The power of music

If you are like me, you’ll absolutely love having your favourite jam on full blast while you tidy up or cook dinner. There is nothing quite like an upbeat tempo to keep us bopping around while we are doing day to day tasks. Going to a gig or concert can bring pure joy and add to that the chance to let your hair down and boogie – music can be euphoric. 

On the other end of the spectrum, putting on some relaxing, chilled music can be the perfect way to calm us down and enjoy the quiet moments in our lives by slowing down our pulse and heart rate, lowering our blood pressure, and decreasing our levels of stress hormones.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

Plato

With technology making music more readily available and systems allowing us to create specific playlists for every mood or occasion – let’s look at how the power music can have.

Moods

Why does music have such a profound effect on how we feel? For starters, it releases those precious feel-good hormones. In this article, Psychology Today explains how Dopamine is released when listening to music. Another reason could be that feeling of recognition and nostalgia certain songs can bring with them. 

Sometimes it can be as simple as, we like the song we are listening to, so we enjoy what we are doing more because of it.

Workplace

Gone are the days of the old-school belief that the most productive employees are the ones who work in a noise-free environment throughout the day. 

Depending on the tempo/style of music played, studies show that the list of benefits to having music in the workplace is huge – no matter what field of work you are in, tension can be eased, efficiency can be improved as well as productivity and general workplace happiness. 

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.“

Maya Angelou

Memory

A study conducted here found that playing more upbeat music led to improvements in brain processing speed while both upbeat and downbeat music led to benefits in memory – especially as we get older.

Pain Management

Research has shown that music can be helpful in the management of pain. This study of fibromyalgia patients found that those who listened to music for just one hour a day experienced a significant reduction in pain compared to those in a control group.

Sleep

According to this article from the Sleep Foundation, music has a direct effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps your body relax and prepare for sleep.

Slow tunes seem to be the most effective. Look for a rhythm of about 60 to 80 beats per minute (BPM), which we are most likely to find among classical, jazz, folk or mood music created for calming the body and mind.

“Where words fail, music speaks.”

Hans Christian Andersen

Connection to Others

Listening to music and singing socially has been shown in several studies to directly impact neuro-chemicals in the brain, many of which play a role in closeness and connection.

New research also suggests that playing music or singing with others may be particularly effective in promoting social closeness through the release of endorphins.

TherapyStudies show that music stimulates the brain in many ways. For example, music therapy can have a powerful effect on patients who have Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s and even some who have had strokes – improving fine motor skills and cognitive function.