Music For The Brain
Studying is one of the biggest tasks that every student has to do when they want to make sure that they pass their classes, because without studying, you can’t get far with your studies. As someone who spends quite a few hours every night studying, there is only one thing that keeps me sane while working: music.
Last week I sent out a small survey asking students what kind of music they listen to while studying or if they just work in silence. There were 52 students that responded to the survey, and the results are as followed:
- Country - 46.2%
- Classical - 5.8%
- Alternative - 19.2%
- Pop - 34.6%
- Rock - 25%
- R&B - 17.3%
- Latin - 1.9%
- Metal - 17.3%
- Hip-Hop - 23.1%
- No Music - 19.2%
- Other - 17.1%
When students were answering the survey, they had the chance to pick more than one genre of music, because I know that when I listen to music, I’m listening to so many different kinds of music such as alternative, pop, metal, and even classical music.
So what benefits does listening to music have for you? Well it’s a great motivator because after a long day of working and going to class, you want to be in a relaxed state when you’re studying. If you’re trying to study when you're stressed, it’s not much help when it’s trying to help you get motivated and focused. Another way is when you’re listening to certain music when studying a specific subject, it becomes easier to recall when listening to that music outside of studying, it’s a similar method of when chewing a specific flavor of gum when studying. When you chew that gum it helps you recall and apply the information that you learned.
Now while listening to music, you do have to be aware of what you’re doing. Some downfalls that you might have when listening to music is that it might distract you. When you’re listening to music that you love, you’re more likely to want to not do your work and just sing along with your favorite song. Some ways to help make sure that you’re not getting distracted while doing work can be helped by doing these simple things:
- Avoid music with lyrics.
- Listen to slow instrumental music.
- Keep the volume down low.
- Don’t listen to songs that you might have emotional connections with.
If you don’t listen to music while studying, don’t feel bad, because sometimes working in silence is a great way to stay focused. If you have a system that works best for you and it’s not any of the things that I stated, don’t feel obligated to change what works best for you. The only person who knows you the best is yourself. If you want to find playlists that are good to listen to, you can always go to Youtube or Spotify and search ‘Studying Music’ and there will be so many playlists to pick from!
Note! When you do want to rock out, Western has its own radio station, Mustang Radio 91.3. Check it out!
