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Music is an important aspect of life as it will change your mood positively and can serve to tackle stress during school work.

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A number of studies have shown that music effects emotions and mood states as well as performance.

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Deke, Ben, and I listening to music in the car.

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Deke, Ben, and I listening to music in the car.

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The music we listened to changed our mood by making us hyped

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Thankfully, music has been shown to be a substance-free way to diminish feelings of anxiety, anger and arousal that are the result of stressful tasks (i.e. everything students do).

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If you've ever cranked up the volume to kick start your weekend house cleaning, you know a bit about how music can change your mood, energy level and motivation. But do you know scientifically how music affects us? And did you know studying while listening to music comes with a host of benefits?

Abundant evidence suggests that music has a powerful impact on our physiological states, emotions, and thought processes. If you're a student, this is important to note. Music can truly be a lifesaver when it comes to getting through the emotional highs and lows, and the energy ebbs and flows that accompany educational pursuits.

So what's the best music to listen to while studying? There's not a simple answer, as not all music has the same effect. Think of it as a supplement; just as different vitamins serve different functions, different musical elements can help us in different ways. Here's a quick guide to how music can help you function effectively throughout your course of study.

Memory and Learning

Perhaps you've heard of what has popularly been coined the Mozart Effect-the idea that listening to Mozart or other classical music enhances mental function. This has been the subject of heavy debate, and the research surrounding it has been seriously misinterpreted in some cases. Nevertheless, there is something to it. While listening to Mozart won't make you an instant genius, there is evidence that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable-be it Mozart or Madonna-can aid memory performance and concentration while studying.

Energy and Motivation

Need a quick pick-me-up before a marathon writing session? A stimulating song or two can boost your drive to tackle the drudgery that awaits. How? Music engages the body's autonomic nervous system-which in basic terms means that at some level, music can control our physiological functions and emotions. The right music can serve as a fantastic stimulant that will quicken the pulse, accelerate breathing, draw away attention from fatigue and boredom, and pretty much pump you up for some serious intellectual heavy lifting.

Stress Relief

If there's one feeling that's universal among students of any subject, it's stress. Thankfully, music has been shown to be a substance-free way to diminish feelings of anxiety, anger and arousal that are the result of stressful tasks (i.e. everything students do). Style of music does matter if you wish to experience these benefits, but you still have some broad options from which to choose. Both classical music and "self-selected" relaxing music-in other words, any style that an individual considers personally soothing-have been shown to quickly calm the body and elicit more positive emotional states. So if Beethoven doesn't float your boat, you can always "Sail Away" with Enya, or just scour your library for something you deem to be the appropriate soundtrack for a half hour of vegetating on the couch.

Do you find studying while listening to music to be helpful? Anecdotally speaking, it can be more beneficial for some than others. But it's an idea worth exploring when you feel like you could use a little academic performance enhancement.

Tell us what you think, and share your favorite studying playlists with our readers!

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3 Reasons You Should Try Studying While Listening to Music

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If you've ever cranked up the volume to kick start your weekend house cleaning, you know a bit about how music can change your mood, energy level and motivation. But do you know scientifically how music affects us? And did you know studying while listening to music comes with a host of benefits?

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In every era of human history and in every society around the globe, music has allowed people to express their feelings and communicate with others.

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Music is a fundamental attribute of the human species. Virtually all cultures, from the most primitive to the most advanced, make music. It's been true through history, and it's true throughout an individual's lifespan. In tune or not, we humans sing and hum; in time or not, we clap and sway; in step or not, we dance and bounce.

The human brain and nervous system are hard-wired to distinguish music from noise and to respond to rhythm and repetition, tones, and tunes. Is this a biologic accident, or does it serve a purpose? It's not possible to say. Still, a varied group of studies suggests that music may enhance human health and performance.

Music and the brain

Like any sound, music arrives at the ear in the form of sound waves. The external ear collects sound waves, and the ear canal funnels them to the eardrum. As the waves strike the eardrum, they cause it to vibrate. The vibrations are relayed along the chain of tiny bones in the middle ear until they reach the third bone, the stapes, which connects to the cochlea.

The cochlea is a busy little world of its own. It is filled with fluid that surrounds some 10,000 to 15,000 tiny hair cells, or cilia. Vibrations of the stapes send fluid waves through the spiral-shaped cochlea. The fluid waves produce swaying movements of the hair cells. In turn, these cells release chemical neurotransmitters that activate the auditory nerve, sending miniature electric currents to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe of the brain.

From there, things get even more complicated. Studies using MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) scans suggest that nerve networks in different parts of the brain bear primary responsibility for decoding and interpreting various properties of music. For example, a small area in the right temporal lobe is essential to perceive pitch, which forms the basis of melody (patterns of pitch over time), chords (several pitches that sound at the same time), and harmony (two or more melodies at the same time). Another nearby center is responsible for decoding timbre, the quality that allows the brain to distinguish between different instruments that are playing the same note. A different part of the brain, the cerebellum, processes rhythm, and the frontal lobes interpret the emotional content of music. And music that's powerful enough to be "spine-tingling" can light up the brain's "reward center," much like pleasurable stimuli ranging from alcohol to chocolate.

Although every healthy human brain can perform all the complex tasks needed to perceive music, musicians' brains are, so to speak, more finely attuned to these tasks. At the other end of the spectrum, patients with brain damage may display remarkable defects in musicality; the noted neurologist and writer Dr. Oliver Sacks discusses many fascinating varieties of amusia in his book Musicophilia.

The neurobiology of music is a highly specialized field. But music also has major effects on many aspects of health, ranging from memory and mood to cardiovascular function and athletic performance.

Music and the mind

The most highly publicized mental influence of music is the "Mozart effect." Struck by the observation that many musicians have unusual mathematical ability, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, investigated how listening to music affects cognitive function in general, and spatial-temporal reasoning in particular. In their first study, they administered standard IQ test questions to three groups of college students, comparing those who had spent 10 minutes listening to a Mozart piano sonata with a group that had been listening to a relaxation tape and one that had been waiting in silence. Mozart was the winner, consistently boosting test scores. Next, the investigators checked to see if the effect was specific to classical music or if any form of music would enhance mental performance. They compared Mozart's music with repetitive music by Philip Glass; again, Mozart seemed to help, improving spatial reasoning as measured by complex paper cutting and folding tasks and short-term memory as measured by a 16-item test.

How might music enhance cognitive performance? It's not clear, but the researchers speculated that listening to music helps organize the firing of nerve cells in the right half of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher functions. According to this construct, music - or at least some forms of music - acts as an "exercise" that warms up selected brain cells, allowing them to process information more efficiently. It's an interesting theory, but before you rush out to stock up on recordings of Mozart's music, you should know that even in the original research, the "Mozart effect" was modest (8 to 9 IQ points) and temporary (15 minutes). And in reviewing 16 studies of Mozart's music and human cognitive function, a Harvard psychologist concluded that the effect was even smaller, amounting to no more than 2.1 IQ points. It's a sour note, but it's hardly a requiem for the theory that music may boost cognitive function. In fact, the divergent results should serve as a prelude to additional research. And even if listening to music turns out to have little long-term effect on cognition, a 2010 review reported that learning to play an instrument may enhance the brain's ability to master tasks involving language skills, memory, and attention.

Music and stress

In every era of human history and in every society around the globe, music has allowed people to express their feelings and communicate with others. More than simply expressing emotions, music can alter them; as British dramatist William Congreve put it in 1697, "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast."

Few things are more stressful than illness and surgery. Can music reduce stress in these difficult circumstances? Several trials show it can.

A study from New York examined how music affects surgical patients. Forty cataract patients with an average age of 74 volunteered for the trial. Half were randomly assigned to receive ordinary care; the others got the same care but also listened to music of their choice through headphones before, during, and immediately after the operations. Before surgery, the patients in both groups had similar blood pressures; a week before the operations, the average was 129/82 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The average blood pressure in both groups rose to 159/92 just before surgery, and in both groups, the average heart rate jumped by 17 beats per minute. But the patients surrounded by silence remained hypertensive throughout the operation, while the pressures of those who listened to music came down rapidly and stayed down into the recovery room, where the average reduction was an impressive 35 mm Hg systolic (the top number) and 24 mm Hg diastolic (the bottom number). The listeners also reported that they felt calmer and better during the operation. The ophthalmologic surgeons had no problems communicating with their patients over the sound of the music, but the researchers didn't ask the doctors if their patients' improved blood pressure readings made them more relaxed as they did their work. Earlier research, though, found that surgeons showed fewer signs of stress and demonstrated improved performance while listening to self-selected music.

A study of 80 patients undergoing urologic surgery under spinal anesthesia found that music can decrease the need for supplementary intravenous sedation. In this trial, patients were able to control the amount of sedative they received during their operation. Patients who were randomly assigned to listen to music needed less calming medication than those assigned to listen to white noise or to the chatter and clatter of the operating room itself.

In the cataract and urologic surgery studies, the patients were awake during their operations. But a study of 10 critically ill postoperative patients reported that music can reduce the stress response even when patients are not conscious. All the patients were receiving the powerful intravenous sedative propofol, so they could be maintained on breathing machines in the intensive care unit (ICU). Half the patients were randomly assigned to wear headphones that played slow movements from Mozart piano sonatas, while the other half wore headphones that did not play music. Nurses who didn't know which patients were hearing music reported that those who heard music required significantly less propofol to maintain deep sedation than those patients wearing silent headphones. The music recipients also had lower blood pressures and heart rates as well as lower blood levels of the stress hormone adrenaline and the inflammation-promoting cytokine interleukin-6.

Neither of the operating room studies specified the type of music used, while the ICU trial used slow classical music. An Italian study of 24 healthy volunteers, half of whom were proficient musicians, found that tempo is important. Slow or meditative music produced a relaxing effect; faster tempos produced arousal, but immediately after the upbeat music stopped, the subjects' heart rates and blood pressures came down to below their usual levels, indicating relaxation.

Music and mood

Soothing jangled nerves is one thing; raising sagging spirits, another. Bright, cheerful music can make people of all ages feel happy, energetic, and alert, and music may even has a role in lifting the mood of people with depressive illnesses. Bach may never replace Prozac, but when it comes to depression, even a little help strikes a welcome chord.

Music and movement

Falling is a serious medical problem, particularly for people over 65; in fact, one of every three senior citizens suffers at least one fall during the course of a year. Can music help? An older study says it can. The subjects were 134 men and women 65 and older who were at risk of falling but who were free of major neurologic and orthopedic problems that would limit walking. Half the volunteers were randomly assigned to a program that trained them to walk and perform various movements in time to music, while the other people continued their usual activities. At the end of six months, the "dancers" exhibited better gait and balance than their peers - and they also experienced 54% fewer falls. Similar programs of movement to music appear to improve the mobility of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Maladies of musicians

If there is a link between musicians and medics, perhaps musicians should be able to heal themselves. Many could use the help.

The most common problems stem from the repetitive motion of playing, often in combination with an awkward body position and the weight or pressure of the musical instrument. A Canadian study found that 39% to 47% of adult musicians suffer from overuse injuries; most involve the arms. The report suggests that musicians are as vulnerable to repetitive-use injury as newspaper workers (41% incidence) and that their risk is only slightly below that of assembly line food packers (56%). And since the survey included only classical musicians, it may underestimate the risk in the world of rock and pop. Even if music is good for the mind, it may not be so good for the wrist.

A particularly disabling ailment of highly trained musicians is focal dystonia, a movement disorder that may be caused by overuse of parts of the nervous system. Another hazard is hearing loss caused by prolonged exposure to loud music. Brass and wind players may develop skin rashes triggered by allergies to the metal in their instruments. And the list includes disorders ranging from fiddler's neck to Satchmo's syndrome (rupture of a muscle that encircles the mouth). One reassuring note: "cello scrotum," first reported in the British Medical Journal in 1974, was revealed to be a hoax 34 years later.

Image: ProfessionStudioImages/Getty Images

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Music is a fundamental attribute of the human species. Virtually all cultures, from the most primitive to the most advanced, make music. It's been true through history, and it's true throughout an individual's lifespan. In tune or not, we humans sing and hum; in time or not, we clap and sway; in step or not, we dance and bounce.

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Music has been used for hundreds of years to treat illnesses and restore harmony between mind and body.

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Have you ever felt chills down your spine while listening to music? According to a study by Nusbaum and Silvia (2010), over 90% of us have. How powerful the effects of music, though, depends on your personality. People who are high in one of the five personality dimensions called 'openness to experience', are likely to feel the most chills while listening to music (Nusbaum and Silvia, "Shivers and Timbres Personality and the Experience of Chills From Music," Social Psychology & Personality Science, 2010).

A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory (Baker, Mitzi. "Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds." Stanford Medicine. Accessed February 24, 2015).

Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to a greater understanding of language components (Trei, Lisa. "Musical training helps language processing, studies show." Stanford News. Accessed February 24, 2015).

Musicians are found to have superior working memory compared to non-musicians (Berti, et al., 2006; Pallesen et al., "Cognitive Control in Auditory Working Memory Is Enhanced in Musicians," PLOS One, June 15, 2010).

Musical experience strengthens many of the same aspects of brain function that are impaired in individuals with language and learning difficulties, such as the neural timing precision which allows differentiation between speech syllables ( Kraus, N. and B. Chandrasekaran, Music training for the development of auditory skills. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2010. 11: p. 599-605.)

Both music and language are complex communication systems, in which basic components are combined into high-order structures in accordance with rules. Whether music was an evolutionary precursor to language or merely a byproduct of cognitive faculties that developed to support language, music is pervavise across human cultures and throughout history (Nina Kraus, Jessica Slater, "Music and language: relations and disconnections," The Human Auditory System: Fundamental Organization and Clinical Disorders, Vol. 29, 3rd Series, 2015).

Cross-sectional comparisons of musicians to non-musicians have established a variety of musician enhancements in auditory skills and their neural substrates, extending from enhanced perception and neural encoding of speech, most notably in suboptimal listening conditions, to more proficient auditory working memory and auditory attention (Nina Kraus, Dana L. Strait, "Emergence of biological markers of musicianship with school-based music instruction," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2015).

Adults who receive formal music instruction as children have more robust brainstem responses to sound than peers who never participate in music lessons and that the magnitude of the response correlates with how recently training ceased. These results suggest that neural changes accompanying musical training during childhood are retained in adulthood ( Skoe, E. & Kraus, N. 2012. A Little Goes a Long Way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood, Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 34, 11510. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1949-12.2012).

Music therapy utilizing improvisation on hand drums helped veterans modulate their "often misdirected, exaggerated, and unrecognized emotions," with the goal being generalization of these skills to everyday life. Drumming provided an opportunity for the men to express and control their feelings and helped build a sense of connectedness and group mission (Burt, J. W. (1995). Distant Thunder: Drumming with Vietnam Veterans. Music Therapy Perspectives, 13, 110-112; quoted in, "Music Therapy and the Military," by Ronna Kaplan, Huffington Post, March 4, 2013).

Researchers found that those who played an instrument for two years showed a stronger "neurophysiological distinction" between certain sounds than children who didn't get the instrumental training. For instance, the music-makers more easily could tell the difference between the words "bill" and "pill," a key skill in learning to read ( Skoe, E. & Kraus, N. (2012). A Little Goes a Long Way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood, Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 34, 11510. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1949-12.2012).

Researchers from Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center looked at how different types of music and silence were processed in the brains of 21 people with epilepsy. Whether listening to classical music or jazz, all of the participants had much higher levels of brain wave activity when listening to music, the study found. Brain wave activity in the epilepsy patients tended to synchronize more with the music, especially in the temporal lobe, the researchers said (Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 10, 2015).

Seven in ten Americans (71%) say that the learnings and habits from music education equip people to be better team players in their careers (July 2014 Harris Poll).

People high in openness to experience are more likely to play a musical instrument, and more likely to rate music as important to them (Nusbaum and Silvia, "Shivers and Timbres Personality and the Experience of Chills From Music," Social Psychology & Personality Science, 2010).

A review of 23 studies covering almost 1,500 patients found that listening to music reduced heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety in heart disease patients (Bradt & Dileo, "Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients," PubMed.Gov, 2009).

In research by Ferguson and Sheldon (2013), participants who listened to upbeat classical compositions by Aaron Copland, while actively trying to feel happier, felt their moods lift more than those who passively listened to the music. This suggests that engaging with music, rather than allowing it to wash over us, gives the experience extra emotional power (Ferguson and Sheldon, "Trying to be happier really can work: Two experimental studies," The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, 2013).

A study by Logeswaran et al. (2009) found that a quick blast of happy music made participants perceive other's faces as happier. The same was true for a snippet of sad music. The biggest effect was seen when people looked at faces with a neutral expression. In other words: people projected the mood of the music they were listening to onto other people's faces ( Logeswaran et al., "Crossmodal transfer of emotion by music," Neuroscience Letters, 2009).

Four out of five Americans (80%) believe their music education has contributed to their level of personal fulfillment ( July 2014 Harris Poll) .

Two-thirds (67%) of Americans say music education provides people with a disciplined approach to solving problems (July 2014 Harris Poll).

Two-thirds (66%) of Americans say that music education prepares someone to manage the tasks of their job more successfully (July 2014 Harris Poll).

Graduates from music programs report that creativity, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking are skills necessary in their work, regardless of whether they are working in music or other fileds (Craft, A. 2001. An Analysis of Research and Literature on Creativity and Education. Report Prepared for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Coventry, England. Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, SNAAP. 2010. Forks in the Road: The Many Paths of Arts Alumni: Strategic National Arts Alumni Project 2010 Findings. Bloomington, IN).

Both the Greek and Roman armies used brass and percussion instruments - including the ancestors of the modern cornet and tuba - to convey information on the march, in the field and in camp. Greek armies on campaign employed musicians to accompany poetic recitations of odes and paeans designed to remind soldier and citizen alike of the valor of past heroes. After the collapse of Rome in the West, its tradition of martial music was preserved and refined by the Eastern empire in Byzantium ( HistoryNet Staff, "The Music of War," History.net, June 6, 2012).

The formal discipline of music therapy has a rich, long history in providing services for our American heroes. It began after World Wars I and II, when community musicians performed in veterans' hospitals and medical professionals noticed patients' positive and emotional responses to music. In 1944, when it became evident that these hospital musicians required special training, the first music therapy degree program was founded. Currently, approximately 50 qualified music therapists work in VA hospitals throughout the U.S., according to Al Bumanis, director of communications at the American Music Therapy Association ("Music Therapy and the Military," by Ronna Kaplan, Huffington Post, March 4, 2013).

Since 2005, the VA has more than doubled the number of music therapists at its clinics (Abbie Fenress Swanson, "Music helps vets control symptoms of PTSD," Time, March 8, 2010).

When the first American soldiers manual - compiled by Maj. Gen. Wilhelm von Steuben - was issued to the Continental Army in 1778, it contained a list of beats and signals modeled on those used in European armies. More quickly than in Europe, however, the bugle replaced the fife and drum ensemble in the American ranks. In 1867 bugle calls for the U.S. armed forces, mostly patterned after French models, were codified and standardized into a form that largely survives today (HistoryNet Staff, "The Music of War," History.net, June 6, 2012).

While burgeoning technology eclipsed the need for music to accompany movement on the battlefield by the mid-20th century, it remained an effective means by which states could manipulate the morale, energies and attitudes of armies and indeed entire populations (HistoryNet Staff, "The Music of War," History.net, June 6, 2012).

A study of healthy male college students found that, while riding stationary bicycles, the participants worked harder while listening to fast music. Extra bonus: They also enjoyed the music more (Scott Christ, "20 surprising, science-backed health benefits of music," USA Today, December 17, 2013).

One study found that playing soft music (and dimming the lights) during a meal can help people slow down while eating and ultimately consume less food in one sitting (Scott Christ, "20 surprising, science-backed health benefits of music," USA Today, December 17, 2013).

Listening to classical music has been shown to effectively treat insomnia in college students (Scott Christ, "20 surprising, science-backed health benefits of music," USA Today, December 17, 2013).

Scientists have found that the emotions patients experience while listening to music have a healthy effect on blood vessel function. Music both made study participants feel happier and resulted in increased blood flow in their blood vessels (Scott Christ, "20 surprising, science-backed health benefits of music," USA Today, December 17, 2013).

One study found that listening to music after a workout can help the body recover faster. While slow music produced a greater relaxation effect post-exercise, it seems that any kind of music can help the physical recovery process (Scott Christ, "20 surprising, science-backed health benefits of music," USA Today, December 17, 2013).

Studies show that music can trigger the brain to release chemicals that distract the body from pain. When music reaches the brain's auditory cortex, there's communication between the cortex and the brain's areas that control emotion, memory, and motor control (Abbie Fenress Swanson, "Music helps vets control symptoms of PTSD," Time, March 8, 2010).

Educational Benefits/Facts:

The College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in public school music programs scored 107 points higher on the SAT's than students with no participation (Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the Music Educators National Conference, 2002).

Nearly half of parents and teachers support integrating music into the professional development of all educators ( NAMM Foundation and Grunwald Associates LLC, 2015. Striking a Chord: The Public's Hopes and Beliefs for K-12 Music Education in the United States: 2015).

Soldiers of the 1700s were required to function almost as automatons, to obey, smoothly and in formation, whatever commands were given by their superiors. With clouds of gunsmoke added to the din of combat, oral commands or personal example were not always reliable means of giving direction to an army. An order that was not heard - or worse, not understood - could be as dangerous as the enemy. Musically transmitted signals, however, could be heard above the crash of gunfire. The voice of the trumpet and the cadence of the drums were clear and unambiguous, making them vital to command and control (HistoryNet Staff, "The Music of War," History.net, June 6, 2012).

The formal discipline of music therapy has a rich, long history in providing services for our American heroes. It began after World Wars I and II, when community musicians performed in veterans' hospitals and medical professionals noticed patients' positive and emotional responses to music. In 1944, when it became evident that these hospital musicians required special training, the first music therapy degree program was founded. Currently, approximately 50 qualified music therapists work in VA hospitals throughout the U.S., according to Al Bumanis, director of communications at the American Music Therapy Association ("Music Therapy and the Military," by Ronna Kaplan, Huffington Post, March 4, 2013).

"Look carefully and you'll find musicians at the top of almost any industry. Woody Allen performs weekly with a jazz band. The television broadcaster Paula Zahn (cello) and the NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd (French horn) attended college on music scholarships; NBC's Andrea Mitchell trained to become a professional violinist. Both Microsoft's Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist Roger McNamee have rock bands. Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, played saxophone in high school. Steven Spielberg is a clarinetist and son of a pianist. The former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn has played cello at Carnegie Hall." - Joanne Lipman, "Is Music the Key to Success?" The New York Times, October 13, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?_r=0

"Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of view - and most important, to take pleasure in listening."- Joanne Lipman, "Is Music the Key to Success?" The New York Times, October 13, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?_r=0

"Music learning supports all learning. Not that Mozart makes you smarter, but it's a very integrating, stimulating pastime or activity."- Kenneth Guilmartin, cofounder of Music Together, quoted in "The Benefits of Music Education," PBS.org, Laura Lewis Brown

"Music has impacted me... helping my ability to do math and to read, and to think critically."- Fatima Gomez, BGCS/Latino Arts Strings Program Alumnus

"Music became my voice and it became the bridge to a larger culture."- Dinorah Marquez, Program Director, Latino Arts Strings Program

"Music is a tool for social justice." - Dinorah Marquez, Program Director, Latino Arts Strings Program

​ "We don't see these kinds of biological changes in people who are just listening to music, who are not playing an instrument. I like to give the analogy that you're not going to become physically fit just by watching sports."- Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, quoted in Melissa Locker, "This Is How Music Can Change Your Brain," Time, December 16, 2014

"You have to understand what it means for a combat veteran to be agitated in the waiting room. Their pupils are dilated. They are angry or waiting for something to happen. But when we have live music that day, they come to me far more relaxed. It's like an amazing miracle, and I don't say that lightly."- Dr. Hani Khouzam, quoted in, "Live music at Fresno's VA Hospital makes a big difference," by Diana Marcum, Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2013

"When you play a musical instrument you have to learn about tone and about scores and your ability to store audio information becomes better. So not only does this make it easier to pick up other languages and have a better verbal memory in your own language, we have also seen that musicians are able to pick out exactly what others are feeling just on the tone of their voices. Empathy, disappointment, that kind of thing."- Quoted in ,"Playing a Musical Instrument Makes you Brainier," by Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph, 10/27/2009

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."- Aldous Huxley

"I would say that music is the easiest means in which to express, but since words are my talent, I must try to express clumsily in words what the pure music would have done better."- William Faulkner

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent."- Victor Hugo

"The state of mankind improves through music; music not only trains but educates individuals and makes them fit for a life of community. Music is spiritual and mental food, an edifying and educational power. In comparison with sports (the motion of bodies), music (the motion of sounds) belongs to a higher sphere. In extreme cases, one encounters the tenet that music actually elevates man into a higher realm, transforming him into a new form of the human species." - Albrecht Riethmüller, "Music Beyond Ethics," Archiv für Musikwissenschaft, p. 170, Volume 65, Issue 3, 2008

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."- Ludwig van Beethoven quoted in "Music Is a Potent Source of Meaning," Tom Jacobs, August 20, 2015

"Music is awesome. It's human. It's universal. It's big business precisely because it is something that everybody wants."- Peter Greene, "Stop 'defending' music education," The Huffington Post

"Music is freakin' magical. In 40-some years I have never gotten over it - you take some seemingly random marks on a page, you blow air through a carefully constructed tube, and what comes out the other side is a sound that can convey things that words cannot. And you just blow air through a tube. Or pull on a string. Or whack something. And while we can do a million random things with a million random objects, somehow, when we just blow some air through a tube, we create sounds that can move other human beings, can reach right into our brains and our hearts. That is freakin' magical."- Peter Greene, "Stop 'defending' music education," The Huffington Post, June 11, 2015

"We need people who think with the creative side of their brains-people who have played in a band, who have painted...it enhances symbiotic thinking capabilities, not always thinking in the same paradigm, learning how to kick-start a new idea, or how to get a job done better, less expensively."- Annette Byrd, GlaxoSmithKline
More Benefits and Facts:
"Music has positive affects on people's emotions and creativity. When we sing together, we synchronize our breathing and feel more connected. Music is also an effective, almost magical medium for learning and retaining information, [because] it activates three different centers of the brain at the same time: language, hearing, and rhythmic motor control. By inducing emotions, it also creates a heightened condition of awareness and mental acuity. Words paired with music are far easier to retain. As an example, most of us can remember the words and meanings of songs we haven't heard for years. Isn't it interesting how you still remember your ABCs?"- Don McMannis quoted in, "Use Music to developm kids' skill and character," Edutopia, March 19, 2009

Music therapy was recently found to reduce psychological stress in a study of 236 pregnant women (College of Nursing at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan)

Playing music reduces stress and has been shown to reverse the body's response to stress at the DNA-level (Dr. Barry Bittman).

Playing music "significantly" lowered the heart rates and calmed and regulated the blood pressures and respiration rates of patients who had undergone surgery (Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Neb., and St. Mary's Hospital in Mequon, Wis.)

Blood samples from participants of an hour-long drumming session revealed a reversal of the hormonal stress response and an increase in natural killer cell activity (Bittman, Berk, Felten, Westengard, Simonton, Pappas, Ninehouser, 2001, Alternative Therapies, vol. 7, no. 1).

Anger Management Music therapy can help people identify the emotions that underlie anger and increase the patient's awareness of these feelings and situations that can trigger them. If a situation or emotion is presented in a song the healthy options for expressing that feeling can be discussed and conflict resolution and problem solving can be practiced in a positive manner.

Drumming is also used by music therapists to help patients appropriately vent anger and other emotions. Another use of drumming can be a non-verbal conversation on drums where the ability to listen to the other person's drumming is needed to "converse" on the drums.

Playing a musical instrument can reverse stress at the molecular level, according to studies conducted by Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Applied Biosystems (as published in Medical Science Monitor).

Making music can help reduce job burnout and improve your mood, according to a study exposing 112 long-term care workers to six recreational music-making sessions of group drumming and keyboard accompaniment. (As published in "Advances in Mind-Body Medicine") Engaging in playing music reduces depression. Recent research with long-term care workers showed reduced depression (21.8 percent) six weeks after the completion of a music-making program consisting of one hour per week (Source: A 2003 study conducted by Trip Umbach Healthcare Consulting, Inc.).

Parkinson's Disease and Stroke: Rhythmic cues can help retrain the brain after a stroke or other neurological impairment, according to Michael Thaurt, director of Colorado State University's Center of Biomedical Research in Music.

Researchers have also discovered that hearing slow, steady rhythms, such as drumbeats, helps Parkinson patients move more steadily (Friedman, "Healing Power of the Drum," 1994).

Cancer Subjects who participated in a clinical trial using the HealthRhythms protocol showed an increase in natural killer cell activity and an enhanced immune system. While this does not indicate a cure for cancer, such results may be of benefit for those facing this disease. (Bittman, Berk, Felten, Westengard, Simonton, Pappas, Ninehouser, 2001, Alternative Therapies, vol. 7, no. 1).

Playing music increases human growth hormone (HgH) production among active older Americans. The findings revealed that the test group who took group keyboard lessons showed significantly higher levels of HgH than the control group of people who did not make music (University of Miami).

Working Adults

Recreational Music Making (RMM) has been scientifically proven to help the U.S. workplace by:

Reducing employee stress
Reducing employee depression
Reducing employee burnout
Improving employee retention

Employee stress is expensive for companies and widespread. Research shows that the economic impact is estimated at $300 billion each year (Source: New York Times). Experts claim that 60 to 90 percent of doctor visits involve stress-related complaints.

Engaging in RMM reduces stress. RMM has been shown to reverse the body's response to stress at the DNA level (Source: Dr. Barry Bittman).

Depression is widespread in the workforce and is expensive for companies. The economic impact of depression in the workplace is estimated at $34 billion annually-$11 billion for treatment, $11 billion in decreased productivity, and $12 billion in absenteeism. Depression affects about 19 million people, 70 percent of whom are in the workforce. (Figures are according to Braun Consulting News).

Engaging in RMM reduces depression. Recent research with long-term care workers showed reduced depression (21.8 percent) six weeks after the completion of an RMM program consisting of one hour per week. (Source: A 2003 study conducted by Trip Umbach Healthcare Consulting, Inc.)

RMM can help companies reduce turnover, saving them millions. The research with long-term care workers showed an 18.3 percent overall reduction of employee turnover by implementing an RMM program. The total annual savings was projected at $1.46 billion.

Every worker can participate in RMM. There are no physical limitations or requirements.

Weekend Warrior Program

The Weekend Warriors program is a national recreational music making initiative that encourages adult music lovers to make the jump to being music makers. Participants learn how to play music from a professional musician who coaches the group through five to eight weeks of song building on the weekends. At the end of the session, the group shows off their new musical skills during a performance at a local venue.

The program was launched in 1993 by Skip Maggiora of Skip's Music in Sacramento, Calif., and was designed to encourage older adults who once played an instrument or who have never pursued the activity to start playing for real.
Maggiora licensed the idea to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which encourages its NAMM Member retailers across the United States to offer the program in their community stores and provide adults with the opportunity to experience the many proven social, physical and wellness benefits of making music.

Since the program was started, thousands of middle-aged, career-minded adults such as doctors, lawyers and engineers, have become "weekend warriors" and are now living out their rock star dreams by playing in a band on the weekends.

New Horizons Music Program (Orchestral Groups for Boomers and Seniors)

Started by NAMM in the early 1990s, New Horizons Music programs provide entry points to music making for adults, including those with no musical experience at all and those who were active in school music programs but have been inactive for a long time. Many adults would like an opportunity to learn music in a group setting similar to that offered in schools, but the last entry point in most cases was elementary school. We know that for most of the last century, about 15-20 percent of high school students nationally participated in music. From that, we can estimate that at least 80 percent of the adult population needs beginning instruction in order to participate in making music. New Horizons Music programs serve that need.

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Benefits of Learning and Playing Music for Adults

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Have you ever felt chills down your spine while listening to music? According to a study by Nusbaum and Silvia (2010), over 90% of us have. How powerful the effects of music, though, depends on your personality.