How does Music and Live Music affect our Well being?

Introduction
Music has the power to generate different kinds of emotions in human beings. Even in animals sometimes people see changes in mood when they play music. The type of emotion music evokes depends on the type of music. Feelings than can be generated by music include fear, sadness, and happiness (Goycoolea et al. 2013). Therefore, the mood-altering effect of music can either be positive (happiness) or negative (sadness). However, how music exactly affects emotion or mood is not so straightforward. While some music generally evokes same feelings in most people, many times individuals are affected differently by music (Rana et al. 2011). In the case of this paper, music refers to any singing, playing of musical instrument, pre-recorded music, and live music. Whether one chooses to play music, sing, or listen to music, there will always be mood altering and several other effects. And one of the most often cited reasons for this is that music usually engages individuals on both the conscious and subconscious levels. This paper explores the manner in which music affects wellbeing.
Psychological effects of music experience
Improve Cognitive Performance
Studies have revealed that when one listens to background music – music that plays while they are mainly focusing some other activity – it enhances they cognitive performance. This is especially true among older individuals. One such study is the study by Bottiroli et al. (2014) that revealed that playing music that is upbeat enhanced cognitive processing speeds and that playing both most types of music improved memory. Does this mean that students who play music while studying benefit greatly from the practice? Well, not necessarily. While some students believe that playing music while studying believe it enhances memory, other students believe it is a great distraction that helps them to study difficult concepts. However, it is not always a good idea to play music while studying.
This is because research shows that playing music while studying is only beneficial when certain factors are aligned. Factors such as the musical training of the listener, how much the listener is enjoying the music, and the music type being listened to. One 2013 study revealed that students who are musically trained generally perform well in examinations when they play neutral type of music because this music type is not very distracting and can easily be ignored (Gold et al., 2013). While students who are not musically trained perform well in examinations when they play positive type of music since such music evokes positive mood and emotions without affecting the formation of memory. Therefore, while music affects memory, how exactly it does depends on the listener. If a listener is distracted by some type of music, they are better off not listening to music when studying or doing something else as it is less beneficial to them.
Another landmark study that shows music improves cognitive performance is the Ludke et al. (2014) study. The study revealed that those trying to master a foreign language had better success in improving their abilities in that language when singing new phrases and words rather than just saying them normally.
Reduce Stress
Many people have been saying for quite a while that music helps them manage or reduce stress. This has led to the introduction of music specifically for meditation or to soothe the mind and create a sense of calmness. The good news is that research actually supports this. Research shows that listening to specific types of music can help cope with or reduce stress. For example, according to Thoma et al. (2013), music helps individuals to recover quickly after exposure to a stressor. To find this out, Thoma and the other researchers divided participants in their study into three groups. They exposed one group to no music, made another listen to rippling water sounds, and then made the last group listen to music that is relaxing. After that they exposed all groups to a stressor and then carried out a stress test. From the study, the researchers found that those two groups that did listen to music recovered faster from the stressor compared to the one group that was not exposed to any music.
In addition to reducing stress, research has also shown that music can help with pain management. In one study, Onieva-Zafra and colleagues (2013) discovered that patients with fibromyalgia who were exposed to music for only 60 minutes a day reported considerable pain reduction in contrast to those who did not listen to any music. This Onieva-Zafra et al. (2013) finding on the effect of music on pain reduction is supported by many studies including a Hole et al. (2015) study that found that patients who were exposed to music pre, post, and during surgical operations reported less anxiety and pain compared to control group patients that listened to no music.
Improve Mood
An additional effect of music on wellbeing is the fact that it can improve mood. It can make people happy. This is a research-supported fact. A group of researchers, Schafer et al. (2013), who were investigating why people listen to or play music found out that music played a key role in boosting mood and arousal. This is because a majority of participants in their study reported that they listened to music primarily because it helped them to improve their mood.
The Schafer et al. (2013) findings are supported by a Ferguson and Sheldon (2013) study that also revealed that music improves mood. In this latter study, the two researchers discovered that intentionally listening to upbeat and positive music to improve mood can have a significant effect within just 14 days. In the study, the participants were divided into two. Participants in one group were asked to listen to positive and upbeat music to try and enhance their mood, while the control group participants were also asked to listen to music but not specifically asked to try and enhance their mood. When all the participants were asked to report their mood after the fourteen days, only those who had been asked to attempt to improve their mood reported significantly higher levels of happiness.
Improve Sleep
Lack of sleep or insomnia is a major health problem especially in developed countries. While several approaches are available to deal with this problem including the use of expensive medication, several researchers have reported that listening to classical or relaxing music is a more affordable, effective, and safer way to deal with the problem. For example, in one study conducted by Harmat et al. (2008), the researchers divided the participants into two groups. They exposed the first group to 45 minutes of relaxing music daily at bedtime. For the second group, the control group, they made them listen to an audiobook for the same period of time daily. The intervention took 21 days. The researchers evaluated the quality of sleep for all the participants pre and post the intervention. They found out that the first group of participants that listened to relaxing music daily had a considerably better quality of sleep than the group that only listed to an audiobook. This shows that music can truly enhance sleep and help deal with insomnia.
Enhance Motivation
For quite a long time, people have been saying they listen to music to motivate themselves. Fortunately, this effect of music is also research-supported. Music has been shown by research to be a source of motivation. In one study by Waterhouse and colleagues (2010), twelve male students were used as participants to investigate the motivation effect of music. The twelve were asked to cycle on an exercise bike for twenty-five minutes. They were asked to cycle at their own speeds. All the participants cycled while listening to music set by the researchers. Unknown to the participants, the researchers tweaked the tempo of the music while they were cycling. When the tempo or music speed was increased, the researchers found that performance increased in terms of power exerted, speed, and distance. In contrast, when the tempo was decreased, the researchers observed that the performance of the students decreased. This shows in clear terms that positive upbeat music can increase motivation and boost performance.
Conclusion
This paper investigated the effect of music on wellbeing. It found out that music generally has a positive effect on wellbeing. That listening to music can improve mood, increase motivation, deal with insomnia, reduce stress, and improve cognitive performance. The effect of music on wellbeing generally depends on the music and the listener. Based on the above, it can be concluded that music can be used as a tool to improve both health and wellbeing.
References
Bottiroli, S., Rosi, A., Russo, R., Vecchi, T. and Cavallini, E., 2014. The cognitive effects of listening to background music on older adults: processing speed improves with upbeat music, while memory seems to benefit from both upbeat and downbeat music. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 6, p.284.
Ferguson, Y.L. and Sheldon, K.M., 2013. Trying to be happier really can work: Two experimental studies. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(1), pp.23-33.
Gold, B.P., Frank, M.J., Bogert, B. and Brattico, E., 2013. Pleasurable music affects reinforcement learning according to the listener. Frontiers in psychology, 4, p.541.
Goycoolea, M., Levy, R. and Ramírez, C., 2013. Central auditory processing. Are the emotional perceptions of those listening to classical music inherent in the composition or acquired by the listeners?. Acta oto-laryngologica, 133(4), pp.390-393.
Harmat, L., Takács, J. and Bodizs, R., 2008. Music improves sleep quality in students. Journal of advanced nursing, 62(3), pp.327-335.
Hole, J., Hirsch, M., Ball, E. and Meads, C., 2015. Music as an aid for postoperative recovery in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, 386(10004), pp.1659-1671.
Ludke, K.M., Ferreira, F. and Overy, K., 2014. Singing can facilitate foreign language learning. Memory & cognition, 42(1), pp.41-52.
Onieva-Zafra, M.D., Castro-Sánchez, A.M., Matarán-Peñarrocha, G.A. and Moreno-Lorenzo, C., 2013. Effect of music as nursing intervention for people diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Pain Management Nursing, 14(2), pp.e39-e46.
Rana, S.A., Akhtar, N. and North, A.C., 2011. Relationship between Interest in Music, Health and Happiness. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 21(1).
Schäfer, T., Sedlmeier, P., Städtler, C. and Huron, D., 2013. The psychological functions of music listening. Frontiers in psychology, 4, p.511.
Thoma, M.V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U. and Nater, U.M., 2013. The effect of music on the human stress response. PloS one, 8(8), p.e70156.
Waterhouse, J., Hudson, P. and Edwards, B., 2010. Effects of music tempo upon submaximal cycling performance. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 20(4), pp.662-669.