When it comes to work, whether it’s writing articles for a newspaper or making complex drawings, the ability to focus on the subject matter of your activity is truly invaluable. Do we need music to help us concentrate better? There can be no definitive answer to this question. A number of studies conducted by British psychologists have shown that for some people, listening to music while working is a must. For example, athletes who listen to rhythmic tracks before training show better results. Listening to music is also important for artists, writers, and other creative professionals.
The greatest progress was shown by those participants in the experiments who listened to music according to the principle of a “contrast shower”: fast and rhythmic melodies directly during training or performing some work, and slow tracks during breaks. This combination of sounds effectively stimulates the activity of brain cells and helps synchronize the hemispheres. Music content for business helps employees not only to work hard, but also to work with office “plankton”.
Music and human mood
There is no denying that music creates a mood. When we come home, we always turn on the radio, a tape recorder, or our favorite playlist on the computer. When we do yoga and meditation practices, we also create a musical background: this time, with the help of the sounds of nature and national musical instruments.
Thus, sounds help to energize or, conversely, get rid of unnecessary thoughts and relax. That’s why music is used for therapeutic purposes: listening to smooth, melodic music is suitable for eliminating insomnia, hyperactivity and nervous tension, and regular listening to rhythmic dance tracks is suitable for treating depression.
Music of different styles and genres
In the previous section, we came close to an interesting topic – the influence of music of different directions and styles on the emotional state of the listener. In particular, most of the research and observations in this area relate to classical music.
Numerous experiments by foreign and domestic scientists have shown that listening to the works of classical composers helps to quickly assimilate information, normalize speech functions, and mitigate the symptoms of disorders such as dyslexia. In particular, a special healing effect is attributed to Mozart’s music.
However, psychologists strongly advise against listening to music of modern popular genres, such as heavy metal, hip-hop, and hard-core. The combination of aggressive basslines, politically-oriented lyrics, and romanticization of the image of an outcast and internal struggle is the atmosphere that surrounds the work of artists working in the above styles. Scientists at the University of Melbourne have found that people who regularly listen to rock are prone to depression, increased reflection, and addictions. At one time, they even conducted an experiment: they installed speakers in two greenhouses with roses. Classical music was played in one greenhouse and metal in the other. The flowers, bathed in the warm works of Beethoven and Grieg, gave more and more sprouts. In the “hard-core greenhouse” the situation was diametrically opposite: almost all the flowers had wilted.
Listening to funk, jazz, and reggae helps to get out of depression, and light rock (we emphasize light!) is a great way to relieve tension. With popular music, the situation is twofold: high-quality pop tracks really increase vitality and cheer you up, but cheap domestic pop with vulgar lyrics causes nothing but irritation.
Music affects people’s health
According to Eastern teachings and esoteric works, the human body is nothing more than an energy system; in turn, each organ is also a clot of energy. The coordinated work of these clots is the result of the interaction of energy through magnetic fields. Music sounds affect energy, purify it and normalize the body’s functioning. But this is what mystics say, and what do scientists think about this?
Doctors and psychologists have conducted thousands of studies to confirm or refute the healing functions of music, and have found a lot of evidence in favor of the mystical theory.