Blog Details

How and why does Music change our mood


Walking, exercising, showering, writing, or relaxing improves with a song or tune which changes our mood.  According to Merriam-Webster, mood is a noun and means. I quote 1:  a conscious state of mind or predominant emotion:  feeling, 2:  a fit of anger:  rage, 3:  a prevailing attitude, b:  a receptive state of mind predisposing to action, c:  a distinctive atmosphere or context.”  Throughout this article, I will discuss how and why music changes our mood, as it is not magic but seems like it. 

Whether at a concert, party, shopping, or any other event, you may need help tapping or swaying to music playing during these activities.  Strangely it affects everyone with a robust emotional response regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity.   Music has a way of releasing dopamine from the brain into the bloodstream.  Based on WebMD, they say that dopamine is, and I quo, te “a type of neurotransmitter your body makes, and your nervous system uses to send messages between nerve cells.  Because of this reason is why it is called a chemical messenger.  Dopamine affects learning, motivation, heart rate, blood vessel function, kidney function, lactation, sleep, mood, attention, control of nausea and regurgitation, pain management, and movement.  Did you know that insufficient or large quantities of dopamine may lead to health issues?

Maybe you have been in a low mood; pop on your favorite tune and feel like a new person within minutes.  Thus, it is inevitable that music changes our perspective and current feeling state.  The iso-principal may help us understand how this works, mirroring the listening experience to a current mood or emotional state.  Did you know that listening to music that matches uncomfortable emotions and slowly shifts to more positive songs is a great way to facilitate positive feelings when your mind may be fighting against them?

Music has also been shown many times to improve memory and one of the reasons it’s used in mnemonic learning devices.  Did you know that listening to a song often activates memories and feelings?  Researchers from the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford found that “physical movement used to create music provides a synchronized activity that significantly heightens the pain threshold.”  Thus, it has been shown time and time that many parts of our body follow the music, such as our heart beating faster with more rapid music and decreasing with slower music.

Those beautiful, relaxing, and energetic memorable sounds also affect our bodies’ behavior.  I first put on productive pieces like Tony Stark's Concentration Mix whenever I write.  From the moment it starts playing, I feel a natural desire to concentrate, be creative and write and thus enhancing my mood to be at my most productive state.  Did you know that music also may be responsible for influencing our shopping habits?  Younger people will shop more when instrumental music is played, and older shoppers will spend more time shopping if music is played with lyrics.  Baby boomers will choose to spend more time in the store if classic rock is playing, and generations older will not shop if any music is playing.  If you happen to be in a 

store and notice classical music, note that it may cause you to spend more money on items you had not planned. 



Therapists who use music to help people reach their physical, emotional, and social goals are specialists in this unique behavior therapy. Is there a directory to find these cbmts or those members of the certification board for music therapists at cbmt.org?  Music therapy is an exercise for your brain and gives it a complete workout.

Without a doubt, I know this is interesting; however, therapists use more than just songs during therapy.  They use a variety of other live instruments during sessions, such as singing bowls, tuning forks, pan flutes, harps, and drums. Additional sessions may use a combination of these and a piano, guitar, and many other instruments.

NorthShore University Health System found that music will promote a healthy heart, elevate mood, reduce stress, relieve symptoms of depression, stimulate memories, manage pain, help people to eat less, and increase workout endurance.  Levinemusic.org has seen music provide a therapeutic value to patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, memory disorder, and even epilepsy.  In addition to these benefits, they also found that music helped help people go to sleep.

Did you know that upbeat music will increase GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) or EDA (Electrodermal activity?  In other words, the skin generates electrical waves in response to the music stimulus provided.  A particular device called a GSR meter measures the amount of electrical activity generated by the autonomous nervous system, which is detected from the microcurrent output from the skin.  A GSR uses probes attached to the skin, such as your wrist, fingers, head,  arms, chest, and legs, which are then amplified on the device, and a reading can be generated.  In case you are wondering, a GSR measures a sine wave frequency of 2KHz to calculate skin impedance and has been used with EEGs (electroencephalograms) and EKGs (electrocardiograms).  An EEG is used to measure your brain’s electrical activity, and an EKG measures the electrical activity in your heart.  Both are painless as they sense the movement in your body’s head or heart.

Music positively affects human beings, but did you know it is also suitable for our pets?  Dogs who listen to slow-tempo music with lower frequencies have been known to decrease their heart rate.  Cats like to hear enjoy a higher frequency from a harp, making them happy. Just like people and Oakhurst Vet says, and I quote, “Music therapy for pets hits the high notes.”  They also say that when sure “music is played in shelters or with rescue pets, they vocalize less, appear more at ease, and thus have a higher chance of adoption. People looking for their next pet also tend to stay longer in order to find the right match.”

Hopefully, now with this information, we learned that you start using music to help enhance your life’s productivity, release stress, improve memory, heal your body, and more, it will become a regular part of your daily life.  If you are not a fan of exercising, writing, or doing a particular task, find the right music to raise your energy and keep you motivated until it is completed.  Unfortunately, new pets often get stressed easily, and they say it can also help curb:  anxiety, destructive behavior, aggression,  

Check out more of my amazing content at

http://believemeachieve.com