Music: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

Music is seen as both an emotional and mental art form, but it also effects the body just as much as it effects the mind. The use of music in many situations—like exercising, doing homework, and driving—is very helpful and influential.

“We’re using music to better understand brain function in general,” Daniel Levitin, a psychologist who studies the neuroscience of music at McGill University in Montrea, said.

There is a very interesting connection between the style of music and how it makes someone feel. Music can be used to get a person pumped up or ready to go to bed. There is a reason why high energy music is played before a sporting event because the players and the crowd are effected by the music.

“Musical rhythm has the remarkable ability to move our bodies. Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination”, eMed stated. A person will feel more ready for physical activity after and while listening to music. That is why music is so important when exercising. Music can cause an exercise to seem easier and less tiring.

“Music is like a legal drug for athletes,” Costas Karageorghis, a professor from London’s Brunel University School of Sport and Education, one of the world’s leading authorities on music and exercise, said. “It can reduce the perception of effort significantly and increase endurance by as much as 15 percent.”

Music can also have the opposite effect when it is considered “low energy.” Ambient sound and styles, like smooth jazz, can increase creativity and significantly calm a person down. There are many styles of music that can help when studying for a test or writing an essay. According to Levitin, some styles that are helpful include ambient noise, smooth jazz, classical, instrumental hip hop, and even a movie score or two. They may not be someones favorite thing to listen too, but it will help when studying.

One area where music could be detrimental to one’s heath is listening and driving. Driving with music can relive stress after a long day at work or school, but it can also be dangerous. A study was conducted in Israel where 85 drivers listened to different music on the same 45 minute trip. They were accompanied by an experienced driving instructor who would judge their driving. The study revealed very interesting data.

“All 85 subjects committed at least three errors in one or more of the six trips; 27 received a verbal warning and 17 required steering or braking by an instructor to prevent an accident,” the study, which was reported in the “Wall Street Journal,” read. “When the music was their own, 98 percent made errors; without the music, 92 percent made errors; and while listening to the safe-driving music, 77 percent made errors. Speeding, following too closely, inappropriate lane use, one-handed driving and weaving were the common violations.”

The effect of music can be different for every person.

“I do not know a lot behind the science of how music effects people, but I have found that music effects my mood greatly,” band teacher Jonathan Untch said. “I can be ready to exercise when listening to high tempo music and I can calm down with some smooth jazz. I feel that if someone connects with the lyrics of the music, it will cause them to enjoy it much more and understand themselves as a person. I have always thought that there is something inside of each of us that certain music connects to. I don’t know what it is, but music is a very interesting aspect of human nature that effects all of us differently.”