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Does listening to music while studying help you do better on tests.

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Studying for finals or completing your end-of-semester projects? (Cue the opening of Spotify’s “Ultimate Study Music Playlist” on devices everywhere.) Many students attest to the power of music to elevate their academic performance, according to a CampusWell survey. “Music helps me calm down before a big test, focus better [while] studying, and cut out distractions,” says Kali G., an online student at the University of Wyoming.

Music can lower stress levels and improve test performance

Music can stimulate our thinking and sustain our attention for some study tasks, research suggests. A 2020 study found that nursing students who listened to relaxing music while doing progressive muscle relaxation (a mindfulness technique) before a test performed better on their exams and had lower stress levels than students who did neither before the exam. In another study, students who attended a videotaped lecture with classical music playing in the background scored higher on a subsequent quiz than students who heard the lecture without music. The pauses between musical movements may help our brains focus and organize new information, according to a study in Neuron .

When music hinders learning

It doesn’t all sound good, though. In a small study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2017, researchers found that students who listened to music while reading a text on the concept of time zones scored poorly on a test compared with those who studied in silence.

So does music help or hinder learning? “It often depends on the individual and what works best for them,” says Stephen Williams, coordinator for the music therapy program at Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. “For most people, relaxing music in the background can help create an atmosphere that is supportive of studying. Others, who might find background music distracting, might use the music as a reward or a break from studying.”

Even if you do well with background music while studying, be wary of lyrics, drama, a too-upbeat tempo, and high volume. Research has shown that fast, loud music reduces reading comprehension.

If you’re working on a creative task, try an ambient noise soundtrack. A small 2022 study asked undergraduates to list as many different uses they could think of for everyday items (first a water bottle, and then a hanger) within one minute. While coming up with ideas for the water bottle participants thought in silence, and for the hanger they listened to ambient café noise. Participants provided more suggestions and, when prompted for “original” ideas, were more creative when they had ambient noise in the background. You can find a few ambient noise options on YouTube or through apps like Coffitivity.

There is no one-size-fits-all music solution. The above suggestions are based on past research and studies—you may find they don’t fit with your study style, and that’s OK! Try out different playlists, genres, and songs to find the one that works best for you.

Students’ favorite study music

“I listen to all sorts of music when I’m studying, but it really depends on what type of studying I’m doing to help decide on a genre. It’s always good to listen to classical music when you’re trying to read textbooks or write important papers. Other times, you need music that will keep you pumped and [keep] you from falling asleep. Then I usually go for something upbeat.” —Jessica V., fourth-year student, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado 

“Soundtracks, classical music, New Age, or light electronic music tend to suit me well for studying.” —Alec S., second-year graduate student, Colorado School of Mines, Golden

“I prefer music that fades into the background, like lo-fi hip-hop or white noise. Some light EDM [electronic dance music] may also work for some people.” —Jeremy B., first-year graduate student, University of Florida, Gainesville

“I usually listen to classical piano or mixes that incorporate binaural beats to help me focus.” —Gabrielle H., fourth-year student, University of California, Berkeley

“I like to listen to soundtracks, especially video game soundtracks. Their sound is designed to help you focus, and they can pep you up for a difficult assignment.” —Jacob W., first-year graduate student, Duke University Durham, North Carolina

“Instrumental music, always. I usually listen to lo-fi or the soundscapes/sleep music from the Headspace app. Lyrics or anything catchy and upbeat is way too distracting.” —Mariyam M., first-year student, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia, Canada

“I listen to top 40/pop/upbeat music (but on a low volume). It helps me to stay awake and concentrate. I have ADHD, and I end up fidgeting or getting super distracted if there is no music.” —Alyssa D., second-year student, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Background noise that works for work: Coffitivity

Seven Spotify playlists to boost academic success: The Music Universe

Study Beats Playlist: University of Texas at Austin

Classical music live stream: WQXR

Should you study with music? The research-backed verdict: Med School Insiders

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Stephen Williams, program coordinator, music therapy, Capilano University, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Adams, B. E. (n.d.). The effect of background music on standardized math test performance in high school students. Young Scientist: High School Research Journal. http://youngscientistjournal.org/youngscientistjournal/article/the-effect-of-background-music-on-standardized-math-test-performance-in-high-school-students  

Ahmad, Y., Zainon, F., Ghazali, Z., Man, N., et al. (2017). The influence of music on memorization performance of mathematics students. Proceedings of the ICECRS, 1 (2), 99-107. https://doi.org/10.21070/picecrs.v1i2.1443  

Baker, M. (2007, August 1). Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds . Stanford Medicine News Center. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/07/music-moves-brain-to-pay-attention-stanford-study-finds.html

CampusWell survey, January 2020.

Dosseville, F., Laborde, S., & Scelles, N. (2012). Music during lectures: Will students learn better? Learning and Individual Differences, 22 (2), 258–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.10.004

Engel, A. (2023, April 28). Studying for finals? Let classical music help. USC News, University of Southern California. https://news.usc.edu/71969/studying-for-finals-let-classical-music-help/

Forde, W., Schellenberg, G., & Letnic, A. K. (2011). Fast and loud background music disrupts reading comprehension. Psychology of Music, 40 (6), 700–708. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/0305735611400173

Gallego-Gómez, J. I., Balanza, S., Leal-Llopis, J., García-Méndez, J. A., et al. (2020). Effectiveness of music therapy and progressive muscle relaxation in reducing stress before exams and improving academic performance in nursing students: A randomized trial. Nurse Education Today, 84, 104217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.104217

Jubbal, K. (2023, July 6). Should you study with music? The research-backed verdict. Med School Insiders. https://medschoolinsiders.com/pre-med/should-you-study-with-music/

Kandari, C., Raijas, P., Ahvenainen, M., Philips, A. K., et al. (2015). The effect of listening to music on human transcriptome. PeerJ. https://peerj.com/articles/830

Lehmann, J., & Seufert, T. (2017). The influence of background music on learning in the light of different theoretical perspectives and the role of working memory capacity. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1902 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01902

Mercer, M. (2021, March 10). Does listening to music really help you study? College of Arts & Sciences at Texas A&M University. https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/03/10/does-listening-to-music-really-help-you-study/  

Mones, P., & Massonnié, J. (2022). What can you do with a bottle and a hanger? Students with high cognitive flexibility give more ideas in the presence of ambient noise. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 46 , 101116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101116

Sridharan, D., Levitin, D. J., Chafe, C. H., Berger, J., et al. (2007). Neural dynamics of event segmentation in music: Converging evidence for dissociable ventral and dorsal networks. Neuron, 55 (3), 521–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2007.07.003

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Does Listening to Music Really Help You Study?

Experts from the department of psychology explain whether or not music is a helpful study habit to use for midterms, finals, and other exams.

By Mia Mercer ‘23

Students have adopted several studying techniques to prepare for exams. Listening to music is one of them. However, listening to music may be more distracting than helpful for effective studying.

There’s no season quite like an exam season on a university campus. Students turn to varying vices to help improve their chance of getting a good grade. While some chug caffeine, others turn up the music as they hit the books.

Although listening to music can make studying more enjoyable, psychologists from the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences have found that this popular study habit is more distracting than beneficial. 

“ Multitasking is a fallacy; human beings are not capable of truly multitasking because attention is a limited resource, and you can only focus on so much without a cost,” cognitive psychologist Brian Anderson said. “So when you’re doing two things at the same time, like studying and listening to music, and one of the things requires cognitive effort, there will be a cost to how much information you can retain doing both activities.” 

In basic terms of memory, Anderson explained that we do a better job of recalling information in the same conditions in which we learn the material. So when studying for an exam, it’s best to mimic the exam conditions. 

“If you have music going on in the background when you study, it’s going to be easier to recall that information if you also have music on in the background when you take the exam,” Anderson said. “However wearing headphones will almost certainly be a violation during most exams, so listening to music when you’re studying will make it harder to replicate that context when you’re taking an exam.” 

Even though experts suggest listening to music can hinder your ability to retain information while studying, some students choose to continue the practice. Steven Smith, cognitive neuroscientist for the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences , provided some suggestions for students who wish to continue this study habit. 

 “In general, words are distracting,” Smith shared. “So if you want to listen to music while you study, try to listen to something that does not have words, or if it does have words, hopefully, it’ll be in a language that you don’t understand at all, otherwise that’s going to distract from the stuff you’re trying to study.”

Smith also suggested listening to familiar background music, because it’s less distracting than something new or exciting. Additionally, Smith provided some principles that generally result in better exam results. 

“Make sure your studying is meaningful because comprehension gets you so much further than raw repetition,” Smith shared. “Also, you must test yourself, because it’s the only way you can learn the material; this is called the testing-effect. And finally, try to apply the spacing-effect, where you spread out your study sessions rather than cramming your studying all together, allowing for better memory of the material.”

Regardless of how students decide to study for exams, it’s important to remember that we all learn differently.

“There are individual differences between everyone,” Smith said. “Some people need a study place that is boring, predictable, and exactly the same so that they can concentrate, and others find it more beneficial to go to different places to study. It’s true that there are different personalities, so try and find what study habit works best for you.” 

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Listening to Music while Studying: Create Your Perfect Study Ambience

Table of contents.

Does listening to music help you study? 🎧

Many students swear by the power of music during their study sessions. Whether it’s libraries or coffee shops, you often see headphones all around as people are trying to drown out distractions or set a personal soundtrack to keep their motivation high.

Given this widespread practice, it’s worth looking into whether listening to music really does help you absorb and retain information better, if it simply makes the monotony of studying more bearable, or if it even could have adverse effects on your performance. 

Is it good to study with music – according to science? 

A Stanford study tested various types of classical music and found that it did help study performance, with peak brain activity being observed in the musical breaks – the transition between the musical movements. A co-author of the study theorized that the process of listening to music could be a way that the brain sharpens its ability to anticipate events and sustain attention. So, while it is not 100% understood, there are indications that music can support you in your study sessions. 

How can music help you focus? 

Possible positive influences that music may have on you while studying include: 

• Music alleviates stress and anxiety 
• Music can increase mood, energy, and motivation 
• Can improve brain function (as per the Stanford study) 
• Music is emotional which may help memory by making you more engaged 
• Music can help you focus by blocking out distracting outside noises
• Music fills silence that some people find hard to bear, for example if they are affected by tinnitus 

Does classical music help you study better than other genres? 

The Stanford study mentioned above and most other studies were done with classical music and did not compare the outcomes to other genres. A common assumption is that music with lyrics is more distracting than instrumental music. 

However, in practice, not everyone listens to classical music and many people still say that listening to their favorite modern tunes helps them while studying. 

One study compared a large set of Spotify playlists and surprisingly found that the playlists that people use for studying have a lot of overlap with playlists used for sleeping. However, that does not necessarily mean that it is all soft, slow, and instrumental, as one might expect. The playlists they found were very varied. 

A takeaway here could be to not let yourself be influenced by one or another study claiming to have found the best study music – experiment for yourself what type of music gets you in your best state of mind for learning. With how different tastes in music are, what works best for you may not work for the next student. 

Disadvantages of listening to music while studying

Before you study with music, consider the potential disadvantages that can affect the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. Make sure to look out for those and adjust your study strategy if you notice any of them are affecting you or getting worse with background music. Here are some of the main drawbacks:

You may get distracted

Music, especially those with lyrics or complex melodies, can compete for the cognitive resources that you would need for learning. This can be particularly disruptive during tasks that require significant concentration, like solving complex problems or understanding calculations. The cognitive distraction can also slow you down, reducing your efficiency. 

It does not work for everyone

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning efficiency. Some may find music immensely helpful, while others find it overwhelmingly distracting. This makes it difficult to establish a general recommendation for studying with music. 

You may get overstimulated 

The constant additional stimulation of background music can lead to feelings of anxiety or overwhelm in some people. If this is you, especially if you are sensitive to sensory overload, you won’t benefit from any of the positive effects music could have for other’s studying.

It may interfere with your memory 

It is theorized that there’s a possibility that the conflicting information your brain receives in parallel from your learning material and the background music can hinder the memory processes involved in learning. 

You may get too used to it 

If you consistently study with music, there’s a risk that you become so habituated to having background noise that you feel uncomfortable in environments where music is not allowed, for example an exam. It may even make it harder for you to recall your knowledge and perform under a circumstance that is too different from your usual environment. 

You can counteract this disadvantage by not using music or noise all the time, and by simulating exam environments as realistically as possible when preparing for tests. 

If not music – what type of noise is best for studying? 

Another common background noise for studying is different types of generated broadband sound aiming to improve focus while being less distracting than music. Examples are white noise, brown noise, or pink noise (broadband sounds that are perceived as “deeper” than white noise).

Is white noise good for studying?

Through its uniform nature without much variability, white noise has much less potential to be distracting than music. But does white noise help you study in other ways, as well? 

Research has suggested that white noise may stimulate the brain regions responsible for dopamine secretion and attention, which may make you more focused on studying. This study found that listening to white noise had a positive effect on vocabulary learning. Another study was inconclusive and suggested there may not be any direct proven effects of white noise on cognitive performance. 

How to find what noise helps you focus

Try different styles: 

• Compare how you feel with different kinds of noise: white, pink, brown, etc
• Experiment with nature sounds: Many people perceive waves, rain, wind, bird song, or fire crackling as very relaxing and not distracting
• Binaural beats can be an in-between solution between musical pieces and background noise if you’re looking for background ambience specifically designed to evoke certain brainwave states
• Try ambient sound: Ambient sound is the background noise in any environment. By listening to the sounds that remind you of a specific environment, you can evoke that mindset or feeling you associate with that environment. Some students enjoy a library soundscape with shuffling papers and writing sounds for studying, while others work best with the sounds of a busy cafe in the background, or prefer a farm or forest ambience. 

Adjust the volume: 

Make sure the background noise is loud enough to block out distracting sounds, but not so loud that it becomes distracting. Start at a low volume and adjust as needed. 

Monitor how you feel as well as your results: 

The best background noise makes you more productive and makes you feel better. Pay attention to which sounds make you feel especially stressed, drained, make you experience scattered thoughts, or suddenly make it easier to get stuff done. 

Study aesthetics and lofi study ambience 

Lo-fi music combined with playful, peaceful artwork is a notable trend in how people create enjoyable and helpful study experiences for themselves. Lo-fi music is characterized by a calm, soothing atmosphere with various genre influences. The related aesthetic applied to artwork around playlists and online study rooms often is associated with nostalgic or vintage visuals. 

In combination, this creates a popular vibe that lots of students perceive as helpful for improving their productivity, as well as a way of identifying with their often stressful academic life in a more positive way. You can find lots of playlists and platforms following this theme to try. 

How to find your perfect study background noise: resources 

Youtube is a go-to resource for study music and playlists, but make sure you find ones without ad breaks. Ads are a sure way to get very distracted frequently, especially since they are often much louder than the rest of the videos’ content.

This author tried to find the best study music that aligns with the findings of the Stanford study referred to above. They used cross-fading on Spotify and experimented with various pre-compiled study playlists. Their favorite turned out to be the Solace Album Mix by Monstercat. If you’re using Spotify, we recommend consciously experimenting with different genres and types of playlists to find not only something you enjoy, but what really helps you focus. 

Other apps and websites 

• Study Music – Memory Booster app: 4.7 stars from 90.1k reviews
• mynoise.net : curated soundscapes that can be interactively combined and generated 
• https://lifeat.io/ : online study platform with ambience sounds, calming visuals, and integrated study-organizing features 

Conclusion 

It’s clear that the effectiveness of using music or noises to improve learning varies widely. There is no one-size-fits-all, as is true for most other study hacks and techniques. It stays important that you inform yourself of the options, experiment, and then consistently stick with what you found out works well for you. The earlier on in your studies you find your strategies, the easier your path will be – but it is also never too late to get into new productive habits.

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March 3, 2020

Does Music Boost Your Cognitive Performance?

The answer depends on your personality

By Cindi May

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Music makes life better in so many ways. It elevates mood , reduces stress and eases pain . Music is heart-healthy , because it can lower blood pressure , reduce heart rate and decrease stress hormones in the blood. It also connects us with others and enhances social bonds . Music can even improve workout endurance and increase our enjoyment of challenging activities .

The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework or studying for exams. But is listening to music the smart choice for students who want to optimize their learning?

A new study by Manuel Gonzalez of Baruch College and John Aiello of Rutgers University suggests that for some students, listening to music is indeed a wise strategy, but for others, it is not. The effect of music on cognitive functioning appears not to be “one-size-fits-all” but to instead depend, in part, on your personality—specifically, on your need for external stimulation. People with a high requirement for such stimulation tend to get bored easily and to seek out external input. Those individuals often do worse , paradoxically, when listening to music while engaging in a mental task. People with a low need for external stimulation, on the other hand, tend to improve their mental performance with music.

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But other factors play a role as well. Gonzalez and Aiello took a fairly sophisticated approach to understanding the influence of music on intellectual performance, assessing not only listener personality but also manipulating the difficulty of the task and the complexity of the music. Whether students experience a perk or a penalty from music depends on the interplay of the personality of the learner, the mental task, and the music.

In the study, participants first completed the Boredom Proneness Scale , which is a personality test used to determine need for external stimulation. They then engaged in an easy cognitive task (searching for the letter A in lists of words) and a more challenging one (remembering word pairs). To control for practice and fatigue effects, half of the subjects completed the easy task first, while the other half completed the challenging one first. Participants finished both tasks under one of three sound conditions: (a) no music, (b) simple music or (c) complex music. All of the music was instrumental, and music complexity was manipulated by varying the number of instruments involved in the piece. Simple music included piano, strings and synthesizer, while complex music added drums and bass to the simple piece.

The data suggest that your decision to turn music on (or off) while studying should depend on your personality. For those with a high need of external stimulation, listening to music while learning is not wise, especially if the task is hard and/or the music is complex. On the simple task of finding A’s, such subjects’ scores for the music condition were the same (for simple music) or significantly worse (for complex music) than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, their performance was worse whenever music was played, regardless of whether it was simple or complex.

For those with a low need of external stimulation, however, listening to music is generally the optimal choice. On the simple task of findings A’s, such participants’ scores for the music condition were the same (for simple music) or dramatically better (for complex music) than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, the participants showed a small but reliable benefit with both simple and complex music, relative to silence.

The results suggest that there are substantial individual differences in the impact of music on cognitive function, and thus recommendations regarding its presence in the classroom, study hall or work environment may need to be personalized. Students who are easily bored and who seek out stimulation should be wary of adding music to the mix, especially complex music that may capture attention and consume critical cognitive resources that are needed for successful task completion. On the other hand, students with a low need for stimulation may benefit significantly from the presence of music, especially when completing simple, mundane tasks.

Before students decide to slip in their earbuds, though, they should carefully consider both their musical selection and the nature of the task. All of the music used in the present study was instrumental, and lyrical music will likely be more complex. Complexity appears to increase arousal, and the Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that a moderate level of arousal produces optimal performance. When there is too little or too much arousal, performance drops. Thus, the benefits of music for those with a low need for external stimulation that were observed here could diminish or even disappear with the added complexity of lyrics.

Similarly, increases in the complexity of a cognitive task might also reduce or eliminate the benefit of music. Although the “complex” task used in this study (learning word pairs) was only moderately challenging, the increase in complexity, relative to the simple task, was enough to reduce music’s positive effect. With a highly challenging cognitive task (e.g., text comprehension or exam preparation), even those with a low need for external stimulation may fail to show such an effect with music.

With the right (low-need-for-stimulation) personality, the right (instrumental) music and the right (low-to-moderately-difficult) task, the presence of music may significantly improve cognitive functioning. Given the many other physical, emotional and psychological benefits of music, that subscription to Spotify just might pay for itself!

Cindi May is a professor of psychology at the College of Charleston. She explores avenues for improving cognitive function and outcomes in college students, older adults and individuals who are neurodiverse.