I like melodies, stories and harmonizing sounds. I can’t get enough of Zac Brown Band and Jimmy Buffet. I listen to music on my walk to work, when I cook dinner and when I go out for a run. My first real purchase, at 13, was a stereo system with a double cassette so I could record off the radio, dub mix tapes and have a constant stream of music in my bedroom. I was a fierce supporter that listening to music helped me do my homework. Now, I find myself putting on music in the afternoons when I am sitting at my desk and too antsy to focus. There is something about the music that helps me settle down and connect to the task at hand.
A recent study by Krisna Adiasto of Radbound University found that Music is a Detox! He found that music can help a person relax and most interestingly it is not the genre of music that matters so much as the audio characteristics. The study was done in two stages. In the first stage, 470 participants of various nationalities were asked about the songs that help them relax after a stressful event. After compiling a list of 1,296 songs the researchers noticed a trend – the songs were either mellow in major mode or energetic in minor mode. The songs were typically performed in the key of E with a moderate tempo of 4/4 time. The researchers then had 200 participants listen to 10 minutes of music after completing a stressful task. One group listened to music chosen by the researchers, one group chose their own music and the third group listened to random musical notes. The researchers found that the first two groups had a quicker and more complete stress recovery. Are the audio characteristics of the music more important than the familiarity of the song? Since the researcher himself relaxes to classical music, which does not fit into this paradigm, the answer is still unknown.
What do we learn from this study? Music is a Detox. We all have an emotional attachment to songs. We listen to them when we are happy and when we are sad, to make us happy and sometimes to make us sad. Music can remind us of an event, an important place or a special person. How can you listen to music more?
- Download iHeart Radio, Spotify or Apple Music where you can access unlimited music of every genre and rhythm. You can search playlists that others have created or create your own. At this link you can access my Listening and Working Playlist. It is a random group of songs but somehow, when I just cannot focus, they have the ability to ground me. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/51RVdL3kR6EBERF62PwMiA?si=c5b9c54b1e734652
- Go to a concert. A search of “where to find live music near me” gave me list of bars with live music through Yelp, www.Ticketmaster.com, www.Bandsintown.com, symphony orchestras, performing arts centers and a schedule of free local concerts.
Adiasto, K., van Hooff, M.L.M., Beckers, D.G.J. et al. The sound of stress recovery: an exploratory study of self-selected music listening after stress. BMC Psychol 11, 40 (2023). The full study can be read here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01066-w