How does music affect college students academically

Being a college student is exhausting and stressful. Students like to hang out with friends or do something they love to relieve that stress. But, there are a few students that simply listen to music to help with the hardships of college, often while studying. Which begs the question, “how does music affect college students academically?". Music is a pleasant sound that helps people feel something, whether emotionally or physically. Music is something that helps bring people together. Scientifically, music is a vibration of chords mixing into a harmony. However, it has been said that listening to music can help improve memory. And from the wise words of Ludwig van Beethoven, "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."

Scientifically, music is a form of vibrations mixing together to form a harmony that affects multiple areas of the brain. In most cases music can cause the brain to release dopamine, which has an effect of mood and muscle movement. In other cases music can have a negative effect on people, like sad songs can make people cry and angry ones can make people mad. A study was done in the 1990s by Jon S. Bakin, Jean-Marc Edeline, and Norman M. Weinberger, found that people can find chords and remember melodies in songs that they have not heard in years. For example, the first eleven piano chores in Green Day’s ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’. In an article written by Norman M. Weinberger titled “Music and the Brain”, he wrote about some of the research that he has done to learn about the lasting effects that music has on the mind, and in his final paragraph Weinberger stated, “Musicians appear to have additional specializations, particularly hyper development of some brain structures. These effects demonstrate that learning retunes the brain, increasing both the responses of individual cells and the number of cells that react strongly to sounds that become important to an individual.”(Weinberger). Leading to the question, “how does music affect college students academically?".

There are many ways' music can help with academics, but does it actually improve academics? A survey was done by Monica Antony , V. Vishnu Priya , and R. Gayathri researches how music affects college students. Through the survey they found that out of 80 students “40.5% of the students listen to music sometimes while studying , and for 64.3% of the students, the efficiency increases . For 57.1%, music has affected their academic performance in a positive manner”. (Research Article). However, in their research they also found that some college students get distracted if they listen to music while studying and that most parents disagree when their children study and listen to music at the same time. However, whether music helps with academics, it depends on the type of music playing.

If a student is listening to music while studying, the types of music that they are listening to may also affect their academics. There are many different genres in music, like pop, rock, hip hop, rhythm and blues, country, jazz, electric dance music, folk, alternative, classical, and many more. It has been said that listening to classical music can help improve intelligence, this method is called the Mozart Effect. In an article titled “'Mozart Effect' Was Just What We Wanted To Hear” and written by Alix Spiegel. A psychologist by the name of Frances Rauscher did a study in 1993 and found that playing Mozart to 36 college students for 10 minutes while studying helped give the students a higher score on a test versus the students that listened to silence and the ones that listened to a monotone voice. According to Rauscher’s research in Spiegel's article, it can be recognized that listening to classical music can help with academics, however at the end of Rauscher’s research she was receiving complaints about the Mozart Effect, meaning that other types of music made people unintelligent, which was not the case. However, in another article by Peter Tze and Ming Chou, they did a reading comprehension study using two types of background music: hip hop and classical. In the study they found that “ hip hop music in the background has a greater effect on the concentration during the reading comprehension task when compared to light classical music or with no music.”( Tze and Chou). As Rausher said, "The key to it is that you have to enjoy the music, If you hate Mozart you're not going to find a Mozart Effect. If you love Pearl Jam, you're going to find a Pearl Jam effect."(Spiegel). But what does this have to say about playing an instrument rather than listening to them?

“Playing an instrument has proven to stimulate the brain in ways other than just listening to music,” Clare Broderick mentioned in a student essay written by her. Neuroscientists have found that playing an instrument can improve brain function in more ways than just listening to music can. In another article, writer Anita Collins mentions that, “playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once, especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. As with any other workout, disciplined, structured practice in playing music strengthens those brain functions, allowing us to apply that strength to other activities.”(Collins) Learning to play an instrument can also improve motor skills, problem solving, and social skills. But how does this help students academically? In the studies that were mentioned in Broderick’s essay, it was concluded that playing an instrument did help with academics rather than only listening to it. “Another study was conducted in Switzerland. Dr. Olive Wetter of the University of Zurich studied the grades of 120 students. Fifty three of these students had musical training through school or at home. The other sixty seven had no experience in playing music. The grades of those playing an instrument were significantly higher than those who did not.”(Broderick)

In conclusion, music is something that stimulates the brain in ways that other things cannot. Music can help improve brain function and academics. However, a person has to enjoy the music to release the dopamine that can help remember the new information needed to pass a class. In other words, music makes people happy, and when people are happy they are more willing to learn and welcome new concepts, whether academically or socially. So, the answer to the question is yes. Music helps with academics no matter if a person is merely listening or playing the instrument.

Citations

Broderick, Clare “The Brain on Music: Does music improve academic performance? Do Regina students benefit from their involvement in music?” March 2016 https://rdhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-Brain-on-Music.pdf

Peter Tze, Ming Chou

“Attention Drainage Effect: How background music effects concentration in Taiwanese college students” January 2010

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ882124.pdf

Monica Antony , V. Vishnu Priya , R. Gayathri (Research Article)

“Effect of music on academic performance of college students” 2018

https://jprsolutions.info/files/final-file-5b8cd5b96d1b97.74649067.pdf

Paglusch,Terri What is Music? Music Defined by Musicians.April 18, 2017

https://www.musichouseschool.com/what-is-music-music-defined-by-musicians

Spiegel, Alix “'Mozart Effect' Was Just What We Wanted To Hear” June 28, 2010

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128104580

Collins, Anita “How playing an instrument benefits your brain” July 2014 https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain/transcript?language=en#:~:text=Playing%20a%20musical%20instrument%20engages,that%20strength%20to%20other%20activities.

Weinberger, Norman M. “Music And The Brain” September 1, 2006

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/music-and-the-brain-2006-09/