Last of two parts
BELOW are some music genres that can help students study and learn:
Classical — it might not be your thing, but classical music has mind-boosting effects and works wonders on concentration levels. Researchers refer to this as the “Mozart Effect,” indicating that listening to classical music — Mozart in particular — can improve people’s ability to think long-term and figure out abstract solutions to logical problems.
Ambient — to keep your brain engaged, consider listening to ambient music such as waterfalls, rainforests, and so forth, which cultivate an effect similar to meditation, producing a relaxed but alert state of mind. Turn to well-known artists that have made ambient music including Aphex Twin and Brian Eno.
Chill out – it is an actual music subgenre that refers to certain varieties of intelligent dance music, which encourage people to break, relax and recover. It stimulates listeners, while encouraging productivity and inspiring creativity.
Electronic — introduce low-key genre music, including hip hop, jazz, house, trans or new wave, into your study routine to help relax your mind and get your creative juices flowing.
Music helps calm you down. After a tiring day, you tune into the radio and find your favorite song playing. You immediately smile and feel better, don’t you?
Research proves the calming effects music has on your nerves. It helps you relax even when combined with dance or aromatherapy — the combination of music with relaxing fragrance lulls the body into a peaceful and restful mood.
Experts recommend listening to slow music when you feel stressed. But you can choose any music that makes you feel good. In fact, even the chirping of birds and the sound of waterfalls can help you unwind.
Research by the department of psychology at the University of South Alabama USA shows that listening to self-select music after a stressful event or day significantly reduces negative emotional states compared to sitting in silence.
Music has a profound effect on our body and psyche:
– With a strong beat, it can stimulate brain waves to resonate in sync with the beat. Faster beats bring sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and the slower tempo promotes a calm, meditative state.
– When music affects the brain waves, it also changes bodily functions. It causes slower breathing, slower heart rate and an activation of the relaxation response. Music can keep depression and anxiety at bay, and helps increase creativity and optimism levels.
– Music lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of stroke and heart problems, boosts immunity and eases muscle tension.
You also have to weave music into your routine. Since listening to music does not need you to actually do anything, you can easily listen to it as you perform your regular activities:
– You can play soft music while preparing and setting the tone for a low stress day.
– Play your favorite music in the car or listen when traveling. This helps avoid the stress that you feel when stuck in traffic or in a crowd.
– For some, cooking itself is distressing. When sometimes you find yourself too tired to cook, try playing some music that you enjoy and cooking will become a fun activity. This will elevate your mood and, in turn, help you enjoy the evening with your family.
– Listen to your favorite music when exercising and get double benefits — me time and fewer calories.
– Listen to some calming music while you work. Research shows it increases focus and concentration, thus increasing productivity (you will also spare yourself from the gossip that goes around in the office, too).
– Listening to music just before sleeping enhances this experience. But listening only to soft music — fast and loud music will have the opposite effect.
You can access the benefits of music on demand. As the music plays, enjoy each and every note, let it run through your body and feel the stress being washed away.
Listening to Eminem’s “Till I Collapse” is widely considered the way to get pumped up; music can calm us down. Research suggests that listening to tunes can distract us from stress and even increase our pain threshold.
Researchers suggest listening to music is an effective way to reduce physiological stress. In one study, college students performed an oral presentation with either Pachelbel’s “Canon” or no music in the background. Scientists found those lovely violins helped reduce anxiety, heart rate and blood pressure in participants who presented with the tunes.
Heading to the doctor or dentist stresses out even the bravest among us. Music distracts patients from their misery and even increase their ability to tolerate pain (Mozart makes that cavity-filling a piece of cake). They indicated better moods, lower blood pressure and lower heart rates
In patients from infants to 20-year-olds, headphones playing certain calming tunes (folk, contemporary, classical and lullaby) may decrease pain and anxiety during medical procedures. One study found music can be beneficial for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.
While the science behind music therapy is relatively new some experts suggest the brain’s response to music can help ease pain and depression and could even enhance creativity. Slower musical beats can alter brain waves speed, creating brain wave activity when we are in a more meditative or hypnotic state. Listening to slow music is also a therapeutic way to reduce stress, headache pain and even symptoms of PMS.
Classical music may be an effective way to ease into falling asleep, which will hopefully lead to feeling more refreshed in the morning. Not a huge Beethoven fan? Don’t you worry ’bout a thing, just listen to this next song instead (I played a love song on the violin).
Listening to slower tunes can alter brain activity, which may lead to a reduction in stress and pain. It will interest you to know that I also apply music in my organic farm. Music can be funny and entertaining as well (I played sound effects like a cat, whistle, ice cream vendor, etc., on the violin).
And so, I leave you with this memorable picture of a brilliant scientist who had very bad grades in arithmetic and mathematics, to show you all that there is still hope for me. (A photo of physicist Albert Einstein playing the violin). Thank you.