What if I told you you can use music as a
supplement? In this video we will explore how to do it
and what it can help you with. Let’s dive in. Music can have many profound effects. Though the type of music as well as your current
state plays a big role. But, before we dive into the science, here’s
a quick and simplified music explanation and vocabulary so we have some base of what are
talking about. Music is in essence a combination of harmony,
melody, rhythm and silence. Melody is the main tune
that you might hum. Imagine one person playing one instrument. Rhythm is the pattern, the heartbeat of the
music. It’s often counted in BPM or Beats Per Minute
which indicates its speed. Harmony is a combination of tones played at
the same time - imagine a few people playing instruments together. It is often created through use of chords
- which is a combination of tones played together. Chords can be Major, which sounds like this:
Or Minor Then there are keys. Keys represent the notes and the
chords that
you can play. Those notes are often from a specific scale. Like C Major Keys can also be Major or Minor. A chord progression in a Major key sounds
like this Major keys are considered to be Happy. And faster the BPM, the happier it is. And the same chord progression in a Minor
key sounds like this. Minor keys are considered to be more sad. Sad music often has comlex harmonies on top
of that. All right, we’ve got the main vocabulary
that we need, let’s get back to the science and explo
re the benefits. When we listen to music, huge parts of our
brains light up and at the same time, lots of chemical reactions are set in motion that
then lead to all the benefits we will have a look at. For example, Did you know that listening to
or performing music increases your immunity? Turns out you synthesise more of immunoglobin
An antibody that is your first line of defence against most common viruses and bacteria. Serotonin is released as well which also helps
with immunity. And now that
you have better immunity, you
can be more social :). Music helps with that, too. It helps you to relax and release Oxytocin,
which helps build trust between people or motivates you to seek out new social interactions. In fact, you don’t even have to talk to
anyone or make music with people. Just the act of listening to music can help
you feel less lonely. Music can have a profound effect on your motivation,
ability to learn, and memory. Music releases dopamine, which will increase
your motivati
on in the anticipation of the reward. Turns out that music is banned in professional
sports, like cycling. That’s because, for example, fast-paced
music motivates you to work out harder and longer. You will not pay that much attention when
you’re tired. So actually your muscles will be less tired
as well. So you’ll go for longer. It’s like an ultra-supplement. It also helps to reduce the amount of oxygen
that your body needs to perform exercise and helps you be more efficient. Which is just incr
edible. This especially applies for low to medium-intensity
exercise like cycling or running. Music also reduces pain. Which probably correlates to the working out
benefits. And at the same time when you listen to music,
for example before surgery, your ability to cope with pain goes way up. And it can also help you to recover faster. Then many studies indicate that listening
to music increases your cognitive ability, and can help you be more creative. It also helps with memory. Participants in
a study listening to Classical
music outperformed others that listened to nothing, or just white noise. They were better at memorizing or had increased
processing speed. Upbeat music can also help with processing
speed and monotonous tasks While slower down-beat music is better for
memory. Though there are few exceptions. If your working memory is on the lower side,
music can have the opposite effect. Especially music with lyrics. Though anyone should avoid music with complex
lyrics. Also, if th
e music is too loud it’d be distracting. And, if you are a musician, listen to some
neutral music as otherwise you’ll be distracted by the awesomeness and intricacies of the
beautiful music you’re listening to :). Listening to music can also help you to remember
the past. It’s very effective for example with dementia
patients. Now the part that made me curious to make
this video and do the deep-dive. How does music impact mood and sadness? Music CAN reduce feelings of stress, anxiety
and depress
ion. However, the type of music is actually important. Classical music is shown to have most positive
impact. And it’s probably obvious, but music you
enjoy can also help you out and invoke a positive state. But this would still depend on the genre. As music can also be a double-edged sword
and actually intensify and prolong your sadness. Especially for teenagers with depression. So you’d want to listen to more positive
music in major key when you’re feeling overwhelmingly sad. But sad music can
actually lift you up as
well. There was this fascinating study, and there
they identified 3 different reactions to sad music, Relaxation, Reflection, and Feeling
of belonging. On top of that, there are 3 types of sadness. Sublime sorrow, comforting sorrow, and grief-stricken
sorrow. And we will feel different one depending on
the intensity and the real reason for sadness. Also, musically trained people have a stronger
emotional response in general. There are a lot of observations in this study,
so I’ll link it in the description if you want to have a look. Here are a few more takeaways. 11% of people were more depressed after listening
to sad music. Sad instrumental music is more likely to lead
to beauty and a pleasurable experience. But music with profound lyrics can lead to
either grief or comfort. Taking into account previous studies as well,
I’d say if you’re feeling strong emotions or are already depressed and it feels overwhelming,
don’t listen to sad music. Let’s switch gears a
bit. Let’s talk about music therapy and how it
can help you heal. There are many different kinds. There’s one that fascinates me. They match the music to your heartbeat and
your breathing. It was shown to be very effective. I’m not surprised as Biofeedback is amazing
:). Other techniques used in music therapies,
apart from listening, include singing along, playing an instrument, moving to the beat
- some people call that dancing :D - and meditating with music. If any of them speak to you, they
might be
worth trying. I’d personally also suggest group sessions,
like drumming, or even humming circles. The group atmosphere gives it an extra punch
:). And you don’t need to know anything to join
them. But if you do…. There are many small studies indicating that
learning an instrument, or doing any other musical training enhances cognition. And often even leads to better health and
life. However, many of these these studies were
conducted over a shorter period, so it’s hard to say how impact
ful it is long-term. Luckily, there was a one big study done over
decades which observed people's cognitive ability over the years. They also asked them about their musical training. Turns out that if you had musical training,
you get all the above-mentioned benefits, and they last a very long time. Sure, it’s not a huge increase, but it’s
significant. And the more years and more hours of practice
a person puts in, the bigger the benefit. So if you ever wanted to learn to play an
instrument, now
’s your chance. I learned my first one when I was 20. It’s never too late. Music has a huge impact on society, too, and
for example, could even lead to overthrowing of the government. But that’s a video on its own as mass-doping
is not the subject of this video :D. Enough of science, let me show you how I use
music and some additional benefits. Feel free to take it as an inspiration and
steal some of them. In the morning I try to work on these videos
for 25 minutes, whether that’s doing research
or writing what I should say. And I usually have lots of resistance towards
it. Therefore I need to fool my brain and help
it get into the state of mind for doing this type of work. Or, any morning work. So I always listen to the same music. This also helps with habit building. I was usually listening to music made by Brambles,
and I listen to him only in the morning when working. The second song tends to get me in the flow
after the brain warms up. It’s what I’m listening to right now :). And
what you hear in the background. Why this type of music? I like this music, it offers decent amount
of complexity to eliminate brain chatter, but not too much to overwhelm the senses. And it’s instrumental therefore there are
no words that take me away from the writing. Right now I’m also experimenting with BrainFM
for working, and I’m trying it out in the morning, too. Though maybe I’ll get back to Brambles for
morning writing, not sure yet. Meditation I also had one specific song that I used o
nly
for one type of self-love meditation that I was trying out. The principle was the same as with the Morning
work music. Regular Working When working throughout the day, I was often
listening to Discovery Weekly on Spotify which shows new similar music to what I listened
to before ,with couple songs I already know sprinkled in. This is a great combination to release bits
of dopamine and keep me stimulated. Now I also use BrainFM’s Focus music and
the built-in 25-minute Pomodoro timer. I use it
as a trigger and outside structure
for deep work. I love Pomodoro. Though I never stuck to it for a long time
on its own. So having that integrated in the same tool
that I use to get deep work done is incredible. It also seems to be sustainable for me this
way. And of course, as most people, if I’m in
a loud environment and need to focus, I put on some headphones with music to drown everything
else out. Comfort Zone Pushing / Pumping myself up When I’m going out and I know that I will
be pushin
g my comfort zone, or being social when I don’t feel like it, I put on a bouncy
upbeat music while I am biking there like an insane person, all while bouncing to the
beat It’s ridiculous if you see it. But this combination releases an amazing cocktail
of chemicals that help me out to feel better. I also have a playlist of songs with non-conformist? lyrics that make me wanna sing and I use that
if I still need some help when pushing my comfort zone. Releasing random emotions When I need to releas
e some emotions or pent-up
energy which I might not fully know where it’s from, I listen to music that I love
to sing or rap along to. This helps me to connect more to what I’m
feeling. Or it at least moves the stuck energy. Singing helps a lot actually, though I’m
not a good singer, so I make sure there’s no one around :D. I also use this actually before recording
these videos as a way for me to warm up my mouth muscles and vocal chords so that hopefully
I speak more clearly on the video. I hav
e a tendency to speak like a Pacman,
purely opening my mouth with no articulation... And again I tend to have 2-3 songs that I
use for this. Another way to release some stuck energy is
dancing, or even bouncing to music. Even a tiny bit helps. And, it’s also great for the body as I tend
to move my whole spine and body when dancing. Music is also amazing to learn a new language. We learned before that music helps with memory. But I’d say that for learning languages
there are multiple other benefi
ts. It can help you to be more exposed to the
sounds of the new language, the musicality of it, and might even help with comprehension. In a sense, you’re giving your brain the
opportunity to observe patterns in the new language. Exposing yourself to it through music is helpful. I do find that it helps me with pronunciation
as well. You can also learn some words and phrases
from the songs. And then actually consciously learning the
lyrics and singing along brings it all together. I often listen
to music of a particular language
even before I start to learn it. Learning or playing an instrument I also have to mention learning or playing
an instrument. That’s a great way to keep your brain healthy
and build some neural connections. t’s also a great way to relax and calm down. Especially on this instrument An honorable mention goes to using music as
a reward for doing some work. All right. Now I’m curious, how do you use music? And what “music supplement” will you try
now? Feel free to l
eave some feedback, and see
you in the next one. :)
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