The power of music and its potential as an aid to learning

Music has been a subject of human fascination going all the way back to ancient times and beyond, with the oldest discovered musical instruments dating back to 40,000 years ago. When it comes to defining music we like the definition offered by Jeremy Montagu, an expert in musical instruments at Oxford University, as “sound that conveys emotion” (Montagu, 2017). 

Every one of us has experienced the power of music to move our emotions at some point. Music can make us want to dance, move, sing or cry. It can evoke deep affective responses, making us feel introspective, reflective, nostalgic, excited, happy, energised, motivated, angry or destructive. With the growing recognition of the influence of emotional states on learning, it follows that music has the potential to be a powerful tool for educators in the classroom and beyond. 

There is a wealth of research and theory looking at the influence of music on our brains, emotions and behaviour. Read on for our look at the power of music and its potential as a tool to aid learning and development.

Music’s impact on brain development and wellbeing

It is now widely acknowledged that music – both listening to and playing – can have a positive impact on brain development. In an article written for The Conversation, Leigh Riby, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Northumbria University, explains how music is a whole brain affair, activating many different regions including those associated with memory, emotional processing, higher cognitive functions and reward circuits. Riby’s research has revealed insights into music’s healing properties, in particular how music can aid emotional processing and regulation. 

This therapeutic effect can take many forms. In his book Musicophilia, the charismatic neurologist Oliver Sacks recounted how patients suffering from impaired movement due to Parkinson’s Disease can become temporarily reanimated on hearing music with certain types of rhythm. There are now several viral videos documenting patients with Alzheimer’s who, although unable to recognise their own family members, can still perform flowing renditions of sophisticated compositions, such as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Beyond neuroscience, it could also be argued that an environment that enables children to discover different music can go some way to supporting their sense of autonomy, identity development and independence. In a recent article for the Guardian, Oliver Keen reflects on how the switch from physical to digital music formats may have impeded children’s ability to discover and engage with music (the article’s comments section provides some insights into how parents are attempting to counter this). However, the success of the Yoto demonstrates that there is still an appetite amongst young audiences and their parents for music and audio away from screen and internet enabled devices. 

Whilst technology and formats change, the age-old human delight in music remains strong. 

Music can have a real influence on behaviour

Music can influence not only the way we feel but the way we behave. Examples of the way music can influence our behaviour are abundant. From an early age, children respond to music by moving their bodies and smiling as naturally and instinctively as they know how to suckle or cry. We use music to motivate our workouts, soundtrack our wedding ceremonies and promote sociability at parties. 

More specifically, there are some studies that indicate support for the influence of music on behaviour. For example, in a recent study conducted on Mexican and US samples, researchers found a significant relationship between music-evoked nostalgia and charitable giving (Cho et al., 2023). Another older study found that stores sold more French wine when playing French music and more German wine when playing German music (North, Hargreaves and McKendrick, 1999). 

In the classroom, a recent study reported that listening to self-selected music that was familiar and uplifting to participants before lessons had strong positive effects on mood, motivation, and concentration, and moderate effects on learning (although this was based on self-report) (Vigl et al., 2023). 

As with all research studies there are limitations to consider such as sample sizes and representativeness, study timescales, the use of self-report measures and replicability. However the above examples suggest the potential impact that the well-considered use of music – its tempo, style, lyrics, mood – can have on behaviour.

For more on music’s potential – both positive and negative – to influence the way we feel and act, see this article on CNN.

Music as a sociocultural force

On a broader scale, the prominent neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, head of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, and Assal Habibi have suggested that the affective influence of music may play a role in promoting sociocultural organisation (Habibi and Damasio, 2014). From the protest songs of Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke and Bob Marley, to the array of songs that have become anthems of rights movements and social change, music and lyrics have served as potent means for unifying and galvanising groups towards positive social change. The use of music in religious ceremonies and as national anthems, as at the recent Paris Olympic Games, all indicate our collective intuitive understanding of the power of music to unite.

As the great Stevie Wonder articulated in his 1977 classic ‘Sir Duke’, music is a language we all understand. When using music to aid learning and in the classroom, educators are not merely engaging in a cheery singalong – they’re tapping into a powerful sociocultural force. 

The tangible benefits of learning language through song 

There have been several studies that suggest support for the use of song for language learning. Good et al., (2014) compared two groups of Spanish-speaking English language learners, one who learned a passage through song and one who learned the same passage as an oral poem. They found that in all three domains – recall, pronunciation and translation – those in the sung condition outperformed those in the spoken condition. 

Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Western Ontario investigated incidental vocabulary learning through listening to songs. They concluded that listening to songs contributed to vocabulary learning, with repeated listening having a positive effect on vocabulary gains (Pavia, Webb and Faez, 2019). 

A more recent quantitative meta-analysis examining the influence of English songs on English L2 lexical language learning concluded that using English songs had a large effect on English L2 vocabulary learning (Murphy Odo, 2021).

These are just some examples and as above, the limitations of these studies need to be examined. But they appear to suggest support for the well-considered use of songs in the classroom.

The art and magic of songwriting for learning 

In summary, music has an incredible power to make us feel and this in turn can influence the way we think, behave and even learn. From Lennon and McCartney, to Taylor Swift, Chris Martin, Joni Mitchell, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Paul Simon, Freddie Mercury and beyond, the best songwriters are masters at manipulating words and sounds to evoke particular neurobiological, emotional responses that feel, in some way, rewarding and expressive. Exactly how they do this remains something of a mystery. 

According to Malcom Gladwell, in his book Outliers, the secret to the Beatles’ success as songwriters were the 10,000 hours of practice they clocked up whilst performing across clubs in Hamburg between 1960-1962, although various counter-arguments have since been proposed. As Picasso said, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working”. 

At Creative Listening, the craft and magic of songwriting is something we’re endlessly fascinated with. When we write our educational songs, we attempt to accommodate a range of these factors. Of course our goal is to capture attention, but this sits atop the real universal core of songwriting which is to engage our audience on an emotional level. Having written thousands of songs over the years, our intuitions for this process have been sharpened and refined. 

You will find that our songs are not only catchy and full of educational content, but they also cultivate an emotional connection that ensures they are a pleasurable experience.

Where there is pleasure, there is the desire to repeat it – and where there is repetition, there is engagement and more opportunity for learning. 

Listen for yourself – check out our song reel.

References

Cho, E. Duarte, M. Sigal, S R. and Chagas, P. (2023) ‘Music-Evoked Nostalgia and Charitable Giving: A Cross-Cultural Study in the United States and Mexico’, Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain 33 (1-4), 57-69. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377607823_Music-evoked_nostalgia_and_charitable_giving_A_cross-cultural_study_in_the_United_States_and_Mexico (Accessed: August, 2024)

Good, A. J., Russo, F. A., & Sullivan, J. (2015). The efficacy of singing in foreign-language learning. Psychology of Music, 43(5), 627-640. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735614528833 (Accessed: August, 2024)

Habibi, A. and Damasio, A. (2014) ‘Music, Feelings, and the Human Brain’. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain 24 (92). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263924523_Music_feelings_and_the_human_brain (Accessed: August, 2024)

Keen, O. (2024) “‘It’s basically inaccessible without a phone’: are kids losing their love for music?”, The Guardian, 22nd May. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/22/phone-kids-losing-their-love-for-music. (Accessed: August, 2024)

Montagu, J. (2017) ‘How Music and Instruments Began: A Brief Overview of the Origin and Entire Development of Music, from Its Earliest Stages’, Frontiers in Sociology, Volume 2. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2017.00008/full (Accessed: August, 2024)

Murphy Odo, D. (2021). Examining the influence of English songs on English L2 lexical learning: a quantitative meta-analytic review. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 35(4), 386–403. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2021.2022684  (Accessed: August, 2024)

North, A. Hargreaves, D. and McKendrick, J. (1999) ‘The Influence of In-Store Music on Wine Selections’, Journal of Applied Psychology 84 (2), 271-276. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232593421_The_Influence_of_In-Store_Music_on_Wine_Selections (Accessed: August, 2024)

Riby, L. (2023) “EXPERT COMMENT: How music heals us, even when it’s sad – by a neuroscientist leading a new study of musical therapy”, Northumbria University, 27th November. Available at:  https://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/expert-comment-how-music-heals-us-even-when-its-sad-by-a-neuroscientist-leading-a-new-study-of-musical-therapy-3286964. (Accessed: August, 2024)

Vigl, J., Ojell-Järventausta, M., Sipola, H., & Saarikallio, S. (2023) ‘Melody for the Mind: Enhancing Mood, Motivation, Concentration, and Learning through Music Listening in the Classroom’, Music & Science, 6. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20592043231214085 (Accessed: August, 2024)