Many people believe that the solution to the seemingly impossible task of studying productively is music. For some, music can be used as a tool to combat one of the most prevalent hardships in a highschooler’s life: studying. For others, listening to music while studying may lead to hours of distractions and procrastination. So what is true? Are your parents’ continuous nags to take out your earbuds actually helpful? Or is music the hidden secret students have been searching for?
In previous studies, such as ones from Stanford Medical ’07, North Central University ’17 and the Kennedy Center, music has been shown to stimulate areas of the brain, specifically the cerebellum, hippocampus, motor cortex and prefrontal cortex, that control movement, memory and cognitive control (learning, thought, reasoning and problem solving) respectively.
The stimulation of these parts of the brain may lead to increased function in their specialized areas, improving one’s ability to memorize, think and problem solve. One common experiment (as seen in Netflix’s Brain Games) used to illustrate music’s connection to memory is the number test. Most people have found that if they attempt to memorize a sequence of numbers, such as 3, 7, 12, 43, 8, 27, 16, 5, it is quite difficult and takes a long time. However, if they sing the numbers to the tune of a catchy song, perhaps the ABCs, it may become much easier to memorize them all. This is an effective strategy because your ears pick up the sound waves from music in the air and transport them to your brain through neurons. The sound alerts and stimulates many different areas of the brain at once, heightening your cognitive function and memory.
Listening to music also stimulates the prefrontal cortex, the area in the brain that controls thoughts, decision making, memory and all cognitive control, but there is no concrete data that proves this improves studying practices. Studies at BMC Geriatrics produced results that confirmed listening to music enhances activity in the prefrontal cortex among elderly people in Germany. The elderly were able to engage in a wide range of cognitive activities such as problem solving and recalling memories, after practicing and playing music. Yet this study does not provide an answer that encompasses a wider population, or the productivity of a student studying.
One thing that makes this question unique, whether or not music is an effective studying tool, is that there is no singular answer. Every single person’s body and brain is unique, meaning that your brain might not perfectly replicate the response to music that the people in these studies brain’s do. This concept also translates to individuals’ varying taste in music overall as well as choice of genre for study music.
Anton Krukowski, the teacher of Psychology: Brain and Behavior, and Music and the Brain at Lick-Wilmerding High School, explained how one’s environment also plays a role in their brain’s response to music and their musical identity. “What’s interesting is how formative teenage years are for developing our taste, specifically music. A lot of it is shaped by what we experience and what music we are exposed to from family and friends when we’re little, but there’s this intriguing thing about developing your own sense of taste, and sort of reacting to what you’ve been exposed to so far,” he said. “Just like forming identity in adolescent years, it’s intriguing how much of identity is tied up in our taste and particularly in musical taste.”
Krukowski expanded on his belief about listening to music while studying. “I don’t think there’d be a right answer for every person. That’s my guess. And that’s what I would imagine matches research all over the place,” he said.
Tony Asaro, Vocal Music Teacher and Additional Music Disciplines, described his thoughts about listening to music while working. “Because I’m a musician, when I’m trying to focus, I often don’t listen to music. This is because for me, what happens is that the music draws my focus, so I will focus on the music,” he said.
Students at LWHS also shared varying opinions about listening to music while studying. “It’s very situational and it depends on which subjects. In subjects where I need to focus my full attention on my work, I can’t listen to anything,” Mateus Kim ’24 said. “I feel like other people may be different, but because I get distracted easily, it’s not really for me,” he said.
Sophie Lee ’24 regularly incorporates music into her study sessions and believes it helps motivate her and makes the act of doing homework more enjoyable. “I listen to music pretty much every time I study,” she said. “Whenever I put on music, I know I’m about to get in the zone and focus.”
LWHS students and faculty across all four grades each argued their case for choosing to listen or not listen to music while studying. The only pattern that was present within their reasonings was how unique they all were; there is no universal answer for everyone. Music and studying are both personal and subjective, and therefore, the choice to incorporate music to your study sessions is completely up to you. As Krukowski said, “Whether listening to music while studying is beneficial will have a huge range of answers varying from person to person. There truly is no right answer for every person.”
