Music: Good for your ears and mind

By Becky Edwards, Account Executive

Music improves your mood and helps you get through a stressful day. It can put a smile on your face with just the first seconds of the song. Music also makes you smarter. Studies have shown that classical music stimulates both sides of the brain, increasing the listener’s learning capability and withholding of information.

My roommate once told me that she listened to a Pandora classical music station while studying. I couldn’t have thought of anything worse to clog my brain with while trying to memorize dozens of marketing terms.

Boy was I wrong. While studying for a test and procrastinating for two hours, I logged on to Pandora and did what I thought I would never do: I put the classical station on.

My iPod is now full of this stuff.

Here are some “rules” about how this works for me.

1. No Lyrics. I know we all like to relate our personal life to the lyrics of specific songs, but that is just distracting while trying to study. The words streaming from your headphones just get in the way of the words you’re reading and trying to memorize.

2. Repetitive & Simple. Though some find it annoying, listening to the same or similar songs over and over again trigger your brain to remember things. I didn’t believe this either, so, I tested it out. I now associate the steps of the marketing strategy with Bach.

3. No distracting tempos. Listening to a techno song while trying to study is nothing but distracting. Fast music makes you feel energized while slow music helps you feel calm and relaxed; which is perfect for studying. According to UNC Charlotte, Listening to a song with 60 beats per minute activates the left and right brain.

I learned more about marketing that night than I have had.

Try it. Trust me, you’ll never try to study while blasting Lil’ Wayne again.