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MUSIC & ARTS
MUSIC AS A STUDY TOOL
By Lana Wilson
Does Listening to Music Help or Hinder Your Learning Ability?
For thousands of years, music has been an integral part of society. It makes us calm, hypes us up, can change our mood, and even makes the most boring most boring of tasks somewhat enjoyable. So it only makes sense to put on your favorite tunes when you start studying. But, does listening to music really help us out? Or does it distract from the important things you need to be learning? Thanks to science, the answer to those questions have been found.
Music is known to boost creativity, especially happy tunes, which can be quite helpful if you need an abstract answer to a problem. Barbara Fredrickson, a scientist, says that the mood created by this happy music helps broaden out our thinking, or to think outside the box. Music has also been found to be able to calm us down, so if you’re stressed about a big test you need to study for, then listening to calming beats may just help you out! Though, other studies show that certain types of music lead to poorer performance, specifically, lyrical music. Luckily there are many types of instrumental music that don’t hinder your performance.
Lyrical music can be the most distracting form of music. If you are studying while listening to this kind of music, it’ll be hard to focus, since you are getting an influx of two differing sources of information. As a result, your studying will suffer. Thankfully, there’s plenty of instrumental music out there. At the forefront is classical music. Studies show that classical music reduces anxiety and helps you to relax. Though, when it comes to classical music, stick to the calming pieces rather than the large orchestral ones. But if you don’t feel like classical, there’s still many, many, options! If you want to feel extra calm, consider trying out spa music or nature sounds. You can also try more modern piano pieces, or piano covers of you favorite songs. If you want something more upbeat, try dubstep or EDM. But if you want something chill with a good beat, check out lo-fi hip hop!
Another factor to consider when choosing whether or not to listen to music while you learn, is irrelevant sound effect. This basically means that performance is poorer while taking in information when you have background noise that you don’t pay attention to. This is in part due to the duel sources of information as mentioned before. If you focus too much on the music, your mind won’t retain as much info as it would in silence. But, irrelevant sound effect is different with each task. If you are trying to memorize or rehearse something, music will be your detriment. If you’re reading, instrumental music will definitely help, as it boosts your mood, but doesn’t have lyrics to distract. Finally, if you are doing something creative, such as art, definitely listen to music! It gives you an extra creativity boost to keep you going, and may even provide inspiration.