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When you're five hours deep in a work or studying session, it might feel like the only thing keeping you going is the Lemonade album you have on repeat in the background. But does music help you focus as much as you think it does, or is it just making you incrementally more distracted? Plenty of us listen to music while we're working; some do so sheerly out of pleasure, but others have music on in the background because they truly believe it helps them focus and get things done. But before you plug in your longest Spotify playlist and hit play, you might want to have a better understanding of how music actually affects your focus - or better yet, if there are certain genres you should stick to when it comes to boosting your productivity.

First of all, some good news: Certain types of music can help your productivity, and can even trigger different parts of your brain to light up so that your work ethic is more effective, so to speak. According to a 2017 blog post on Northcentral University's website, music itself - just the notes, not including lyrics - can cause both the left and right sides of your brain to light up simultaneously, which "can maximize learning and improve memory," according to Dr. Masha Godkin, a professor in the university's Department of Marriage and Family Sciences.

Music can actually help you learn faster - but only if you're listening to wordless music, like the classical genre.

Otherwise, you might end up getting distracted by the words and not memorizing or retaining any of the information you're trying to digest, according to Northcentral University. If you're not into classical music, though, you could always go for electronic dance music (EDM), because yeah, surprisingly enough, Northcentral University noted that this could be just as effective as classical music, since it doesn't have any lyrics to distract your thought process.

Some other suggestions from Northcentral University include the volume and tempo of your jams: Keeping the volume lower is important (so you you're not drowning out your own thoughts while you work), and having a tempo of 60 to 70 beats per minute might help you focus for longer periods of time, as well as help you retain more information along the way.

Now, it's pretty cool to think that something like EDM could legitimately help you get your work done. It's good to know your old frat-party anthems will serve you well in the real world, but it's kind of a bummer that any music with lyrics is apparently a no-go for helping you focus.

So what is it about music with words that gets in the way of your productivity?

Basically, it comes down to this: You have two attention systems running at all times in your body, according to The Guardian. One of these systems relates to your conscious thoughts, which "enables us to direct our focus towards things we know we want to concentrate on," while the other one regulates your unconscious thoughts, and "shifts attention towards anything our senses pick up that might be significant." When you're focusing on something, your conscious attention may be focused on the task at hand, but your unconscious attention is keeping an eye (and an ear) out for any sounds or sights that might warrant attention.

When you listen to music with lyrics, or even music that's otherwise too loud or distracting, it starts to serve as a distraction for your conscious attention. Listening to lyrical music while writing or reading is basically a form of multi-tasking, which has been shown again and again to just plain not work.

In contrast, listening to music without words won't interrupt your focus, an it has an added bonus of drowning out other small noises that might interrupt you otherwise, like the constant sneezing of your allergy-prone co-worker, for example.

The rule of thumb for focus-oriented music is simple, and unfortunately Beyoncé-averse: keep it wordless, and keep the volume reasonable.

There's one pretty big caveat to all of this, though: Your ability to focus with music on in the background is totally dependent on the task you're trying to accomplish. More specifically, according to a 2014 report published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, lyrical music will only distract you if the task that you're trying to accomplish involves words.

However, a task that requires creativity (without involving any reading or writer) could benefit from any and all genres of music, according to The Conversation - which is why you might love listening to Chance The Rapper while you focus on the graphic design aspects of a slideshow you're creating, but you'd rather put on some Zedd when you're trying to figure out the bullet points to include in your next slide.

Musical taste and study preferences are, of course, totally dependent on the person. What's really important here is paying attention to how efficiently you're working, and trying to adjust your circumstances to improve that efficiency in the long-term. Maybe the Lemonade album can wait, at least for a few hours.

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This Is The Best Type Of Music To Listen To While You're Working, According To Science

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When you're five hours deep in a work or studying session, it might feel like the only thing keeping you going is the Lemonade album you have on repeat in the background. But does music help you focus as much as you think it does, or is it just...

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music helps you focus and learn longer also concrete.

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music helps you focus and learn longer also concrete.

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Listen. What's that in the background? Is it rock, country or classical music? Did you know that certain types of music can help you focus?

March is Music in Our Schools Month, which was created to increase awareness of the importance of music in student's lives.

"Music has the potential to take a person from the Beta brainwave state to deeper Alpha, and then Theta brainwave states, depending on the music," explained Dr. Masha Godkin, a professor in the Department of Marriage and Family Sciences at Northcentral University.

"Music activates both the left and right brain at the same time, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory," says Dr. Masha Godkin

According to Godkin, it's good to stick with classical music. One reason this genre works well is that there are no lyrics to distract you. You can also branch out into meditation music, which is ideal for concentration as it is meant to relieve stress and relax your mind.

Music has a profound effect on our mood, blood pressure, and heart rate. For the best music to focus and study, choose tunes that keep you awake but won't cause you to start tapping your body to the beat.

Instead of relying on the radio or a random mix on Pandora or Spotify, it can help to create a playlist of the best study music for concentration. You can plan a set amount of uninterrupted music, which serves as a built-in timer for studying. When the music is up, you've earned a break.

Everyone's taste in music is different, but when it comes to creating the best study music playlist, here are some genres and tips to consider:

Go Classical
You may not want to go to a symphony concert, but the soothing sounds of classical orchestra music seem to increase mood and productivity, which makes it great for studying.

Consider Tempo
Music with 60-70 beats per minute like Beethoven's Fur Elise appears to help students study longer and retain more information.

Spa Music
Ambient sounds that you would expect to hear on a soundtrack during a spa treatment can help you relax.

Nature Sounds
Like ambient music, the sounds of babbling brooks, birds, wind and rain are very calming and make great background noise. You can even create your own mix with websites like Noisli.

Electronic Music
New Age and ambient EDM music are a good choice for those who don't like classical. Any music with little to no lyrics is best.

Sound Control
The volume of your study music is key. Don't drown out your own thoughts. Remember, it's supposed to be in the background.

We would love to know what's on your study playlist. Follow Northcentral University on Facebook or Twitter and let us know what music helps you get through school!

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Listen. What's that in the background? Is it rock, country or classical music? Did you know that certain types of music can help you focus?March is Music in Our Schools Month, which was created to increase awareness of the importance of music in student's lives.

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music can help some people while learning but it also doesn't help some people 

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music can help some people while learning but it also doesn't help some people 

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Students, does music help or hinder studying?

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Why is it some people can happily study to a soundtrack while others demand absolute silence?

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type of music can affect you. it can either help learn or it could just distract you.

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type of music can affect you. it can either help learn or it could just distract you.

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Can Listening to Music Help You Concentrate? | Cambridge Brain Sciences Blog

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Do you enjoy listening to music while working? Find out if this is helping or harming your concentration.

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There is a wealth of psychology research that can help teachers to improve how they work with students, but academic studies of this kind aren't always easy to access or translate into the realities of classroom practice. This series seeks to redress that by taking a selection of studies and making sense of the important information for teachers, as we all seek to answer the question: how can we help our students do better at school? This time, we consider growth mindset.
Many students do their homework and revision while listening to music. Many of them will swear that listening to their favourite songs makes them study better. But does music help or hinder learning? And does it matter what type of music you listen to while revising?

Researchers from the applied psychology department of Cardiff Metropolitan University led a study to answer this question. The authors, Nick Perham and Harriet Currie, assigned students into one of four groups: the first revised in silence, the second revised while listening to music with lyrics they liked (which included songs from One Direction and Katy Perry), the third group revised to music with lyrics they did not like (which comprised of very heavy metal bands), and the fourth group revised listening to music without lyrics.

The participants then took a test on the passages they had been revising, rating how distracting their environment had been, as well as writing down their predictions for how well they thought they had done.

What are the main findings?

1. Students who revised in quiet environments performed more than 60% better in an exam than their peers who revised while listening to music that had lyrics.

2. Students who revised while listening to music without lyrics did better than those who had revised to music with lyrics.

3. It made no difference if students revised listening to songs they liked or disliked. Both led to a reduction in their test performance.

4. Students who revised in silence rated their environment as less distracting and accurately predicted that this would lead to better performances in subsequent tests.

Related research

There are some benefits to listening to music while performing certain tasks. It can be quite motivating and it can improve mood (listening to your favourite song tends to make people smile, for example). But it does not help people learn new or complex material.

The misconception that music does help us learn stems from a series of studies linked to the " Mozart effect ", which found that people performed better on a series of cognitive tasks after listening to 10 minutes of Mozart. Participants in these studies appeared to be getting smarter and performing better in tests.

However, further research has since revealed this is not the case. While listening to music before a task can make someone feel better, listening to it while trying to learn something new tends not to help. This is because music - especially tunes with lyrics - can take up processing space. This conflicts with the material you are trying to learn, effectively creating a bottleneck in your memory, as there is less space to process what you are revising.

What does this mean for the classroom?

It is important that students are made aware of the pitfalls of listening to music when revising. Perham and Currie's study found that students rated the quiet environment as less distracting and better for them, yet many students continue to listen to music during their homework. Why? Perhaps they're doing so out of habit, or they confuse what improves their mood with what leads to good revision, or it alleviates boredom. Perhaps it's simply because everyone else is doing it.

Students need to know how to revise well. There may well be a time and place to listen to music during the course of their revision, but not when they are learning new and complex material. After all, silence is golden.

Bradley Busch is a registered psychologist, director at InnerDrive and author of Release Your Inner Drive. Follow @Inner_Drive on Twitter, and get advice on improving memory and a visual summary of this research on his website
Follow us on Twitter via @GuardianTeach, like us on Facebook, and join the Guardian Teacher Network the latest articles direct to your inbox Looking for a teaching job? Or perhaps you need to recruit school staff? Take a look at Guardian Jobs, the education specialist

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Drowned in sound: how listening to music hinders learning

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There is a wealth of psychology research that can help teachers to improve how they work with students, but academic studies of this kind aren't always easy to access or translate into the realities of classroom practice.

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different genres  of music for different tasks 

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different genres  of music for different tasks 

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When we hear a familiar song, we are often able to recall a moment from our past that is connected to that tune. Favorite songs tickle our memory in various ways; your child may even complain of "getting a song stuck in her head," which shows that music is easily ingrained in our memory.

Music has been found to stimulate parts of the brain, and studies have demonstrated that music enhances the memory of Alzheimer's and dementia patients, including a study conducted at UC Irvine, which showed that scores on memory tests of Alzheimer's patients improved when they listened to classical music.

It's possible, then, to use music to help your child retain information and enhance learning. Chris Brewer, founder of LifeSounds Educational Services and author of the new book Soundtracks for Learning, says sounds can help to hold our attention, evoke emotions, and stimulate visual images. "Students of all ages-that includes adults- generally find that music helps them focus more clearly on the task at hand and puts them in a better mood for learning," says Brewer.

Brewer calls the use of music throughout the day "positive mood management" and suggests that various styles of music are appropriate for different types of activities. For instance, she recommends using upbeat popular music to motivate learning, especially songs with lyrics that encourage positive thinking. When studying, writing, or reading, play instrumental music to sustain concentration, she says. Classical music of the Baroque era, like Bach, Handel or Mozart work particularly well. "Music can help shift energy levels, too, so playing upbeat music can boost tired minds and bodies while slower, more reflective music helps calm and focus," says Brewer.

Gaetan Pappalardo, a teacher, writer, and consultant at www.onkidwriting.com, also uses music in a variety of ways, particularly to strengthen language. "You can't dig out some old, dusty music and expect kids to hop, skip, and jump to the beat," says Pappalardo. These days, your child is exposed to many genres, from movie soundtracks, video game tunes, and music from Guitar Hero and Rock Band, for instance. If you plan to use music to sharpen memory or enhance a lesson, "you've got to meet them halfway," he says.

We asked Brewer and Pappalardo to suggest activities that use music to boost memory and make learning more sensory or interactive. Here are their top tips:

Embark on a "learning journey."Play reflective, meditative music while you verbally lead your child on an imaginative journey related to an academic topic, says Brewer. Read a science chapter about the planets of the solar system while a song with a slow, calming tempo plays in the background. Urge your child to close her eyes and picture traveling in space, for example.

Fuse audio with visual. Visual aids connected to data help your child recall information. If you assist her with homework, include a dry-erase board and music in the session. Explain a concept or work on a math problem, for instance, with classical music playing. Use the board to create charts and diagrams-anything your child can connect to the idea you are explaining. Brewer suggests using color and symbols when possible. Display these same images and songs again in your next tutoring session to reinforce the lesson.

Use bass to remember verbs. Turn up the volume and let music stimulate your child. "I teach kids to hone into the bass line of a song," says Pappalardo. He allows his students to feel the bass in their chest and arms. "It causes them to move, and when they move, a certain word appears in their minds. That word is a verb. Usually a good, strong verb," he says. He and his students refer to these words as "buff verbs." "The other day a student came in and said, "Ozzy Osbourne uses buff verbs. He used spewing and gazed," says Pappalardo. "Rap music-even though it is hard to find clean enough songs to share with kids- houses verb after verb after verb," he says. Encourage your child to use descriptive language to explain how the bass, the drums, and various elements of a song make her feel.

Tie tunes to tasks. Your child memorizes more effectively through rhythm and rhyme. Chants and raps improve memory of details and help the retrieval of information later, says Brewer. Encourage her to take a favorite song and change the words to fit information she is learning. If she has a lesson on ecosystems, for example, change the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," to "Mountains, Oceans, Forests, Plains." She can sing this version before her test to retain facts.

Take a walkabout. On a nature walk, have your child brainstorm ideas for a short story for English class. Then, head back inside, play a CD of nature or New Age sounds, and have her spend at least 15 minutes recalling and jotting down her ideas. Or, allow her to take a music player on a walk in the park. Urge her to absorb the lyrics of a few songs as she strolls through her natural surroundings. When she returns, she can replay these songs, which will jog her memory and inspire her to pen a poem.

Music can be used in different ways- not only to stimulate your child's ears, but her mind. So turn it up!

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When we hear a familiar song, we are often able to recall a moment from our past that is connected to that tune. Favorite songs tickle our memory in various ways; your child may even complain of "getting a song stuck in her head," which shows that music is easily ingrained in our memory.