By Abby Sheu and Grace Whitworth-Neufeld, Contributing Writers |

We’ve all sat through the upper school meetings or read The New York Times articles warning us of the dangers music can pose to our learning, but how bad could it possibly be? We asked our Upper School student body, as well as our learning specialist, Ms. Crowley, for their opinions on the matter. 

In a form sent to the Upper School, exactly 50% of students say they always listen to music while studying, and 43.8% sometimes do. The most popular musical genres include calm/soft (22.2%) and pop music (35.6%). Additionally, patterns shown in the Upper School form suggest that students’ music selections are heavily dependent on the type of work. During tedious or more mathematical assignments that require less reading, students tend to listen to upbeat and catchy music with lyrics. However, with reading, writing, or assignments that require more focus, we find it difficult to focus while listening to lyrics and opt to listen to instrumental and classical music. 

Ms. Crowley offers an explanation for this choice: “The idea is that when you are listening to music with lyrics, you are using the same language processing skills that you need to be using while you are studying, so doing the two simultaneously is going to be too much work on your brain to be able to absorb the material.” If you still prefer to listen to lyrical music but also want to maximize your productivity, Ms. Crowley suggests songs in a language you can’t understand, as you will not be trying to actively process it. Now, personally, that doesn’t interest us in the least. Yes, maybe it improves your focus but if you can’t listen to your favorite tunes, then why even listen to music at that point? 

What interests us, however, is that while at least 93.8% of the form’s respondents have listened to music while working before, only 48.9% believe it helps them focus. Meaning, the majority of students continue to listen to music while studying, even though it may not benefit them. Many anonymous comments from the form report that music makes homework and studying more enjoyable. So, while music may hinder some students’ productivity, it has the benefit of making work more fun. Personally, the form results correlate surprisingly well with our own opinions. Calm and lowkey music commonly tends to increase our motivation and focus; however, similar to the form responses, upbeat music often makes it more difficult to focus. We agree that music can be an incredible resource to increase productivity when used correctly. 

While everyone’s brains are different and have individual preferences, we believe that to optimize and maximize the amount you get out of studying, you should stick with the non-lyrical, lo-fi beats, and leave the SZA for your train rides!

Image Source: Upper School Survey