Steven Nguyen

UWRT 1103

3 Nov. 2019

Word Count: 2,971

Take a Step Forward: Can Music Therapy Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Higher Education?

Music has represented a significant part of culture around the world. It is practiced during

celebrations, ceremonies, and it can be used on a daily basis for entertainment. Listening to

music has been connected to affecting brain systems associated with sensory-motor processing,

memory, cognition, and emotion or mood fluctuation (Wilkins et al.). Students gain more

responsibilities and freedoms as they transition into college; however, the stress most students

develop from the new life experience has become a serious issue. The increased stress students

seem to gain throughout college can be detrimental towards their health and can also cause them

to lose focus on classes. Not only are students affected, but teachers can also experience these

issues, resulting in burnouts. How can music help reduce stress and anxiety for students and

teachers? How can music affect the human brain’s connectivity? Are there short-term and long-

term effects of listening or playing music? How can music therapy be used and is it effective?

Psychologists and Neurologists have conducted research focused on the relationship between

music and the human brain to discover what the brain does while listening to music, to gain a

greater understanding of the benefits of music, and to learn the effectiveness of music therapy.

Students are no longer protected by their parents as they transition into college, which

causes most students to develop stress. In the same way, teachers experience elevated levels of

stress and exhaustion due to overworking. According to Cheek et al., sixty to seventy percent of
all teachers show symptoms of stress, while a minimum of thirty percent of all teachers

experience teacher burnout (Cheek et al.). Cheek et al. are mainly a group of professors at Texas

Tech University and since they are teachers as well they can input their personal experience into

their research to increase their credibility. Teacher burnout is not noticed as much compared to

student stress; however, music therapy can be used to help reduce this stress. Music therapy is

considered the use of music to help improve the emotional or physical state of an individual.

Music therapy can be considered as a broad form of therapy due to the amount of instruments

and genres of music an individual can listen to. Listening to your music preference can be a form

of passive therapy and this is discussed by R. W. Wilkins et al. R. W. Wilkins et al. are a group

of researchers from Wake Forest School of Medicine, who researched the effects of music

preference. Cheek et al. conducted a study which involved fifty-one teachers, from two separate

schools, and split them into two groups. One group received cognitive behavioral therapy with

music therapy while the other group participated in cognitive behavioral therapy alone.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy, which treats an individual and boosts

their happiness by altering their emotions, thoughts, and behavior. From this study, they

concluded the treatment involving music therapy produced a greater positive impact on teacher

burnout. The teachers at the traditional school were asked if they would choose teaching again as

a career and fifty-four percent of the teachers said they would not. Compared to the reformed

school, only twenty-four percent of the teachers stated they would not choose teaching as a

career (Cheek et al.). Cheek et al. strongly believes music therapy can help teachers relieve stress

and reduce burnout, which should result in similar effects for students.

Similarly, Situmorang conducted a research study on the effectiveness of the types of

music therapy, such as active and passive music therapy. Active music therapy is when an
individual is given an instrument to play, such as string instruments or percussion. While passive

music therapy is when an individual is given music played by a certain instrument to listen to.

Continuously playing the piano or learning a string instrument would be considered active music

therapy. Passive music therapy would be considered listening to background music while

working on something significant or during a simple task. Situmorang used two groups of

students, and they were treated with either active or passive music therapy. From this study,

Situmorang discovered active music therapy was more effective than passive music therapy.

Nevertheless, passive music therapy can still be used and sometimes patients may even prefer

passive music therapy than active (Situmorang).

Music therapy possesses multiple elements leading to this type of therapy being involved

in a mixture of areas. With new technology music therapy has changed so there are a variety of

options. Baker refers to the complexity of music therapy by stating, “the simple interaction with

music should not be considered music therapy … Music therapy is usually conducted by a

qualified music therapist who carefully assesses the specific needs of the client” (Baker). In

order to become a music therapist, a substantial amount of knowledge about music is needed,

such as instruments and how to read music sheets. An individual must receive a degree in order

to actually become a qualified music therapist. Furthermore, Baker believes the versatility of

music therapy allows it to be used in multiple ways. Music therapy can be implemented into

classrooms and even into other types of therapy. Baker shares a similar voice to Cheek et al.

since she agrees music therapy can help students and teachers relieve stress and improve

performance in and out of the classroom. Baker explains how implementing music into

classrooms can provide a new setting to reduces stress. Baker explains how individuals can self-

administer their treatment, or they can be treated by playing or listening to an instrument, which
supports the versatility of music. The documentary by Films Media Group maintains a similar

voice to Baker’s discussion about music therapy. The commentators stated, “Music therapy can

be used with physical therapy to help them pick up a rhythm that can aid them while walking or

picking up objects” (“Music of the Brain”). This documentary discusses many of the topics about

the effects of music, even relating to many of the other voices.

The discussion over academic stress is not taken as seriously as it should be. I have

personally seen what academic stress and anxiety can do to an individual and how it severely

affected their life, as well as others close to them. A few years ago my sister went to the

University of Georgia and after a few months she started to gain high levels of stress and anxiety.

The stress and anxiety would always dissipate, however it would always come back sometimes

even much worse than before. It got to the point where she had to take a semester off and stayed

at home to help her recover. Everyone was concerned for her health, and she struggled to find

ways to relieve her stress. After reading about music therapy, I believe it can be helpful for those

struggling with high levels of stress and anxiety. The compelling evidence provided by the

researchers supports this claim and helps those trying to discover effective solutions. Along with

treating stress and anxiety, using music therapy in other types of therapy seem to be quite

interesting. I have not experienced anything related to physical therapy, however the evidence

supporting it allows me to agree with Baker’s voice. My point here is music can be beneficial

towards a student’s health should interest those who are currently struggling with high levels of

anxiety and stress. Beyond this limited audience, however, my point should speak to anyone who

shows any interest towards the pressing issue of high levels of anxiety and stress in people

around the world.

 There is a debate on the existence of long-term effects of music on the human brain,

however many researchers agree on the existence of short-term effects of music, such as

improvements in cognitive abilities and motor skills. There have been multiple research studies

which resulted in evidence supporting these effects, specifically spatial abilities, verbal skills,

and memory. Eugenia Costa-Giomi conducted a research study discussing both the long-term

and short-term effects of music. Costa-Giomi discusses an example of active music therapy

called music instruction. Costa-Giomi states, “The results of most of these studies suggest that

music instruction produces improvements in these specific abilities and skills” (Costa-Giomi).

The “specific abilities and skill” she mentions refer to the improvements to spatial abilities,

verbal skills, and memory gained through music instruction. Music instruction is the process of

learning how to sing or play an instrument. A few instruments many people learn to play consist

of string instruments, the piano, and wind instruments. In addition, a study unexpectedly

discovered how dissonant music had surprisingly positive effects on the human brain.

Dissonance is defined as music consisting of harshness or unpleasant sounds. The opposite of

dissonance is called consonance, which consists of happy or pleasant sounds. Bodner et al.

performed a research study focused on the effects of consonant and dissonant music (Bodner et

al.). To obtain proper results, test subjects were given tasks to perform while listening to either

dissonant or consonant music. From these experiments, dissonant music surprisingly improved

cognitive abilities. In addition, the research article discussed the effects of background music,

while working on repetitive or complex work. Music with complex melodies and wide ranges

did not help improve reading comprehension; however music with slow and soft melodies

improved reading comprehension among many of the subjects. Another instance of short-term

effects was from a research study about the effects of an individual’s motor skills while listening
to music. This study was discussed in the documentary, “Music of the Brain”, and the

commentators stated, “They repeated the experiment and were given headphones so they could

listen to music and they were able to stay on the treadmill for a longer period of time” (“Music of

the Brain”). Test subjects were told to walk on a treadmill that would gradually increase in speed

and elevation (“Music of the Brain” 50:30). Researchers timed how long they would stay on it

without any music then after the first test the subjects were asked to walk on the treadmill again

but while listening to music. Researchers discovered that the test subjects listening to music were

able to stay on the treadmill for a longer duration than when they were not listening to music.

The majority of these sources strongly agree that music can temporarily help improve a person’s

brain function. Students may be able to take this into consideration and utilize it to help them

while working on homework or studying. Although many of the researchers agreed on these

effects, there are a few that disagree about the long-term effects of music.

There is research on the long-term effects of music; however, some researchers state that

there is not substantial evidence to prove that these effects exist. A common belief called the

Mozart Effect theorized that listening to classical music can help an individual’s general

intelligence to gradually increase (“Music of the Brain”). Additionally this theory also stated that

it could improve the brain development of new-born babies. A documentary called, “Music of

the Brain” stated that the original study that made this theory popular was focused on adults

rather than children. This supports the other researchers that argue against the existence of long-

term effects, because the original research was targeting the effects on adults rather than

children. The commentator stated, “They played Mozart to adults while they were undergoing

under intelligence tests and what they showed was that there was roughly a 10-minute jag that

increased their performance on certain aspects of the tests and after 10 minutes the effects wore
off. The effects were never proven to be true for children” (“Music of the Brain”). The adults in

this study experienced effects that only lasted a few minutes after they had completed the given

assignment. This has most likely led others to make assumptions and believe that children could

experience something similar to the study and ignored that the effects were merely short-term

rather than long term effects. Furthermore, an article by Lori Miller Kase discussed a research

study about the possibility of using music to close the academic gap. This research study was

conducted by Dr. Nina Kraus was focused on “evidence that listening to music has short-term

effects on brain physiology and emotion, making music appears to have lasting effects on both

brain structure and brain function” (Kase). This article focuses on the effects of creating music

and introducing children to musical instruments at a young age.

The researchers believe that by introducing music instruction to children at a young age it can

help develop short-term effects for the children involved in the study along with a few long-term

effects. Kraus and other researchers continue to uncover new evidence towards the long-term

effects of music; however, Costa-Giomi states, “Their results are conflicting as some provide no

evidence that music lessons result in long-term IQ improvements … and others suggest that

instrumental school music programs improve IQ or specific cognitive abilities” (Costa-Giomi).

The correlation between music instruction and cognitive improvements is relatable since

I used to play the cello. As I played the cello, I felt more focused during my classes, however I

did not feel to gain any benefits after I quit. This belief is supported by the evidence provided by
research studies. In the survey I conducted, I asked the question, “Do you believe playing an

instrument helped you succeed in education?” From those that answered the survey: 45.5%

believed in this statement, 27.3% did not believe in the statement, while 27.3% were unsure if

they believed in the statement. Similar to the research studies, these results support the belief that

music instruction can improve specific skills for a person. Another question I asked stated, “Do

you believe that the Mozart Effect is true?” The results of this question were surprising, since

50% believed in the effect and the other 50% did not believe in it. These results show that the

majority of people believe in this popular false theory and do not understand the full truth about

the original study. I believe that music has substantial evidence to support that there are short-

term effects; however, the evidence on the long-term effects of music does not fully support the

theory therefore I do not believe in it. Since I participated in music instruction, I do not believe

that there were any effects that permanently benefited my brain structure or function. For

instance, I had done well in classes before I started playing the cello and after I stopped playing I

was proficient in my classes. Over time engineers and scientists would gradually develop

revolutionary technology and gain more knowledge about the human body resulting in greater

evidence to support these theories.

The advancements in technology and the gradual understanding of the human brain have

led researchers to learn more about the correlation between music and the brain. R. W. Wilkins

et al. conducted research on the connectivity of the brain while listening to music and it resulted

in proof of short-term effects on the brain. fMRI, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,

detects the blood circulating through the brain as it responds to changing neural activity (R. W.

Wilkins et al.). This helped scientists learn more about the human brain and the specific effects

music has on it. Doctors are also able to use these newly developed machines and technology to
help treat patients that were originally difficult to treat. They determined that listening to your

preferred music will improve your cognitive abilities, therefore providing actual evidence of

short-term effects of music. Although the article written by Kase has questionable evidence

about the long-term effects of music, however it mentions, “new neuroimaging tools give

scientists an unprecedented window into the brain” (Kase). These new developments in the

medical field can help gain more insight on the human brain, which can result in fundamental

information. This new information can lead towards new methods to help people succeed in

higher education, and cope with high levels of stress and anxiety. In addition, innovations can

possibly lead researchers to discover the existence of long-term effects.

Works Cited

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Bodner, Ehud, et al. “The Unexpected Side-Effects of Dissonance.” Psychology of

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