Last Updated on January 5, 2023 by Mike Robinson

Benefits of Music it has been important to Homo sapiens for thousands of years. It is not known exactly when the first song or melody was born, although it is known that 40 thousand years ago there were already flutes with several holes, such as those found in excavations in Germany.

Benefits of music

Today, we often have it in our lives and since birth: at school, at home, in movie soundtracks, at weddings, in churches, ceremonies, sporting events…

Charles Darwin said that music initially helped humans find a mate. In his book The Origin of Man (1859), Darwin expressed that men and women, unable to express their love in words, did so through musical notes and rhythm, in the same way as birds.

10 Positive effects of music

1-Happiness

In 2013 research published in the journal “Journal of Positive Psychology” showed that listening to music can be an effective way to improve happiness, particularly when combined with an intention to be happy.

Participants who listened to music while intending to be happy improved their happiness. While the participants who listened to music without intention of being happy, they did not improve.

2-Prevent heart disease

You may have noticed that music can help you reduce anxiety or stress .

In fact, it has been shown to reduce the stress and anxiety associated with heart disease.

A 2009 study showed that listening to music reduces heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety in heart patients.

3-Helps to exercise

Researchers in the UK showed in a study that participants who listened to motivational music felt better during exercise.

In another study, the consumption of oxygen levels was measured while people listened to different musical rhythms when exercising on a bicycle.

The results showed that when the rhythm was faster and synchronized with their movement, their bodies consumed oxygen more efficiently.

4-You feel chills (positive)

According to a study published in 2010, 90% of people feel chills in the spine when listening to music.

And the degree of chills depends on the personality. People who are open to experience feel more shivers. In addition, these people are more likely to play an instrument and to consider music as important in their lives.

5-Improves visual and verbal intelligence

That listening to Mozart increases intelligence if it is a myth of psychology. However, practicing the piano will improve your visual and verbal skills.

This was demonstrated by a study published in 2008 by researchers at the University of Massachusetts.

6-Induce Pleasant Emotions

This is nothing new, but you will be surprised that sad music also raises mood . According to a study published in 2013, sad music is enjoyed because it causes a mixture of emotions, some positive and some negative.

In the words of the authors themselves:

“The results revealed that sad music was perceived as more tragic, while the experiences of participants listening to sad music were romantic and joyful feelings. Therefore, participants perceive ambivalent emotions when they listen to sad music. “

7-Improve personal relationships

A 2013 study from the University of Jyväskylä found that students who had extracurricular music classes reported greater satisfaction in school in almost all areas of the school.

In the words of the authors of the research: “The results suggest that studying music provides measurable social benefits. Students with extended musical education were generally more satisfied than students with a normal musical education. “

8-Can improve memory

Enjoying music fosters the release of dopamine in the brain, which is linked to motivation and is involved in learning and memory.

A 2008 study showed that patients listening to music significantly improved verbal memory and focused attention.

9-Seeing others better

According to a University of London study, listening to music for 15 seconds can change the way you judge other people’s faces.

To listen only a little animated music, it makes that the faces are perceived as more happy. The same thing happens with sad music: when listening to sad music, we perceive the faces of others as sadder.

Therefore, people project the mood of the music they listen to the faces of people.

10-Could make recover some of the vision

People who have strokes may lose vision in part of their field of vision.

Well, a 2013 study showed that listening to classical music can improve the vision of patients who have had strokes and who have only one field of vision.

In the words of the study authors:

“Listening to classical music could improve visual attention in patients with unilateral vision.”

11-Delay the cerebral envenjecimiento

Research has also shown that listening to or playing music at maturity can help delay brain aging and keep it healthy. It is also expected to improve memory.

12-Improves sleep quality

Some of the common problems that interfere with sleep are stress and anxiety. Because music improves both, research has shown that listening to music at certain times promotes quality sleep. 

13-Reduces pain

Music can reduce perceived pain, especially in geriatric, intensive or palliative care.

In a 2013 study, 60 people with fibromyalgia were assigned to listen to music once a day for 4 weeks. Compared to the group that did not listen to music, the music group experienced reduced pain and reduced symptoms of depression.

It seems that the impact of music on dopamine levels could be one of the causes of this reduction of pain.

14-Can help you learn better

Helen Neville and other researchers conducted an intervention in 2008 with children aged three to five years to see effects of music as an academic support program.

The results showed that music as a tool of academic support is equally powerful than individualized support, the fundamental difference being the playful effect offered by music versus individualized support.