MUSI20150 Music And Health University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

MUSI20150 Music And Health University of Melbourne

Introduction
Bradburn (1969)’s classical structure of psychological well-being defines well-being as a
point of equilibrium in “positive and negative affect” which ultimately takes on the
definition of happiness. While other literature had mostly defined well-being as “life
satisfaction”. No matter which definition, well-being is associated with a person’s mental
health, while physical activity improves mental health (William, 1997). Hence, to promote
personal health and well-being, physical health must be maintained first. So how does music
come into play in promoting physical health? Music affects a person’s emotions and
“behavior” that in turn influence “cognitive performance” (Raymond, Gunter and Laura,
2012). The correct type of music brings positive subjective experiences and it is
hypothesized that positive subjective experiences may be followed by a change in behavior
with increased exercise engagement and “adherence” (Clark, Baker and Taylor, 2016). This
is proven to be true in Hayakawa, Miki and Takada’s (2000) study on the effects of different
music with 16 middle-aged women’s performance during a bench-stepping exercise, results
show that upbeat dance music had the best result while when with no music, they are seen
to be more fatigue. Not only that people will be less fatigue when exercising with music,
they also extend the time they exercise. As suggested, this might be because music narrow
the person’s attention from feeling tired to focusing on their own motion (Hayakawa, et al.,
2000). Thus, this will prolong the time or “intensity” of exercise (Szabo, et al., 1999).
Physical activity helps in improving our psychological well-being together with music. I have
a playlist that I constantly update and change that I use for exercising, for this assignment, I
rearranged the playlist and extract 10 of the song effectively to achieve a maximum positive
effect. I rearranged the songs into 3 categories; warmup, conditioning, and cooldown.
Before choosing the songs, I carefully list down the songs that I can use for each category.
Then, I proceed to remove those that bring feelings of negativity. Since I am more
comfortable in exercising in a gym, I chose music that makes my surrounding more
comfortable. Next, I chose songs that are around inspiring and supportive for warmup to
slowly start leading myself into exercising; upbeat and loud songs during conditioning and
chilled and slow songs when cooling down. The playlist lasts for 36 minutes which is roughly
the time duration I exercise each time with 5-minute songs chosen for both warm-up and
cooldown while the combination of songs brings exercise time up to 26 minutes. For each
category, I try to fit in songs that mimic the tempo of my movement and heart rate during
warm-up, conditioning, and cooldown. With Szabo et al.’s (1999) study, during the
conditioning period, the participants are significantly more productive when listening to
fast-paced songs. This is because, during condition period, the heartbeat of the participants
is expected to be the highest due to anaerobic breathing. In addition to matching the most
suitable music to the categories respectively, the transition between the categories is also
very important. When transitioning from warming up to condition, as the movements
changed from slow to fast, the music also must transition from slow to fast. It is proven that
participants favor exercise more when transitioning music are controlled well in addition to
increased efficiency (Brownley et al., 1995).
1. Jing Rao, H. (2003) . 三年二班 [Recorded by Jay Chou] . On 叶惠美 [CD] . Taiwan:
JVR Music .
The first song in the playlist plays the most important role because it motivates me to start
my exercise. This song was one of the songs that I always listen to when I was studying in
primary school. I chose this song for the first song because “familiar songs” encourage me in
a way that it brings fond memories and it makes me feel good (Sung, Christina, and Chang,
Marie, 2005). The lyrics of this songs describe with a very positive message of we should
take control of our own lives and not to live in other’s expectations. The lyrics and familiar
melody brings me back to happier times when I was young and bring a strong power of
support and motivate me to do even better.
2. Pdogg, Supreme Boi, Rap Monster, &Slow Rabbit. (2015) . Baepsae [Recorded by
BTS] . On The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 [CD] . Korea: BigHit
Entertainment .
As mentioned above, the song during transition plays an important role. In Becker et al.
(1994) it is found that with faster music, brings a better performance in exercise and in
Becker et al. (1995) found that slower music decreases performance. Hence transitioning
from warm up to conditioning period, we are expected to pick up the speed in exercising, a
faster song is preferred to bring a better performance. In addition to the fast pace of this
song, it also comes with very meaningful and motivational lyrics. When exercising on the
treadmill, the exercise is repetitive motivational songs are proven with positive “energy
efficiency” resulting in greater output (Costas and David, 2011). Thus, with a song that is fast
and also motivational during the transitional period is bound to increase the endurance we
need to continue exercising.
3. Young-jin, Y. (2011) . Mr. Simple [Recorded by Super Junior] . On Mr. Simple [CD] .
Korea: SM Entertainment .
As we are in the conditioning period, music now plays a role for us to adhere to our
behavior which in this case is exercising (Ekkekakis, Prafitt, and Petruzzello, 2011). During
condition, the exercise intensifies, a fast-paced music is preferred compared to slow music
(Costas, Leighton, and Daniel, 2006). Mr. Simple is a song with a fast tempo and repetitive
lyrics, in my opinion, the success of this song is the repetition of lyrics and rhythm. When we
are doing intensive exercises, music with familiar rhythm and lyrics increases our attention
and focus (van der Vlist, Bartneck, and Maüeler, 2011). In addition to that, the rhythm in a
song relates to our bodily movement such as breathing, heartbeat, and movement (Bonny,
1987). Mr. Simple’s beat mimic our strong and fast heartbeat during condition and tempo
mimic our movement resulting in maximum efficiency as our body “copies” the music.
4. Jessica, F., Sean, G., &Patrick, H. (2014) . I’m an Albatraoz [Recorded by AronChupa] .

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