Listening To Music While Reading: Is It A Good Idea?

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“I’ve found that no matter what life throws at me, music softens the blow.”

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For many of us, reading is the ultimate way of escaping the everyday hustle and bustle. We all have our preferred ways of kicking back and properly unwinding, and listening to music is one of the most popular ways of enjoying a good book.

There is a long list of benefits attached to listening to music while reading, but what really happens when you pick up the headphones alongside your latest paperback? Is it good to listen to music, or are there reasons to avoid it? Whilst we always think it should be up to people how they enjoy books, we here at What We Reading are going to put the music whilst reading debate under the microscope! 

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Can You Listen To Music While Reading?

In short, yes. Of course, you can! There’s nothing stopping you from listening to music while you’re reading. In fact, there are many reasons why so many people find the pair so complimentary. The two activities don’t take up overlapping parts of the brain, though it’s certainly true that listening to music whilst reading can have some varying effects on people. 

Some people like music in the background, some people plug their headphones, whilst some people find that any sort of noise is a distraction. Our general rule is to stick to what works for you and whatever gives you the most enjoyment! 

So listening to music while reading is completely up to you. Sometimes the reading material can have a big influence on whether any background noise helps or hinders – a hefty textbook with lots of material might require more concentration! 

Benefits Of Listening To Music While Reading

We mentioned in the introduction that there are ample benefits of listening to music while reading – but what are they exactly? 

• Relaxation: Music has scientifically been shown to be one of the most effective strategies for relieving stress and relaxing. Whilst different people find specific genres more effective than others, 60 beats per minute is the agreed-upon number where our brains synchronise and induce a feeling of serenity. Reading is another one of the most effective methods we have for relaxing, so you can see where the benefits of combining the two begin.
• Mood Improvements: Studies have shown that listening to music can increase the amount of dopamine in your brain, improving your mental well-being and overall mood. Combining this with another exercise that makes you happy such as reading will mean your enjoyment will be heightened even more.
• Help Focus: Depending on where it is you are reading, concentration can be a hard thing to find. Busy study halls or coffee shops, filled with so much noise, can make digesting the material quite difficult. However, putting in some headphones and listening to music will help eliminate those distractions and ensure you are fully concentrated on the book in front of you.
• Better Cognitive Performance: Some studies have shown that listening to music can improve cognitive performance. It’s been shown that the familiarity and relaxing effects of music can make studying less stressful and have a profound impact on how productive someone is. This isn’t necessarily the case for everyone, however, so we recommend giving it a shot and seeing for yourself! Let us know if you are more productive listening to music while reading something academic!

Cons Of Listening To Music While Reading

Now, we know that for some people music whilst their reading is anything but a good thing. Again, it primarily comes down to the types of genres you listen to and what personality you have, but here are some of the major cons of reading with music: 

• Loud Music Can Be Out Of Place: For many of us, particular types of music can make our minds wander off. For example, loud music tends to be more associated with nighttime raves and clubbing rather than settling down with a book. For some, the combination of loud music with reading can be a jarring experience.
• Lyrics Cause Confusion: Trying to read whilst someone is talking to you is pretty much impossible. The words you hear in your ear tend to get muddled up with the words your eyes are reading, which can be extremely annoying. The terms get muddled together, and you are no longer able to differentiate between what you are reading about and what you are hearing about. The logic is the same with listening to lyrics.
• Being Unsettled: We mentioned above that picking music at the right tempo is key to being relaxed whilst reading. On the flip side, music with a higher BPM (100-120 especially) can get you in a state where you are fidgeting and agitated.
• It May Become Essential: Our brains are constantly making connections and associations, even without us being aware that it is doing it. And for some people, especially those who rely on music for absorbing information when studying, music and reading can become one of those associations. If you only find yourself being able to recite information with music in the background, this can become problematic when it comes to completing exams and assessments in controlled environments.

What Music To Listen To While Reading?

Everyone has different tastes and responds differently to different types while they are trying to concentrate, so ‘whatever works best for you’ is the best music to listen to while reading. However, we tend to find slower instrumental music to be the best background noise to improve our focus and unwind when reading. LoFi and other chill types of music also work great as genres to help relax with when you’re reading, writing or studying! 

Closing Thoughts

Ultimately, we here at What We Reading have always found reading in silence a little disconcerting. We definitely find ourselves feeling more relaxed and engaged with a story with some background tunes playing in headphones. With that being said, we can definitely see where people might become distracted, especially if they are playing music that doesn’t fit with an exercise like reading.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the discussion and certainly no ‘right’ way of reading so we’re fully on board with supporting you however it is you read best! 

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