Music's effect on personality

exploring how different genres of music effects peoples personality and mood

[musiceffectslife]

One final post

Photo by Elina Sazonova

I have enjoyed researching how music can affect people in different ways and i enjoyed sharing my finding here on my blog. I have a greater understanding for how music affects people and me personally. And this also gave me a greater appreciation for musicians! Ive learned that music can affect not only in the brain but also in the body too. like "several aspects of auditory processing and improve cognitive abilities such as digit span, reading complex words, and pitch processing in both music and speech” and  “Musicians also demonstrate more sensitive discrimination abilities for musical sounds compared to non-musicians." though this article . With this there should still be more research done on how music affects musicians. And music majors doing research on this at universities is a great way to start. I cant wait to see where research in this field goes in the future! And I wanted to thank you for coming along in this ride with me!

[musiceffectslife]

Effects of educational music

immage by Horia Andrei Varlan

I found this really cool peer reviewed article “Effect of Educational music intervention on emotion regulation skills of first-year university music education students by Edith N. Nwokenna,, Abatihun Alehegn Sewagegn, and Temitope Ayodeji Falade in the “Medicine” explores if early music intervention has a positive effect on emotion in freshmen music majors. which can lead to the research gap in how music affects performers because most music majors have performed in their lifetime or will. This is more directed towards music majors and Musicologists.  This study demonstrates that an educational music intervention can lead towards the increase of emotional regulation skills in undergraduate students majoring in music education.  Such interventions can help when performers go on stage, so; they can calm down more easily. 

[musiceffectslife]

The effect of music tempo

Another great article is Effect of music tempo on exercise performance and heart rate among young adults. There is already very little research about how music affects a performer's brain; researchers mainly focus on the audience.  Music captures attention, triggers a range of emotions, alters or regulates mood, increases work output, heightens arousal, induces states of higher functioning, reduces inhibitions, and encourages rhythmic movement. according to the article music “increases exercise performance, delays fatigue and increases performance and endurance, power and strength.” The duration of exercise increased significantly when music was played.  This was a study done on 50 subjects they showed that Music may exert an ergogenic and distractive effect during exercise under conditions of self-paced moderate exercise and self-selected music. Motivation by music can lead to an increase in exercise duration, which is a stress alleviator for young medical students. Nevertheless, the importance and beneficial effect of music on health cannot be underestimated. They also found that heart rate also increased significantly when music was played. However, no correlation of an increase in heart rate was seen neither with the duration of the exercise nor with the presence of music.  Sometimes when I listen to fast or pumped-up music, I feel my heart rate rising and then I get the feeling of dancing. Also, the intensity of exercise determines the extent to which music can inhibit the processing of other sensory cues. At high intensity levels, physiological cues appear to dominate processing capacity due to their relative strength while at the more moderate intensity levels of exercise  While the positive effects of music on how one feels may not have the power to alter the perceptions of fatigue when exercising at very high intensities, music may change how one interprets or responds to sensation of high exertion. This article was very interesting to read! 

[musiceffectslife]

Music is important!

This post is about an article I found that gives many reasons why music is important in education.  I started playing cello in 4th grade and for me I can see the effects of how music helped me in education. My grades went up, I was able to focus more easily, and I was able to retain information more easily. One reason it gives is “A mastery of memorization” Even when performing with sheet music, student musicians are constantly using their memory to perform. The skill of memorization can serve students well in education and beyond. Another reason is “Increased coordination” Students who practice with musical instruments can improve their hand-eye coordination. Just like playing sports, children can develop motor skills when playing music. I can personally talk about this because after playing for many years I have noticed that my hand-eye coordination is sharper.  Music an even help students get “Better SAT scores” students who have experience with music performance or appreciation score higher on the SAT. One report indicates 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math for students in music appreciation courses. That's a big difference!  Another is “Fine-tuned auditory skills” Musicians can better detect meaningful, information-bearing elements in sounds, like the emotional meaning in a baby’s cry. Students who practice music can have better auditory attention and pick out predictable patterns from surrounding noise. When I listen to songs, I can pick out every instrument that is being played in the song I can also tell someone what key the songs are. Another thing is music helps with perfect pitch, with being born with it and working on it all my life when I listen to a song a can play it on my cello right away with no sheet music Infront of me!  Another important one is “Musical instruments can teach discipline” Kids who learn to play an instrument can learn a valuable lesson in discipline. They will have to set time aside to practice and rise to the challenge of learning with discipline to master playing their instrument. Lastly, the most important thing to me is “Kids can learn teamwork” Many musical education programs require teamwork as part of a band or orchestra. In these groups, students will learn how to work together.  My conductors in my orchestras always said that orchestra is one big team, but each section is its own little team. So, it's a whole bunch of little teams making one big team. And when we all click on a song and make music is the best feeling ever! 

[musiceffectslife]

ChatGPT is wrong!

image by IO health

As I was exploring on CharGBT I was asking it questions about the effectiveness of music and found that the AI bot was contradicting its self! When I asked if different music genres affect a persons personality it gave a correct answer says yes it can. it talked about emotional patterns, Identity, self-expression, Behavior, and mindset. In the opening paragraph it says "Yes—music genres can influence aspects of a person’s personality" but at the summery in the end it says "Music genres don’t determine personality" so it was saying yes and no to that question. But then I asked how music can have an affect, and it gave me paragraphs about Passive vs. active listening and Temporary vs. permanent effects, but this type of listening also has a affect of someones mood of listing to a song and each song can have temporary and permanent effects. Then it talked about how personal experiences are not affected by music, but then I asked if it can and the AI said yes! so as i went on it was clearly contradicting its self from explaining how yes it does have to affect to no it doesn't to yes it has some effect. Then I asked for where it got it's sources from and It didn't show me links but just only gave me names of people and told me to research them! Overall I've found that on this topic ChatGBT is contradicting its self and is going from yes to no then to somewhat and does not give a clear answer.

[musiceffectslife]

A series of essays!

image by axelle b

I found this amazing book called The Effects of Music, a series of essays by Max Schoen!

This book is a series of different researchers' essays on how music affects people. It ranged from ways like how it affects emotion to blood pressure. This book dives deep into why and how music affects people.  This book helps other researchers as it can provide a basic concept of how music can affect the audience and even performers, and there are also essays that contrast other people's research in the book, which was very, very interesting to read. This book defiantly relates to current trends in this field because most people today are looking at how music affects an audience but after this one research paper in the book was published it provided more research and experiments into how music also affects performers too.  

This book is very well written and organized. It starts off with essays that describe different types of listeners and then goes into how the emotion is affected in those listeners and then performers and lastly goes into how it affects the body in other ways, not just the brain. This book has accurate information however it was made in the late 1990’s, so it is missing more recent genres of music, but they fill that gap with other studies with the music they have. Each essay has several different footnotes to look at to get a deeper understanding of what the researcher was trying to say. They also provide tables and graphs in some essays to show the difference in how people react to happy music. Verus sad music. Although there are no pictures in this book, the graphs, tables, and footnotes provide a way for someone to understand all the different essays more and how they all connect to each other. This book would benefit people who want to learn more about the way music affects people or if someone wants to learn the psychology behind it. It would also be good if someone who was going to a concert wanted to see what happens to them if they go or if a performer wants to see what happens to them when they perform then this book, it would be good for them too. All these essays have the same idea of how music affects the brain with different emotions and moods; they also compare how music affects a performer's brain.  The essays also compare contrasting views about how music affects a performer’s brain differently than the audience’s, showing how a performer gets into the music easier, and they get madder easier if they mess up playing. Whereas the audience takes longer to get into the music and feel the effects, but when the music changes they feel a stronger effect.    

This book provided context to the question of how music affects a person's mood and personality by the essays showing how different types of music can change somone's emotion and “Musical pleasure” it proves that music does change people's moods. It even proves that if someone listens to music during the day and at night, when they listen to it at night, they have a stronger mood change. It also recognizes that pop music has a bigger effect than people listening to classical music. The only thing about this book that is a little outdated is that some essays mainly talk about different types of classical music, but it has the same effects. If someone listens to a dark classical music song and listens to a sad song, they have the same effects.  This book gave me so much information about my topic!

[musiceffectslife]

KISSCO!!!

image by By Michelle R

Harrys styles new album Kiss all the time, disco occasionally came out on March 6th,2026. And in this post, I will be talking about how the 12 new songs on his new album makes me feel vs how it makes my mom feel to show how different generations think of new music.  

The first song on his album is called "Aperture." While listening to this song, my mom and I both agree that right away it gives us the feeling of wanting to dance and is very upbeat. And the continued phrase “we belong together” gives us a feeling of community and connection with him and his other fans.  While the second song “American girls” continues the upbeat pattern of his music but is one of my lesser favorites it had no effect on me on the album while my mom loves the song as she told me it gives the old disco vibe from when she was younger. The third song “ready, steady, go” is one of my favorites. It makes me want to bop my head and is a good song to dance to (I have). My mom also said this song reminds her of the disco songs when she was younger and thinks it's cool how he evolved the old disco into this song to fit modern times. His fourth “are you listening yet” one is probably my least favorite on the album. There is not much musical element to it unless it is in the chorus, it's mainly him talking over music. My mom and I both agree that this is one of our least favorites, but it is still good. We both like the beat of that song. His fifth song “Taste Back” I think is like his old songs he has made. I like it and feel like it brings me back to 2016 and feels very nostalgic. While my mom again thinks there is too much going on and is overwhelming.  This sixth song “The waiting game” is a little bit slower than the other ones above but still gives me the feeling of wanting to dance but also be around my friends and in some cases makes me miss my family when I am away. My mom also agreed with me on this topic. She feels like it brings her back to her time at college.  

That was the first half of the album, and all the songs are upbeat and give the feeling of wanting to dance around or go on a drive and blast the song. The seventh song “season 2 weight loss” again reminds me of 2016 and follows the theme of disco.  My mom said this song really has no effect, but she still likes it. The eighth song “coming up roses” is my personal favorite it has as orchestra playing in the background and gives me the chills and is slower than the other songs and makes me miss my family and it is a little sappy bit is still really good and I could listen to it over and over again. My mom says it is a good one too and brings her back to when I was in orchestra concerts and when she would watch them.  His ninth song “Pop” is my mom's favorite. She says it makes her happy every time she listens to it, and I can agree. It makes me think about summer. His tenth song “Dance no more” my mom said it is the most disco out of the album. And I agree too.  His 11th song “Paint by Numbers” is another slow song and again makes us feel very nostalgic. While his last song “Carla's song” is very upbeat and is a continuation of satellite song on his last album.

 I personaly like the second half of the album the best while my mom likes the first as she likes its more dance and disco likes. And we found that we mainly agree on how the songs make us feel and what we think when we listen to them! 

I provided a link to each song is you want to listen to them and see how you feel when you do!

[musiceffectslife]

A Scientific experiment switch up!!

image by Clem Onojeghuo and article talked about by  Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim

Most experiments done with music are usually conducted on the audiences reactions never the performers reactions. This article from the New York times posted on February 10th 2026, showed a scientific breakthrough at the University of Calgary on What Happens in a Performer’s Brain While Playing Music! Scientists have long been drawn to music affects on the brain because it involves so many human capacities into a single activity. It involves at once perception, movement, memory, attention and emotion and over time it requires constant prediction and adjustment. Rhythm, in particular, has become a focus of research because of its links to language development, motor coordination and brain health. They found that in a performers brain thorough an EEG there is a noticeable increase in activity in the occipital lobe where vision is processed and when different composers pieces was played there was a different reaction to each one like in Debussy where it showed there was what looked like gentle showers in the brain, while there is a complex coordination across different regions in Bach, and bursts of motion between planning and execution in Beethoven. This is one of the first experiments to be done on performers brain and this experiment has now opened a pathway for many more to come!

[musiceffectslife]

mini biography

image credit: Kevin Mazur

This person is you don't know is Harry styles. according to Britannica He is an English, singer, songwriter, and actor who started his musical career in 2010 as a member of the boy band One Direction. After the group broke up he launched a successful solo career, releasing three commercially successful albums. He has appeared in films including Dunkirk (2017), Don't Worry Darling, and My Policeman. He has been referred to as a "new King of Pop" He's known for his flamboyant fashion, showmanship, and artistry, and has been called a pop and fashion icon. For his solo career alone he as gotten six Brit Awards, three Grammy Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. His music is known for making people feel good and happy about them selfs and giving them to feeling to dance. He is coming out with an album this week witch we are going to dive deeper into how it effects people later on.

[causesometreble]

My Overture

Music is an incredible thing. It can soothe you, fill you with adrenaline, or make you feel a nearly infinite number of emotions. In my opinion, the best example of the power of music comes in the form of video game soundtracks. Whether a song is providing ambiance to an intriguing new world to explore or acting as an audible representation of a boss’s unconquerable strength or sheer malice, video game music not only has the benefit of being inherently tied to a specific character, setting, event, or emotion, but also has more inherent weight than most other music, as it has the job of immersing the player into the world of the game. This makes studying this genre of music to be incredibly informative. In fact, according to Joshua Thomas Barbre, studying the use of video game music can help one to “gain insight into the nature of play, the influence of gaming on gender and other kinds of identity and behavior, and on modalities of composition.” 

While I don’t intend to delve into those aspects specifically, I plan to discuss the history of video game music throughout the past few decades, such as how it evolved from simple sound effects into entire compositions, as well as the several important aspects that compose music in general that many great video game composers know how to use to their advantage; leitmotifs, instrument choice, tone, execution, etc. In doing this, I hope to not only provide an interesting history lesson into how video game music as we know it came to be, but also provide lessons others can pull from in how to make their own music, video game related or otherwise. As someone who is currently attempting composing, I also hope to follow those same lessons to simultaneously act as further example of those lessons’ intent and to gain feedback on my music journey. So if you enjoy music and video games as much as I do, come along for the ride as I dive into what makes video game music so interesting!

[musiceffectslife]

I wanted to repost this super interesting blog! Music is truly an incredible thing. Video game music is a big part of my life and many others and is going very viral! I cant wait to see what they are going to post next and in the future! This blog is very interesting and hooks me into reading it right away, Inspiring! Go check it out!

[musiceffectslife]

A video I took of when I went to Trans-Siberian orchestra!! Gives me chills every time and makes me happy. This song also brings back memories for me because I've played this song every year around Christmas time with my favorite orchestra I was in.

[musiceffectslife]

Why music?

image by omar sahal, "orchestra vibrations"

The topic of this blog is going to be about how different genres of music affect a person's personality/ mood. Each blog will be about a different genre like classical, rock, pop, medal, folk, country, etc. And how each one can change someone's personality.  I will be talking about music from the late 1800s to 2025 (present).

According to the Oxford English dictionary,  music genre means "the art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds to produce beauty of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, expressive content to form a particular style or category with style or purpose." When  artists make many different categories, it's labeled as a different genre of music which leads to thousands of different kinds.  Which affects the brain in many different ways.  Referring to an article by R W  Wilkins  published in the national library of medicine he states “Listening to music affects an intricate set of complex processing systems in the brain, such as systems associated with sensory-motor processing as well as functional elements implicated in memory, cognition and emotion or mood fluctuation." This shows how music affects the brain, but also how music affects the body too with chills. I know  personally  from  listening to a lot of music or when I'm performing at concerts my body gets  chills from hearing a song I like.  From an article by  Rich  Allen  talks about how the nervous system is affected by the brain and when someone hears a song that shows strong emotion to them, the brain activates the nervous system

From personally experiencing this reaction I am curious to see how other people are affect by music Now since there over a thousand different genres were not going to get to all, but I am going to talk about the most common that people hear in their everyday lives Whether it be through social media, the radio, speakers in a restaurant, or there Spotify playlist.  This topic is important to me because music is a part of my everyday life and the same as other people. And some days music can change my mood if I'm having a bad day into a good one.  I want people to see how music can affect them in the same way it affects me or maybe in a different way! 

[musiceffectslife]

Image by kai Stachowiak, "music notes"

A cool image!!