Everyone is connected to music in one way or another, whether it be the bus ride in the morning, or piano lessons that started taking when you were seven. Music not only benefits the soul, but also the mind, when looking at academic performance.

Listening to music while studying can be beneficial for some and counterproductive for others, but everyone is influenced by music, be it indirectly through culture, or through the stimulative pleasure of listening to the same song repeatedly. Not only is everyone different in their response to music, but different types of music can have varied effects as well. Attributes such as tempo, dynamic changes, and volume each can affect the overall focus of the listener, positively or negatively.

In fact,“a preferred type of music can serve as a distracting factor when one is engaged in a cognitively demanding task,” according to a study by the Inquiries Journal, a group for the social sciences. In short, listeners tend to be less focused when listening to music, because the added stimulus requires mental energy that could be used for studying.

For some, however, music and studying go hand in hand. “I can’t concentrate without an external distraction. If I feel like I’m in a busy environment, I’ll get more work done that way,” says senior Aamil Shah, when asked if music helps him focus.

Junior Suleiman Tahir had a similar take, stating that it “tunes my brain, with the beats keeping me sound and awake.”

However, in order to reap many of the benefits that music can bring to the brain, students have to be active participants– such as making or participating in musical activity, like band or choir, not simply listening to Drake on the way home.

E. Glenn Schellenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto at Mississauga compiled a study that proved that each additional month of musical instruction, given to a student after a certain period of time, increases their IQ by one-sixth of a point. Musical participation has a host of other benefits, ranging from increased spatial awareness, to increased discipline and patience overall. Other benefits include music students receiving an average score of 107 points more on their SATs, as well as the lowest drug and alcohol use when surveyed as a group, according to Music for All, a non-profit organization devoted to the musical arts.

However, the time commitment to music can be counterproductive to studying in itself. Band students in particular not only are encouraged to perform with the marching band, but also attend two hour after-school rehearsals once a week. Many band students simply don’t have the time to commit to music, staying home to study instead of joining the jazz band, or other ensembles. Buckley Ross, a trombone player in the Langley Wind Symphony argues against that, stating that “taking some time to focus on music can help me exercise my mind in a different way,” and that “it helps me manage my time and allows me to be more efficient.”

Even if someone doesn’t sing, or play a musical instrument, the cognitive of benefits of simply listening to music, with no specific task to focus on, have been proven to mirror the brain patterns people experience while they are utilizing “higher order cognitive functions,” according to New Music Box. Simply put, music benefits everyone, with greater participation leading to greater benefits, such as higher test scores and better academic performance. Making, listening, and experiencing music is part of what makes people human, making it a vital part of everyone’s life, no matter who you are.