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Background music may improve focus on a task by providing motivation and improving mood. During long study sessions, music can aid endurance.

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Benefits of Studying with Music

More and more, students are bringing headphones with them to libraries and study halls. But does it actually help to listen to music when studying? While the so-called 'Mozart effect', a term coined from a study that suggested listening to music could actually enhance intelligence, has been widely refuted, there are still many benefits of listening to music while studying:

Music that is soothing and relaxing can help students to beat stress or anxiety while studying.

Background music may improve focus on a task by providing motivation and improving mood. During long study sessions, music can aid endurance.

In some cases, students have found that music helps them with memorization, likely by creating a positive mood, which indirectly boosts memory formation.

Drawbacks of Listening to Music while Studying

And still, despite these benefits, studies have shown that music is often times more distracting than it is helpful.

Students who listen to music with lyrics while completing reading or writing tasks tend to be less efficient and come away having absorbed less information.

Loud or agitated music can have adverse effects on reading comprehension and on mood, making focus more difficult.

Students who use music to help them memorize sometimes need to listen to music while taking the test in order to reap the benefits of this study method. In the silent test-taking environment, these students may find it more difficult to recall the information.

Ultimately, the effects of music on study habits are dependent on the student and their style of learning. If easily distracted, students should most likely avoid music so they can keep their focus on their work. Conversely, students who function better as multi-taskers may find that music helps them to better concentrate.

Building Better Study Habits

If you're wondering how to improve your memory and study skills, Study.com offers course materials on cognitive perspectives and cognition that include training on improving short- and long-term memory, retrieving memories and forming better study habits.

These resources feature fast and convenient video lessons that can be viewed in about five minutes, plus lesson quizzes to check your comprehension of the material. You'll also find a jump feature that lets you return to key points in each video or skip through info you already know about.

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is it good to listen to music while studying? | study.com

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Is it Good to Listen to Music While Studying? | Study.com

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More and more, students are bringing headphones with them to libraries and study halls. But does it actually help to listen to music when studying?

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Subjects tested in environments with background music were found to get better results than those tested against background noise.

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It's fair to to say the majority of students prefer to study while listening to music. Whether frantically cramming some last-minute reading to Kanye, or finalising an essay to the sound of the Arctic Monkeys, go to any university or college library and the majority of students there will be listening to their music of choice.

Music is a very significant part of our daily lives; the image of the quietly-focused student isolating themselves into a personal study zone has led to interest into whether listening to music actually helps studies or not. Research into the field has proven fairly ambiguous, with many studies contradicting each other. However this does provide an useful insight for students who maybe looking into ways to use music to enhance their exam performance.

The most famous theory linking music and cognitive performance is the 'Mozart effect', the popular idea that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. The research itself was interested in the relation between Mozart and 'spatial-temporal reasoning', or knowing how to fit things into other things, basically. The idea that music - particularly classical - can improve exam results has endured, with websites such mozarteffect.com selling music supposedly designed to "charge the brain."

However, research has shown that performance in tasks involving memory and concentration was better in a silent environment, though, studying in place often disturbed by talkers, sneezers, or traffic, few students have access to a silent study space. Subjects tested in environments with background music were found to get better results than those tested against background noise. Therefore, taking along an iPod and a set of headphones may come in handy if you're looking to avoid being distracted by any ambient sounds.

The style, volume, rhythm and 'state' of the music a student listens to, as well as the personality of the student, can also be significant factors. Classical music is generally viewed as the best to listen to whilst studying, however there is no decisive research to back this. What has been proven is that listening to music which is constant in state, has a steady a repetitive pulse, and is not too loud is better for concentration than inconsistent musical styles, meaning you should probably avoid listening to anything labelled 'Mathcore' when trying to be productive. The same study also found evidence that people perform worse when listening to their preferred, rather than neutral, music.

Personality has also been shown to affect performance, with introverts more likely to test worse than extroverts. Similarly, people tested who are bad at multi-tasking have also been shown to test worse when listening to background music. For those who feel the pressure during exams, it has been observed that calming music, for example a Haydn string quartet, can help to reduce anxiety in an individual.

This highlights the main thing to consider when listening to music while studying: that how you do so really just depends on you. There is no decisive doctrine or absolute piece of research which tells you what to do, whether it's a Four Tet Boiler Room set or Cannibal Corpse you think helps you to study, do what you believe helps. Listening to music has been shown to cause the release of dopamine, meaning that it is a pleasurable, rewarding experience which can relax an individual.

On the whole, what a student can take from research is that using music to create an environment yourself is conducive towards the task you wish to complete.

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How music could help you to concentrate on work

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It's fair to to say the majority of students prefer to study while listening to music. Whether frantically cramming some last-minute reading to Kanye, or finalising an essay to the sound of the Arctic Monkeys, go to any university or college library and the majority of students there will be listening to their music of choice.

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Mozart Effect

Soothing music or classical music can help a student focus

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Written by Rudy Miller

Today's teens find it hard to resist listening to music while doing homework. Those who choose to listen while they study could see grades dip as a result. Teens need to choose wisely if they decide to listen to music and study at the same time. Soothing music can help some students focus, while any choice of music can be a distraction for other students.

Trend

Many teens listen to music while they study. In fact, many juggle their listening and studying with other tasks such as emailing, instant messaging and watching television. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 53 percent of teens 12 to 17 do something else while studying. At 87 percent, listening to music was the most popular side activity for those who balanced studying with another activity. This generation of teens is growing up multitaskers, and the lure of computers, televisions and iPods is too great for today's teens to ignore even while doing homework.

Distraction

Trying to do more than one thing at a time means you're not entirely focused on anything. A University of Toronto study found that fast, loud music hinders reading comprehension. The music agitates rather than focuses the studier, and researcher Glenn Schellenberg likened it to trying to learn while riding a roller coaster. A University College London study found that both introverted and extroverted undergraduate students performed worse on a reading comprehension test when pop music was played. A memory test for adult participants at the University of Wales met with similar results: Listening to music hampered the test takers.

Mozart Effect

But not all music is bad for all students. Sometimes, soothing music or classical music can help a student focus. One British study claims listening to Mozart for 10 minutes produced a "Mozart effect" where test-takers' IQ scores went up 8 or 9 points. A Bulgarian psychologist employed the method of playing Baroque era music, which plays at a tempo of 60 beats per minute, to help students learn foreign languages. After the 30-day course, the average retention rate per student was 92 percent. Even four years later, when students had not reviewed the material, most remembered the foreign language lesson.

Individual Predispositions

The effect of music on students varies depending on the music and the student. The "Journal of Communication" studied whether listening to music affected eighth graders' homework performance. The results were inconclusive. The U.S. Department of Education has concluded that quiet background music can help some children focus, but tells parents to turn off loud music from CD players, radios and televisions when their children study. The potential for distraction is too great from these music sources, according to government experts.

About the Author

Rudy Miller has been writing professionally since 1996. Miller is a digital team leader for lehighvalleylive.com, a local news website and content provider to the Express-Times newspaper in Easton, Pa. Miller holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Miami.

Photo Credits

Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Effects of Music on a Student's Schoolwork

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today's teens find it hard to resist listening to music while doing homework. Those who choose to listen while they study could see grades dip as a result. Teens need to choose wisely if they decide to listen to music and study at the same time.

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Does listening to music help or 
    hinder students while they 
            read and write? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Does listening to music help or 
    hinder students while they 
            read and write? 

# data[].attributes.body
Distraction
loud music hinders reading comprehension

students performed worse on a reading comprehension test when pop music was played

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Written by Rudy Miller

Today's teens find it hard to resist listening to music while doing homework. Those who choose to listen while they study could see grades dip as a result. Teens need to choose wisely if they decide to listen to music and study at the same time. Soothing music can help some students focus, while any choice of music can be a distraction for other students.

Trend

Many teens listen to music while they study. In fact, many juggle their listening and studying with other tasks such as emailing, instant messaging and watching television. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 53 percent of teens 12 to 17 do something else while studying. At 87 percent, listening to music was the most popular side activity for those who balanced studying with another activity. This generation of teens is growing up multitaskers, and the lure of computers, televisions and iPods is too great for today's teens to ignore even while doing homework.

Distraction

Trying to do more than one thing at a time means you're not entirely focused on anything. A University of Toronto study found that fast, loud music hinders reading comprehension. The music agitates rather than focuses the studier, and researcher Glenn Schellenberg likened it to trying to learn while riding a roller coaster. A University College London study found that both introverted and extroverted undergraduate students performed worse on a reading comprehension test when pop music was played. A memory test for adult participants at the University of Wales met with similar results: Listening to music hampered the test takers.

Mozart Effect

But not all music is bad for all students. Sometimes, soothing music or classical music can help a student focus. One British study claims listening to Mozart for 10 minutes produced a "Mozart effect" where test-takers' IQ scores went up 8 or 9 points. A Bulgarian psychologist employed the method of playing Baroque era music, which plays at a tempo of 60 beats per minute, to help students learn foreign languages. After the 30-day course, the average retention rate per student was 92 percent. Even four years later, when students had not reviewed the material, most remembered the foreign language lesson.

Individual Predispositions

The effect of music on students varies depending on the music and the student. The "Journal of Communication" studied whether listening to music affected eighth graders' homework performance. The results were inconclusive. The U.S. Department of Education has concluded that quiet background music can help some children focus, but tells parents to turn off loud music from CD players, radios and televisions when their children study. The potential for distraction is too great from these music sources, according to government experts.

About the Author

Rudy Miller has been writing professionally since 1996. Miller is a digital team leader for lehighvalleylive.com, a local news website and content provider to the Express-Times newspaper in Easton, Pa. Miller holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Miami.

Photo Credits

Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Effects of Music on a Student's Schoolwork

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today's teens find it hard to resist listening to music while doing homework. Those who choose to listen while they study could see grades dip as a result. Teens need to choose wisely if they decide to listen to music and study at the same time.

# data[].attributes.body
Loud or agitated music can have adverse effects on reading comprehension and on mood, making focus more difficult.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Benefits of Studying with Music

More and more, students are bringing headphones with them to libraries and study halls. But does it actually help to listen to music when studying? While the so-called 'Mozart effect', a term coined from a study that suggested listening to music could actually enhance intelligence, has been widely refuted, there are still many benefits of listening to music while studying:

Music that is soothing and relaxing can help students to beat stress or anxiety while studying.

Background music may improve focus on a task by providing motivation and improving mood. During long study sessions, music can aid endurance.

In some cases, students have found that music helps them with memorization, likely by creating a positive mood, which indirectly boosts memory formation.

Drawbacks of Listening to Music while Studying

And still, despite these benefits, studies have shown that music is often times more distracting than it is helpful.

Students who listen to music with lyrics while completing reading or writing tasks tend to be less efficient and come away having absorbed less information.

Loud or agitated music can have adverse effects on reading comprehension and on mood, making focus more difficult.

Students who use music to help them memorize sometimes need to listen to music while taking the test in order to reap the benefits of this study method. In the silent test-taking environment, these students may find it more difficult to recall the information.

Ultimately, the effects of music on study habits are dependent on the student and their style of learning. If easily distracted, students should most likely avoid music so they can keep their focus on their work. Conversely, students who function better as multi-taskers may find that music helps them to better concentrate.

Building Better Study Habits

If you're wondering how to improve your memory and study skills, Study.com offers course materials on cognitive perspectives and cognition that include training on improving short- and long-term memory, retrieving memories and forming better study habits.

These resources feature fast and convenient video lessons that can be viewed in about five minutes, plus lesson quizzes to check your comprehension of the material. You'll also find a jump feature that lets you return to key points in each video or skip through info you already know about.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
is it good to listen to music while studying? | study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is it Good to Listen to Music While Studying? | Study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More and more, students are bringing headphones with them to libraries and study halls. But does it actually help to listen to music when studying?