Angela Martin

Mrs. Thomas

UWRT 1103-020

February 11th, 2018

A belief commonly held by society is that if babies listen to classical music, it will make

them more intelligent. Pregnant women even go as far as playing Beethoven’s sonatas through a

speaker held closely to their stomach. But does music actually increase their child’s intellectual

ability? How much does music play a part in human developmental growth? What about playing

a musical instrument? Even more so, I have wondered how much music affects the ability to

learn throughout childhood and into adulthood. In this day and age, access to music is readily

available through our smart devices. College students can be seen at the library with their

headphones in, studying away and tuning out the world on Spotify or Pandora. Does this musical

stimulation actually benefit their cognitive ability? Does it improve their memory? Does it

depend on the genre or style of music? As you can see, the larger question of if music affects

learning is extremely broad and can be broken into several smaller questions. As an avid music

listener in college, I desire to know whether or not I am benefitting my studies or deteriorating

them. During my research this semester, I hope to dive deeper into these questions and discover

the effects of music and learning that can benefit myself and my classmates.

Music is one of the defining elements that make us human. Sociologists and

anthropologists have found that every single ancient and current society have had music as a part

of their culture. It is even believed that the creation of music arose before language was

developed. The effects of music on the brain have been relatively understood since its creation.

Music has been used for religious, spiritual, psychological, and even healing purposes
throughout human history (Greenberg). The in-depth and scientific research of the effects of

music has come about in recent times. The field of music psychology has been on the rise, and it

involves researching and understanding all aspects of the effects of music on humans. There has

been extensive research within the field of music psychology relating to learning. Music and

cognition, the developmental psychology of music, and even the neuroscience of music have

been studied (Oxford). Neuroscientist’s outside the field of music psychology are interested in

the topic as well, specifically relating music to attention span and cognitive ability. Major

schools of medicine such as Stanford have conducted this research by using MRI technology to

indicate which parts of the brain are active during music listening (Stanford). The amount of

research being done on music and learning is extensive and offers valuable knowledge into its

benefits or negative impacts.

In order to find more perspectives on my question, I will search through databases to find

studies and experiments relating to music and learning that have been performed by various

music psychologists and neuroscientists. I will also look through medical journals that have

articles related to my topic. This topic is extremely broad, so I will narrow my searches to music

and developmental growth, playing an instrument and its correlation to learning, the effects of

listening to music while studying, the effects of listening to music and memory, and what genre

of music is the most beneficial to aid learning. Some subject words that I can use to help my

search are education, music education, popular music, genre, composers, musicians, brain

development, and early childhood learning.

The answer to whether or not music affects our cognitive and learning ability is

extremely important to my classmates and the larger UNCC community. Music has become a

part of our daily lives through radio, smartphones, computers, and other technologies. Whether
we’re in the car or going for a jog, our society is constantly plugged into music. More related to

learning, students often listen to music while studying or doing homework. It is important to

know if listening to music while studying is beneficial or hinders our learning. Education is vital

for obtaining a career or growing as a person, therefore we should learn in the best manner

possible. This topic is also important because if music is found to help learning, it could help

those who have learning disabilities or anxiety related to school or test taking. Not only is

learning a part of academia but a part of our daily lives as well. We constantly learn how to

perform new tasks, how to interact with others, how to become more independent, etc. Learning

is essential to survival and discovering whether or not music aids our learning processes could be

life changing.
 Works Cited

Baker, Mitzi. “Music Moves Brain to Pay Attention, Stanford Study Finds.” News Center,

med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/07/music-moves-brain-to-pay-attention-stanford-study-

finds.html.

Greenberg, David M. “What Is Music...Exactly?” PsychologyToday, 3 Aug. 2016,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-music/201608/what-is-music-exactly.

“Psychology of Music.” Psychology of Music | Oxford University Faculty of Music,

www.music.ox.ac.uk/research/disciplines/psychology-of-music/.