Baker 1

Julia Baker

Professor Bell

English 1201

23 October 2019

Annotated Bibliography

Ancheta, Michi. “8 Brilliant Benefits of Listening to Music While Studying.” CareerAddict, 12

June 2019, www.careeraddict.com/study-music-benefits.

This article on Career Addict’s website, “8 Brilliant Benefits of Listening to Music While

Studying,” written by Michi Ancheta talks about eight different unique reasons why listening to

music while studying (and other times) is beneficial. Through her main points, it is clear to see

how it helps us through different areas in our lives and how it aids us. Her first point is that it

listening to music makes life more fun. Although this may not seem very scientific, it does

address how this chemically occurs. When we listen to music, dopamine is released which

makes the individual feel happier and less stressed. This is exactly what a student needs when

he/she is going into an exam or even just getting ready to study for one. The second point brings

up how listening to classical music makes it easier to visualize what you are studying. There

have been many studies that prove this to be true. She says, “classical music can indeed improve

spatial-temporal reasoning or the ability to manipulate shapes mentally.” Number three talks

about music’s ability to make students less anxious. She brings up a study that shows 71% of

students suffering from major stress due to their studies. An idea that she mentions (because of a

study done by Cambridge University Professors Akeem Sule and Becky Inkster) is that listening

to rap music while studying brings a positive effect and helps with mental health issues in

general. These are just a few of her main points, and the rest are equally as persuasive. This
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article also passes the CRAAP test in multiple areas. It is very relevant as it was published in

July of 2018. Also, it is unbiased yet very persuasive as it gives lots of data backed up by studies

and statistics. It is evident that the author of the article is very knowledgeable and passionate on

the subject which makes it more reliable as well.

Cmuse. “Top 5 Reasons Listen to Classical Music While Studying.” CMUSE, 1 July 2018,

www.cmuse.org/listen-to-classical-music-while-studying/.

“Top 5 Reasons Listen to Classical Music While Studying” is a great, reliable article by

Cmuse about the reasons why playing classical music while studying is beneficial. I was

intrigued while reading this article as it brings up a side of the research I had never read before.

It talks about how different waveforms affect water and live organisms in some positive and

some negative ways. Certain types of music made beautiful crystals form while other types

made hideous creations. It then went on to talk about the affect it has on plants. They put the

same type of plant in two different rooms. One was placed in a room with hard rock and the

other was placed with classical music. One died and the other flourished. Then, it tied it all

together by pointing out how humans are made of 70% water, so of course music would affect us

in positive and negative ways as well. It says, “Taking into account all this information, it is a

fact that music literally can change our body.” This article also addresses dealing with stress,

insomnia, and bad moods with classical music to benefit the individual. In addition to its

relevant information, it is a very credible source. The website holds a good reputation and its

studies are accurate. Also, it was published in 2017 so it is still relevant and up to date.
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Eisenhauer, Tim. “How Listening to Music Makes You More Productive.” Axero Solutions,

2019, axerosolutions.com/blogs/timeisenhauer/pulse/195/how-listening-to-music-makes-

you-more-productive.

In the article, “How Listening to Music Makes You More Productive” written by Tim

Eisenhauer, he talks about how music is such a big part of life for so many people that some

might lose sight of how beneficial it is on a level that is above sole enjoyment. Scientifically,

there are positive affects of listening to music that exceed our happiness. His first point is about

how music relieves stress and takes away anxiety. The second point of focus is how it helps you

make stronger connections with the people around you as well as make you more sociable. I

know this to be true as, in my own personal experiences, music has helped me to get out of my

comfort zone and make new connections that I wouldn’t have had without it. His third topic is

the proven fact that listening to music (and learning to play an instrument) drastically improves

your memory in all areas of life. This especially comes in handy when studying. Think about

your ABC’s. How did you learn them? My guess is that you learned the alphabet song (and

maybe sing it in your head to this day). This is because singing and putting information to music

will always help you remember it. Another point he makes is how listening to classical music

will make you have a higher quality of sleep and influence your sleep patterns. Research has

shown the huge difference between the cycles of an individual when they listened to music and

then when they didn’t. This article is very reliable as it passes the CRAAP test in multiple ways.

It is current, relevant, and unbiased. Also, Tim Eisenhauer is a respected man who is the

president and co-founder of Axero Solutions and has also appeared on many well known

platforms such as Fortune, Forbes, TIME, Today, CNBC, and others.

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Friend, Musician's. “Stories on the Power of Music Therapy: The HUB.” The HUB from

Musician's Friend, MusiciansFriend, 2 May 2014, thehub.musiciansfriend.com/artist-

interviews/stories-on-the-power-of-music-therapy.

“Stories on the Power of Music Therapy: The HUB” is a reliable source written by

“Musician’s Friend” that includes the personal interviews and stories of many individuals who

have been affected positively by music. It addresses a woman who is knowledgeable from

research and her own personal experience about music’s affect on neurological health and how

beneficial music therapy to so many people. One man, Matt Logan, talked about how he works

with kids who are hurt mentally and physically to write songs and dance with them and how

much this helps them. He even shared how when you sing or play a certain song to distressed

premature infants, they fall asleep. Natalie Mullis talks about how she works with individuals

with a psychiatric diagnosis and how big a role music plays in her work with them. One of my

favorite interviews was with Janice Lindstrom who talked about a particular patient she worked

with. He was a little boy with a spinal cord injury. Using music therapy, they were able to get

him past his muscular boundary. She says, “We were able to use this technique to work on the

muscles and coordination needed to use the wheelchair device and transfer the skills to the

wheelchair in one 30-minute music therapy session. Music helped him to learn the skills he

needed, develop the musculature required, calm his fears and confusion, so that he could

successfully propel his wheelchair.” This article is reliable and very impactful as it takes real

people with real experiences and shares them in a way that we can all learn from.
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Kučikienė, Domantė, and Rūta Praninskienė. “The Impact of Music on the Bioelectrical

Oscillations of the Brain.” Acta Medica Lituanica, vol. 25, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 101–

106. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e5h&AN=131708131&site=eds-live.

In this article written by Domantė Kučikienė titled “The Impact of Music on the

Bioelectrical Oscillations of the Brain”, science and music meet in a spectacular way that

provides a persuasive push on the argument of whether music positively affects the brain in a big

way. This article is from the Sinclair database and it is very reliable. It goes into detail on how

our brains work and the different sound waves that are related to making us function in certain

ways. “The Mozart Effect” is also brought up and explained scientifically. He says, “this sonata

causes a significant in- crease in relative alpha band power, as well as in a median frequency of

background alpha rhythm in young adults and healthy elderly people.” It explains (in a more

scientific way) how music activates parts of your brain that are usually dormant at times when

you are not listening to music. Also, this article addresses how music is beneficial in other areas

such as psychiatry, pathology, chronic conditions, and rehabilitation. It provides backing for

each of these areas and gives specific examples as well. Additionally, it has a entire page of

references to give it extra validity.

Steiner, Marty. “Music and Science Meet . . . Music Therapy.” School Band & Orchestra, vol.

20, no. 8, Aug. 2017, pp. 22–25. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=124519598&site=eds-live.
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This article by Marty Steiner title, “Music and Science Meet…Music Therapy”, is very

helpful in understanding the huge difference music makes in so many people’s lives because of

its affects and influences. It gives examples and shows how powerful music is. Also, it gives

some history of how Music Therapy is not a new tool but is now being more and more

recognized as truly working and not just being a “ritual”. Amber Weldon-Stephens was hired as

the first music therapist at the University of Georgie in 1991. Now, because of the success it has

shown to bring, there is an entire music therapy department. Also, music therapy has proved to

be beneficial for patients with dementia and bringing back memories simply with a song.

Children that learn an instrument (as well as adults) are also less likely to be diagnosed with

dementia later in life. This article is from the Sinclair Library and is very reliable as it has

sources, personal stories, and is relevant and up to date.

Team, Marketing. “The Benefits of Studying with Music.” Florida National University, 13 Aug.

2019, www.fnu.edu/benefits-studying-music/.

This article, “The Benefits of Studying with Music,” was written by the marketing team at

Florida National University and talks about how the music is one of the only things that activates

both the right and left half of the brain. It brings up research by the UMD medical center on the

topic of listening to music and having less anxiety/reducing stress. Listening to music also

improves your performance under pressure abilities significantly and increase your attention

span! It says, “Studies show that music can meaningfully reduce the perceived intensity of pain,

especially in geriatric care, intensive care, or palliative medicine” and goes into even more depth

on how listening to music (especially classical) can relieve pain and lower blood pressure. Also,

by ending your study session with a classical piece or two, you will retain the information better
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and be more prepared for your exam. This article is very reliable as it was recently published

this year. It is unbiased and solely provides information that is backed up by a work cited at the

end.

These sources have all passed the CRAAP test and will be very useful in my research

paper.