6 reasons to listen to classical music every day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Classics help you calm down, focus and even awaken creativity. Found research-proven therapeutic effects of classical music - it seems there is a reason to add works by Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky to the playlist.

1. You will sleep better

For a long time you are looking for a comfortable position in bed, are constantly distracted by the noise of the refrigerator, the steps of neighbors from above or the hum of passing cars, and in the end you fall asleep in an hour at best? If this situation is familiar to you, next time try to include in the background compositions by Claude Debussy, Max Richter or Sergei Rachmaninoff before going to bed.

No, classical music does not work as a sleeping pill because it is "boring." Instrumental melodies help to relax the sympathetic nervous system and lower blood pressure - they calm the body and help even people with sleep disorders to relax. The main thing is not to forget to set a shutdown timer in the player, otherwise you will not notice how you fall asleep, and your smartphone or speaker will work all night.

2. Music will help relieve pain

Migraines, muscle aches and even emotional upheavals - all this will become less noticeable if you include your favorite instrumental concert. It is not for nothing that researchers advise using classical music as one of the means for recovering from surgeries. It can be effective even if the person is under general anesthesia.

The fact is that music makes the reward center in the brain work more actively, that is, it stimulates the production of dopamine. At the same time, the painful sensations may become weaker, and it will be easier to get distracted from them.

But it is important to remember that music will not eliminate the cause of the pain. If the discomfort lasts a long time or occurs frequently, you should seek the advice of a specialist.

3. It will be easier to deal with stress and anxiety

If you are stuck with deadlines at work or stuck in traffic and worry that you will be late everywhere now, find Beethoven or Tchaikovsky in your player and concentrate on the melody. Calm classical music helps lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, as well as normalize heartbeat and breathing - in general, it helps to calm down and not give in to stress. For greater effect, listening to music can be combined with meditation or breathing exercises.

The classics will also be useful if anxiety and stress haunt you constantly. Taiwanese scientists have found that only a couple of weeks are enough for noticeable mental calm. They conducted an experiment involving pregnant women. Expectant mothers were tested for anxiety, stress and depression, and then divided into two groups: the first received CDs with classical music that had to be listened to every day, and the second - not. After 14 days, testing was repeated - the first group was much calmer than the second in all respects.

4. Melodies will tune in to sincere conversations

The classical music playing in the background helps to share personal experiences and opinions on any topic without fear and a twinge of conscience. This effect is due to the fact that instrumental works allow you to relax and contribute to a better understanding of your own "I".

Classics can be useful in psychotherapy sessions, and during gatherings with friends, it is also useful. Such music will create the desired mood and will not interfere with the conversation, because there are no words that can draw attention to themselves.

5. Your cognitive abilities will improve

The positive effect of melodies on cognitive function is supported by many studies. For example, experts from the American Psychological Association found that classical compositions can increase productivity when performing familiar and fairly simple tasks, but do not have an additional effect in the case of new and difficult tasks.

Scientists from the University of Rome La Sapienza noticed that Mozart's sonatas can increase the alpha range of brain waves and the index of the average frequency of the background activity of the alpha rhythm: memory, cognition and readiness to solve problems depend on them. A similar conclusion was made by experts from the University of Helsinki: they note that to get a noticeable effect, you can turn on the classics in the background for only 20 minutes.

Another experiment conducted by French researchers showed that music helps to better perceive and memorize information. They divided the students into two groups and gave them the same hour-long lecture, but in one of the auditoriums they turned on music in the background. Then the students passed the test: the group studying to the accompaniment of the classics did much better. Scientists suggest that this is due to a change in emotional state.

It is good for brain health not only to listen, but also to compose instrumental music. The process of creating melodies activates connections between the hemispheres, protects cells from aging, develops verbal memory - the ability to memorize names, phrases and other information presented in verbal form. Music lessons also increase self-confidence and empathy.

If you are under 35 years old and you write music professionally or on an amateur level, submit your work to the All-Russian Competition for Young Composers "". The laureates will be able to hear their works performed by the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and the winners will receive 200 thousand rubles and special prizes.

There are eight nominations in the competition: from small symphonic works to opera and choral singing. There are only two conditions for melodies: they must be written no earlier than 2020 and last from 10 to 20 minutes. The works will be appreciated by 30 famous Russian composers and musicians. Applications are accepted until October 20.

6. You can find inspiration

If you can't get out of the creative crisis, classical music will help solve this problem. You need to choose uplifting cheerful melodies, for example, "Spring" from the concert "The Four Seasons" by Vivaldi. While listening to such works, divergent thinking improves - it is responsible for a creative, non-standard approach to problem solving and the search for new ideas.

By the way, fans of classical music (and the metal opposite to it) are generally quite creative, and they also have good self-esteem and are in excellent relations with themselves.