Perception of music is a complex mental process. Psychologists and musicians determine that it generally fits between two poles. On the one hand, it is the elementary acoustic perception of sound signals as something that we hear and that acts on the hearing organs. On the other hand, it is a process of cognition of the imagined artistic content in musical matters. Perceiving music, a person expresses his emotional “I”. Experiences, images and thoughts embodied by the composer in a musical work are reproduced in the mind. A piece of music is a set of aesthetic information provided by a composer. Certainly, you have heard about classical music being beneficial for the human brain. There are studies that prove this theory, and there are studies that prove that there is not strong correlation between cognitive processes and classical music.
For example, there is a chance you have heard about some popular study where children, studying and doing tests, were exposed to music composed by Mozart. Their performance was noticeably higher than normally and compared to a test group. Later, another research proved that this study was relevant only to a small group of children — they were all students of privileged schools and middle class or wealthy backgrounds, almost all of them were exposed to classical music since early childhood. Similar study showed that only the music we like, understand and consider pleasant can have a positive effect on how we study and work. If you enjoy heavy metal and it makes you more focused and positive thinking, then it is the best choice. Don’t torture yourself with Mozart, Bethoven and Gydne.
Perceived effects of heavy metal music on the brain
Rock music has long been considered depressing music, but this is true only for heavy metal style with broken rhythms. In general, rock awakens, recharges energy, helps to find strength to live and overcome problems.
If we listen to fast music, the brain automatically picks up the rhythm and begins to generate the same oscillations. This is always accompanied by an increase in activity, and the person becomes agitated. If a person listens to slow music, the opposite happens. The brain adjusts to slower rhythms, and we become calmer. That’s why people who are constantly excited often like fast music because it supports their condition. In general, the brain is looking for those types of stimulation that help it be in a comfortable state. If during the working day you feel like falling asleep, turn on fast music, but with a clear rhythm, because beaten rhythms do not help.
Music can also improve your mood or make your bad mood even worse. A study published in Consumer Research journal claims that people prefer sad, depressing music when they experience a deep interpersonal loss, such as a breakup. The authors of this study suggested that sad music replaces lost relationships. They compared it to an empathetic friend – someone who really understands what you’re going through.
The pace can change the level of arousal. But if you think that the more excitement, the better the brain will perceive information, then it is not. For example, only soft fast music promotes learning, while loud fast, soft slow, or loud slow music interferes. In addition, instrumental music interferes less than music with words. Rhythmic, but not very fast music is suitable for learning. That is why heavy metal is more suitable for studying than electronic music. It is also recommended that music for learning does not contain words, because the brain begins to analyze them automatically. Unless the language is unfamiliar.
How to use music to improve your studying process
We believe that now you understand the main principle — if music has personal positive code in your mind, it can be helpful. If even the most quality classical music is annoying to you — it is better not to use it. If your personal choice is heavy metal, use it wisely and follow your mental and psychological state.
Meanwhile, if you are critically stuck with your assignments, and realize that no music can help you out, please, address a reliable custom essay writing service SmartWritingService.com. It will take no more than 5-10 minutes to place your order to be completed by professional writers. Delegate some of your writing tasks in order to focus on the most important ones. When you have enough time on your hands, you have an opportunity to spend it the way you want and experiment with the effects of music on writing and learning. Let’s now dig into methods you can use to strengthen the positive effect music can have on your studying process.
Assess your concentration level. The important thing to know about concentration is that it is never static, it is fluid, and too high concentration is not much better than too low one. You need to stay in the middle ground, somewhere between apathy and agitation, not falling to any side. How is it possible? Imagine an air conditioner on a rainy summer day. Let’s say it is June outside. At first, in the morning, the air is fresh, and even in the room you can feel this freshness. You wear some long sleeve t-shirt to feel comfortable. As time passes, it becomes hot and you change your longsleeve t-shirt to a normal t-shirt and turn on the air conditioner. However, soon, rain starts. You don’t change, but turn the air conditioner off. The same with concentration — you need to raise it when it is low and tune down when it is too high. And as concentration is a fluid concept, you need to do those changes like 10 times a day. Music is very useful for this as it is a fast method — fast music increases your concentration (especially if you move for 3-7 minutes), and slow, meditative music helps to come down and decrease the anxiety provoked by overconcentration.
