On your way to work, going to the gym, studying, doing homework, in the car and at parties. Everybody hears music from somewhere whether its from their phones or the radio. Listening to music can be very beneficial as in helping with memory, creative thinking, better self-confidence and even reducing stress. Which for many people that can be very helpful and important when trying to find a way to deal with difficult situations and needing a way to unwind.

Music can mean a lot to many people for different reasons and music is a way to bring different people together whether its at a music festival, concert or just sharing new favorite songs with people.

Elgin Community College student, Allen Obazee, enjoys listening to hip hop and R&B whenever he gets the chance. But when he gets stressed a way to relax, he finds it helpful to listen to more R&B music to calm down.  

“Music is the number one, if not only form of art with lyrics and beats that I can relate to from time to time,” Obazee said. “It’s the only form of art that I feel I can match my mood and or feelings to, as well as changing it.”

Everyone has different ways of finding new music to listen to whether hearing it on the radio, being in the car with someone who’s playing the music, or a friend recommending a new song. For Obazee, finding new music for him is something he enjoys doing.

“Some music was suggested to me by family or friends, but I usually let music come to me, that way my expectations are met randomly, and I can enjoy it more,” Obazee said.

Of course, as you get older you change in many ways. Things that you didn’t like before you probably start to like and things that you once liked you probably no longer do anymore. Same goes for music, maybe before you really liked a certain genre and now you no longer listen to it.

 First-year student Maia Williams, enjoyed listening to pop at first but as she got older, she started to enjoy listening to more hip hop.

“Honestly, I don’t how it happened; I went from listening to artist like Mindless Behavior to listening to Nicki Minaj and Lil Durk,” Williams said.

Listening to music can change a person’s mood depending on the song that they are listening to.

“The mood of the song can have an affect on my mood. It all really depends on the type of song that I’m listening to and the words that the artist is saying,” Williams said. “It also depends on the vibe I’m trying to be in. like if I’m sad I’ll listen to music that puts me in my feelings, or I play songs that are the opposite to get out of my feelings.”

Marc Beth, music instructional coordinator at ECC, also believes that music can help change a person’s mood.

“We tend to hide our emotions in. When we’re happy, perhaps we are reserve with that happiness, not wanting to show too much to others. When we are sad or frustrated, we can try to avoid the emotion completely, pushing it down into an emotional storage bank waiting to strike,” Beth said.

“Music can help us realize these emotions. Listening and dancing to a happy song can help us celebrate our joy. Listening to dark or sad music can help us live in negative emotion, letting it wash over us and depart, instead of holding it in and letting negative emotions linger inside us,” Beth said.

For most student’s music is a way to feel better after having a difficult week or a way to de-stress from things going on in their personal lives. Music can help many students relax when they’re doing some self-care activities.

“If a student is having a rough day or week, listening to music that is aggressive or sad can bring us deeper into the emotion that we might otherwise not fully explore. By fully exploring it, we can release that emotion and move on to more positive emotional states,” Beth said.

As stated, music can provide us with many benefits for ourselves and having music is very important as it bring people together, expresses feelings, brings out creativity, and being a relief to others.

“From a developmental perspective, music stimulates areas of the brain directly and consistently, aiding in mathematical and auditory development,” Beth said. “However, music can bring benefit to one’s entire life. Music can elevate one’s mood with an uplifting song. Music can dive deeper into a challenging emotion. Music can create a social connection with others in the same room. Music can lead to dancing, which can release endorphins into the blood stream. Complex music can be a puzzle to solve, requiring higher-level thinking skills.”

Studies even say that music can also improve blood flow in ways similar to statins, lower your levels of stress-related hormones like cortisol and ease pain. If students want to study and listen to music it is suggested that they have calm music playing in the background that have no lyrics, that way they can focus on the objective of studying and retaining information.