Some students need working with absolutly silence; but others can´t not concentrate without listening their favourite playlist.
If it is your case, sure that you ask any time what is the best music to study. Do you want to know? Continue reading!
Studying is not easy. We sit up in a chair and coerce our brain to focus all its energy on a single task for hours … No wonder we look for new techniques to concentrate, because otherwise it is impossible to focus all attention on the study.
If you usually study with music, surely your parents have asked you when you saw them with their headphones and their noses stuck to a book, “How can you concentrate with that …?”. But, what if music were a tool to increase concentration?
“Mozard effect”, It´s the proof that It is a good idea to put music for studying
Whether you are in science, or the letters go more to you, surely you rely more on the theories when there are scientific studies that support them.
And in the case of the relationship between music and concentration, it is scientifically contrasted by a large number of experiments. The most famous is the one who gave his name to the “Mozart effect”.
In 1993, scientists from the University of California observed that students performed better in visual and spatial reasoning tests after listening to the Piano Sonata in D major for 10 minutes.
Subsequent studies have only reinforced the link between the music of the Austrian genius and intellectual performance. Apparently, their musical pieces would cause an increase in alpha waves, which are those that increase when we are relaxed in bed, awake but quiet, at optimal times for meditation.
Alpha brain waves are also associated with memory and problem solving, so their increase with Mozart’s music could be behind the observable benefit in student performance.
But the music to study does not have to be limited to Mozart, as we will see next.
What is the best music for study?
We give you a positive fact: the fundamental requirement that must meet the music that you put to study, if you want to serve you to concentrate and carry out a good academic work is, that you have to like!
A large number of researchers, musicologists and neuroscientists are agree on the importance of the motivation. If the music you listen to puts you in a good mood, you are in the mood to concentrate on the study and perform more from a cognitive point of view.
But that you like it is not the only feature that experts usually emphasize. The best music to study must meet other requirements:
* Melodiuous: according to psychologist Miriam Sancho, the best music for study have to be quiet and armonious. Classic music, instrumental or ambiental music, althought they aren´t the only options, would be the most appropiatte. If these styles do not go to you, you can try others, but try to always have melody.
* No lyrics: if you are reading or writing, the lyrics may interfere, preventing you from concentrating on the content of what you are studying.
If in spite of everything you choose to listen to music with lyrics, better that it is in a language that you do not understand.
* Emotionally suggestive: some studies indicate that the emotions aroused by music help the brain learn to memorize.
But it is not always positive that it is emotionally very linked to situations we have lived, because in that case the music would lead us to distract ourselves by recalling past events, for example.
* an extended duration: the best music to study can not be loose songs. Should be complete discs or playlists, for technical reasons: if every 3 or 4 minutes you have to interrupt the study to change the song, you can say goodbye to the concentration.
A playlist that lasts as the study session, or at least as much as the interval of time we are studying before taking a break, would be perfect.
In this post about applications for students we talk about BrainFocus, an app with which you can put into practice a method to organize your study time, interspersing periods of maximum performance with the necessary breaks.
Surely you already have a lot of songs candidates to your list with the best music to study going around in your head.
And since we talk about concentration, performance and getting the most out of the study, do not forget that the space you choose to devote to your work is very important.
In our apartments for students in Madrid we have the ideal environment to study and achieve excellent academic results.
Enjoy the services and amenities we offer in our exclusive facilities and focus on what really matters: your studies!