Music Study Jams

1056 Words3 Pages

Carly VanDewark
Ms. James
Pre-AP Honors English II
6 January 2016 Now Playing: Study Jams
Many students are addicted to their earbuds while they study material for school. Often times, teachers play music through speakers in class while students work at their desks. But is this a practical way to study? Or is it only a distraction? Listening to music is an effective study method because it can motivate students to work harder, block out distractions, reduce anxiety, and engage their brain.
It is often difficult to self-motivate to study but music can help. It is important to think positively. Listening to music before completing a task can cause students to think more creatively and work harder (Cantor). Music can be "positive mood …show more content…

Music can be used to block out background noise like humming or tapping from other people or the phone ringing (Padnani). However, while music can drown out districting sounds, having the television or video games on while studying is not helpful (Mayzler, Alexandra, and McGann 53). It is also important to understand which types of music are good for studying and which are distracting in themselves. Popular music is not the best study music because students tend to multitask as they listen to the lyrics and study at the same time (Cantor). Multitasking does not allow students to absorb information or process it so productivity decreases ("17"). Lyrics that a student knows well will not be as distracting as new songs with lyrics that he or she does not know. New lyrics make people curious and want to listen to them (Muchnick …show more content…

Baroque classical music has been shown to relax students enough to focus on their learning, allowing them to recall main points of their reading more easily (Moore 35). Koan music is also great study music because it is free-flowing and used in meditation. Also, repetitive music with a small tonal range is better than dynamic and rhythmic music (Cantor). Students may become more relaxed with self-picked music, as opposed to music they are forced to listen to. Music affects physical health in ways that reduce anxiety so it can be called an anxiolytic treatment (Lesiuk 173). Stress causes hormones to release corticotrophin, which makes it difficult to remember things ("17"). Slow music lowers blood pressure and heart rate ("Stress"). Randomly pausing the music can lower blood pressure even further. It should be noted that fast music can increase blood pressure and breathing rate so slow music is better for relaxation purposes (Brookes). People can feel anxiety if they are not comfortable. If someone is not in his or her normal study spot at home, relaxing music can make him or her more comfortable in studying (Muchnick 108). Sometimes silence is uncomfortable so students may prefer music in the background (Padnani). In some studies, students have spent more time on tasks when they worked in silence and less time with music or noise (Lesiuk

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