Learning Music Can Help Retaining Memory

Music has long been known to have profound effects on the brain. Listening to the right tunes can provide mood-altering effects and can even create a better quality of life for those who use music to distress. Supporting a lot of these benefits a blooming pool of fact-finding and examination also proves that along with just being able to uplift an individual’s mood, the effects of music goes deeper to also expand cognitive abilities. For all of those who master the art of playing an instrument, one of the most important organs of the human body (brain) is developed and memory is improved. 

There are many theories that speak about the various brain mechanisms that are related to memory, learning and retention but one thing that is most agreed upon is that information set to a music/tune is amongst the first to be registered in the brain and amongst the easiest to remember. Music helps retain learned information and as per numerous experiments incorporating music into a classroom environment to create a positive learning experience and improve memory while increasing attention. 

Whether it is a young kid working on completing their homework, a teenager who is preparing for an examination or even an adult during a usual work day trying to focus on work, they will find that listening to music is stimulating the brain while making the process more enjoyable as well as making recall easy.

Let’s understand more about how and why this happens. When an individual is playing an instrument, he/she is learning to read and count notes (left brain activity) while at the same time playing them and forming a tune and enhancing how it sounds by improvising (right brain activity) Similarly, listening to music needs the person to hear the words and process it (left brain) and then hear the tune (right brain). Thus, music gives the brain an all-round boost allowing the individual to use it at its best capabilities. And as the brain is being used to the best of it’s potential it’s grasping power and memorizing ability is at its peak. 

To support this theory more there are some confirmed and stated facts on what music supports retention of memory the best. The speed and type of the soundtrack increase interest and activates the information mentally, physically or emotionally. It also creates a highly focused learning state in which vocabulary and reading material is absorbed at a great rate. The Tempo of the music plays an important role in retaining power. It is suggested that music with a tempo around 70 beats per minute (bpm) appears to study faster and retain more information. Classical music, Nature sounds, ambient electronic music are known to keep the mind most relaxed and active while processing information. Lastly, the audio volume control plays a key role in concentration levels. We don't want it to take over while it is supposed to be in the background. 

It is also proved that when information is put to rhythm and rhyme, the musical elements provide a hook for recall and the context of the song is more easily grasped. Being one of India’s leading music educators, Furtados School of Music also tries to introduce academics through music education so as to teach children the syllabus in a more creative way. After all, a child is learning the best while he is having fun!

Dharini Upadhyaya

Guest Author Co- CEO and Co- Founder, Furtados School of Music