
Rhythm is an essential element to music
because rhythm is the order in which music
moves; it is the most dynamic part (Bunt,
1994). When utilizing music for relaxation
under the entrainment principle, the tempos
from the music should not exceed a resting
heart rate (<80 beats per minute) to optimal
ly stimulate relaxation. It must also possess
predictable dynamics, fluid melodic move
ment, pleasant harmonies, a regular rhythm
without sudden changes, and tonal qualities
from instruments, such as the flute, piano,
strings or specific synthesized tones (Robb,
Nichols, Rutan, Bishop & Parker, 1995).
Researchers believe these properties allow

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 491

the body to slow down and go along with the

musics slower beats, producing a relaxation
response regardless of genre and duration
(Chian, 2009; Lee et al., 2012).
Evidence o f a Positive Effect between Choos
ing a Musical Selection and a Reduction o f
the Perception o f Stress and Anxiety
A 2002 study was performed by physi
cians Wang, Kulkami, Dolev, and Kain to
test music as a method for reducing anxiety
in pre-operative patients. The research results
indicated a positive effect between music of
choice and the reduction of the feeling of
stress and anxiety. The pre-operative patients
could listen to music of their choice for a time
span of 30 minutes. Patients were evaluated at
three different times including before, during
and after treatment. Blood samples were
taken to measure levels of cortisol and cate
cholamines as bioindicators of stress. Despite
the fact that no differences were reported in
the hormones released during stress, includ
ing epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol,
patients required decreased levels o f propofol
to be sedated before the operation. There were
no positive effects exhibited between music
and stress in all pre-operative patients.
Importance o f Music Preference
Music preference also produces a signif
icant effect on its relationship with stress.
Various studies have shown the extra ben
efit of self-selected music by individuals.
A study conducted by Lai and Li (2011),
examined the association between music and
stress while paying close attention to music
preferences. Newly employed nurses were
able to choose a song from the six pre-select
ed songs by the study team (Lai & Li, 2011).
Participants showed lower perceived stress
levels, as well as lower cortisol, heart rate,
mean arterial pressure, and higher finger
temperatures when listening to music (< 30
minutes), especially with a song selected by

the participants themselves (Lai & Li, 2011).

Lowered stress levels were also exhibited
among patients undergoing day surgery,
especially when patients were able to select
music o f their choice (Leardi et al., 2007).
Therefore, the therapeutic power o f music,
as evidenced by these clinical trials, may
provide an outlet for stress and anxiety relief
among populations subject to high amounts
of stress, for instance, college students.
Beyond Treatment fo r Anxiety: Singing as
Form o f Music Therapy
Previous studies of music therapeutic
caregiving involving singing have found that
persons with dementia may sing along with
the caregiver, interfering with eating. In a
2012 study by Hammar, Williams, Swall, and
Engstrom, the caregiver was instructed to use
humming as opposed to singing in order to
observe its influence upon mealtime situa
tions. The elderly female subject with demen
tia appeared to eat and drink more during the
intervention sessions. She also appeared more
focused on the food and the caregiver, and in
general appeared to be more alert during the
interventions. Furthermore, in the palliative
and/or hospice setting, MT has the ability
to improve quality of life for dying patients
(Halstead & Roscoe, 2002; Hilliard, 2003).
Beyond Treatment fo r Anxiety: Music and
Plant Physiology
The physical effects produced by music
can be observed in plants as well as in humans.
A 2004 study by Creath and Schwartz used
seed germination as an objective biomarker,
to find that musical sound produced a highly
statistically significant effect on the number
of seeds sprouted compared to the untreated
control over all five experiments. Seeds ex
posed to musical sound sprouted significantly
faster than the untreated control. Musical
sound had a significant effect compared to
noise and an untreated control as a function of

492 / College Student Journal

time (/K0.03) while there was no significant
difference between seeds exposed to noise
and an untreated control. Musical sound is
defined as being dynamically organized to
contain variations, as opposed to noise, which
is constant. The noise used in this study had a
fixed frequency band that was invariant over
long time periods.
Sonic Bloom, a new type of plant fertil
izer incorporating music, consists of a sound
generator CD and a nutrient spray combining
55 trace minerals, amino acids, and seaweed.
The sound generator produces tones in the
four to six kilohertz range, the same range as
many song birds. Photomicrographs of plant
leaf surfaces taken using a scanning electron
microscope show that the stomata of plants
treated with Sonic Bloom are more numer
ous, more developed, and better defined than
the stomata of untreated plants. Radioactive
isotopes were utilized to record an increase
in nutrient absorption exceeding 700%. This
increase in plant nutrient absorption is rele
vant to human health, as it produces healthier
plants and fruit with higher concentrations of
complex sugar chains, which may act as com
municators for the bodys defense systems
(Oliver, 2002).
Future Study
To further investigate the relationship
between music and stress, a possible future
study might investigate how distinct cate
gories o f stress levels reported by college
students prior to listening to music can be
affected by specific musical selections.

Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom Environment / 493

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