Classical music can help you focus and absorb information. Classical music also improves your mood, by raising your dopamine levels. A study shows that students who listen to classical music during a one-hour lecture retained more information than students that heard the same lecture with no music. If you listen to music that you know really well while studying, you start to think of what is next in the song, which takes your focus off of your assignment. Classical music relaxes you which helps you focus. When you are focused on your assignment you retain more information. Early childhood exposure to classical music benefits the brains development.
Classical music also uses both sides of your brain, by activation neurons (nerve that transmits information throughout your body). The left side of your brain is facts, logic, sequencing, and the right side of your brain is the arts, imagination, and intuition. While you are doing your schoolwork, you are using the left side of the brain because you are using logic, but when you listen to classical music you activate the right side of your brain because music is an art. Using both sides of your brain at once allows for you to store more information as creative imagery as well as releasing the sense of relaxation. Listening to classical music can also reduce your stress.
This music reduces the sound of noise from outside the classroom that would have been a distraction. If you are listening to disrupting sounds, you have to concentrate more on your work. Students who listen to classical music during a stressful time often experience less anxiety. Classical music may improve your mood which can help you concentrate. Modern music has sporadic bass drops which aren’t soothing like classical music is. Classical music also increases your productivity. If you play classical music while doing a task that you don’t want to do, you can zone out and focus on the music which can make tasks more enjoyable to do.
The Mozart Effect conducted in 1993, is a set of research that indicates that listening to Mozart’s music induces an improvement while doing mental tasks. This effect also enhances deep rest, creativity, and learning. When researchers gave college students a standard test after listening to Mozart, a relaxation tape, and sitting in silence, the students performed better on the test after listening to Mozart rather than the relaxation tape and silence.
JayneAnn Junge
Ms. Harner's EN100 Blog 