With that highly detailed Biology exam just around the corner, you have been hitting the books with every spare second you have. During nightly, starlit studying sessions, you continuously trudge past midnight, and the hours multiply. What if there was a more beneficial practice rather than spending hours upon hours of silence studying in your bedroom?
The Benefits of Studying with Music
You have likely heard that music helps you study before. But do you know why parents and professors alike are urging you to tune into your favorite music platform? Studies have shown that music produces several positive effects on a human’s body and brain. Music activates both the left and right hemispheres simultaneously, and the simultaneous activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory. Discover the impact of music on your body and brain, and learn how to boost your studying with songs!
Helps Ease Student Stress and Support Mental Health
In the midst of a busy semester, students’ stress levels run high. This is the perfect reason to study your class notes with music playing — it has been proven to help reduce stress.
Music is a way to process emotions and strengthen one’s resolve when feeling overwhelmed. People often turn to the music they can relate to as it helps them deal with stress in this way. So, if university life has got you feeling a bit down, dazed, or distracted, then it might be a good idea to put some music on while you study. Not only will it help you concentrate on your studies, but it will also help keep stress at bay and put you in the learning mood.
Can Reduce Test Anxiety and Boost Confidence
Anxiety can become a crippling blockade between students and their textbooks. How can students beat it? Let’s pretend you were offered a free, soothing massage during each study session for the duration of your college years. You would feel lower levels of anxiety and tension as you reviewed your notes. While this might be a challenging feat for the typical college student to achieve, a more accessible alternative is readily available to students worldwide. Believe it or not, USA Today reveals, “one study found that music’s effect on anxiety levels is similar to the effect of getting a massage” (Christ). It is official; your favorite tunes can reduce anxiety as much as a massage! Anxiety-stricken students should pop in the earbuds before heading to the library. They will feel relaxed, at ease, and ready to conquer chapter after chapter.
May Improve Academic Performance Under Pressure
Music is found to help people perform better in high-pressure situations, such as the bi-annual high-pressure event that is finals week. Studies have shown that music can help students transform from coal to diamonds, shining under pressure. USA Today asks, “Want to sink the game-winning shot when the pressure’s on? Listen to some upbeat tunes before the big game, basketball players prone to performing poorly under pressure during games were significantly better during high-pressure free-throw shooting if they first listened to catchy, upbeat music and lyrics” (Christ). This applies to anyone who faces high-pressure situations, including you and your studious peers. Grab that 80s-style boom box and turn the volume up!
It Can Lessen Physical Discomfort and Improve Focus
So, you arrived at the last Conquistadors basketball game, prepared to perform better after a little music therapy. Excited and energized, you played all of your best moves on the court until you sprained your ankle landing a slam dunk. Ouch! Now, every time you attempt to study, your mind only focuses on the pounding pain in your ankle! Have you tried studying with music? According to USA Today, music is so powerful that it helps ease pain. Studies have shown that music can significantly reduce the perceived intensity of pain, particularly in settings such as geriatric care, intensive care, or palliative medicine.
Your ankle pain and midterm stress have no chance against your favorite album and a focused mind! Similar to how a lullaby would calm you, listening to music can also help you relax by lowering your blood pressure, easing muscle tension, and increasing your attention span.
Helps Organize Information
Rather than distracting college students, a Stanford study found that “music moves [the] brain to pay attention.” Researchers utilized musical compositions from the 1800s in their study. They found that “music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions, and updating the event in memory” (Baker). They believe that music choice was influential in brain processing, revealing, “The goal of the study was to look at how the brain sorts out events, but the research also revealed that musical techniques used by composers 200 years ago help the brain organize incoming information” (Baker). Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven can help students categorize information, a valuable skill in academic studies.
Supports Brain Function and Cognitive Performance
Musical activity serves as a cognitive exercise for the brain, training it for future challenges. Therefore, people who have musical training early on, specifically before age seven, have healthier brains and are less likely to suffer from debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s or Dementia. But you don’t have to wait for a certain age before benefiting from music. Regardless of whether you’re a freshman or senior, you can start exercising your brain now, simply by having your favorite device and earphones handy for any study session.
Strengthens Memory by Connecting Emotions and Learning
Several studies in recent years have linked music, memory, and emotion. To support this claim, Petr Janata has conducted two studies to demonstrate that music, memory, and emotion are interconnected. His initial study found that “music serves as a potent trigger for retrieving memories.” During his second study, Janata used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan students’ brains as they listened to popular songs from their childhood and teenage years. “After each excerpt, the student responded to questions about the tune, including whether it was familiar or not, how enjoyable it was, and whether it was associated with any particular incident, episode, or memory” (UC Davis). This study reveals that music, memory, and emotions are strongly linked. This evidence supports the theory that studying while listening to music is a very beneficial practice.
Ever wondered why it’s easier to memorize the lyrics to a song than the periodic table of elements? That’s because your brain looks for patterns to better understand, recall, and process information. It’s the same reason why music producers always put a hook in their songs, since what is more commonly known as the earworm or catchy bit.
“Earworm” was coined in 1979 by psychiatrist Cornelius Eckert. It happens when a part of the song gets stuck in your head for an extended period of time, and you can’t get it out. It just so happens that this is also one way of improving your brain’s memory, which is why some language courses are set to a musical pattern of ear-catching melodies. Some even suggest that the benefits don’t necessarily depend on the kind of music you listen to, but rather on how effectively your brain latches on to the pattern of the song.
End Your Study Session with Classical Music
We now understand that music and memory are closely linked in the brain, and that music can be beneficial for learning and studying. All that studying, however, has made you exhausted! You close the textbooks and lie beneath your blankets, but your mind is still buzzing from all of the information you’ve acquired. Can’t sleep? Well, music can even help you close out the night after studying. “Listening to classical music has been shown to effectively treat insomnia in college students, making it a safe, cheap alternative to sleep-inducing meds” (Christ).
Study Smarter with Music, Resources, and Support
Florida National University (FNU) is committed to helping our students achieve success. While you continue to excel at FNU, please take advantage of our helpful resources. As the semester comes to a close, gain tips from our blog article, “10 Ways to Prepare for Your Final Exam,” and don’t forget your headphones!
If you are not currently enrolled at FNU, browse our programs of study and apply now!
Works Cited
Baker, Mitzi. “Music Moves Brain to Pay Attention.” Stanford School of Medicine. Stanford School of Medicine, 01 Aug. 2007. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
Christ, Scott. “20 Surprising, Science-backed Health Benefits of Music.” USA Today. Gannett, 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
“Stress.” University of Maryland Medical Center. University of Maryland Medical Center, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
“Study Finds Brain Hub That Links Music, Memory and Emotion: UC Davis News & Information.” UC Davis News & Information. UC Davis, 23 Feb. 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
