Does rock music make you smarter? (3 insights)
This blog post aims to answer the question, “Does rock music make you smarter?” and explore the genre of rock music and its various benefits to help understand if this genre of music can make one smarter.
Does rock music make you smarter?
Rock music might make you smarter but it cannot be said for sure. The following are 3 insights into how rock music might make you smarter –
- Any type of music may have a variety of cognitive impacts on the brain.
- Listening to any type of music offers a slew of health advantages.
- Rock music has a significant influence on our brains.
These 3 insights into how rock music might make you smarter will be discussed in further detail below after taking a deeper look at what rock music is.
What is rock music?
Rock music is a diverse genre of popular music that began as “rock and roll” in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the United States, evolving into a variety of genres in the mid-1960s and beyond, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.
It has its roots in rock and roll from the 1940s and 1950s, a style that drew directly from African-American music’s blues and rhythm and blues genres, as well as country music. Rock music borrowed heavily from a variety of other genres, including electric blues and folk, as well as jazz, classical, and other musical traditions.
Rock has concentrated on the electric guitar as an instrument, generally in a rock band with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Rock is typically song-based music with a 4 by 4-time signature and a verse-chorus pattern, although it has evolved into a very diverse genre.
Lyrics, like pop music, usually emphasise romantic love but also cover a broad range of other issues, many of which are social or political in nature. The Beatles were at the vanguard of this evolution, pushing the album ahead of the single as the main form of recorded music expression and consumption in the mid-1960s.
Their contributions gave the genre widespread cultural credibility, ushering in a rock-informed album period in the music industry that would last several decades.
Many of these hybrids contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, which was influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scenes.
By the late 1960s “classic rock” period, a number of distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, southern rock, raga rock, and jazz-rock, many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, which was influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hip
Progressive rock, which expanded the creative components, glam rock, which stressed showmanship and visual style, and heavy metal, which emphasised loudness, power, and speed, were among the new genres that arose.
Punk rock reacted in the second part of the 1970s by releasing stripped-down, energetic social and political criticisms. Punk influenced new wave, post-punk, and finally alternative rock in the 1980s.
Alternative rock, in the shape of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock, began to dominate rock music in the 1990s and burst into the mainstream.
More fusion subgenres have since emerged, such as pop punk, electronic rock, rap rock, and rap metal, as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock’s history, such as the garage rock/post-punk and techno-pop revivals in the 2000s, and the 2010s saw a slow decline in rock music’s mainstream popularity and cultural relevance, with hip-hop surpassing it as the most popular genre in the United States.
Rock music has also embodied and acted as a vehicle for cultural and social movements, spawning important subcultures such as the mods and rockers in the United Kingdom, as well as the hippie counterculture in the United States in the 1960s.
Similarly, punk culture in the 1970s gave rise to goth, punk, and emo subcultures.
Rock music has been connected with political action as well as shifts in societal views toward race, sex, and drug use, and is sometimes considered as an expression of young revolt against adult consumerism and conformity, inheriting the folk heritage of the protest song. At the same time, it has been a commercial success, prompting accusations of selling out.
What are these 3 insights into how rock music might make you smarter?
Any type of music may have a variety of cognitive impacts on the brain.
Intelligence, creativity, self-image, goal-setting ability, dexterity, listening skills, confidence, work ethic, reading and problem-solving abilities, short- and long-term memory, patience, and fine motor skills are all enhanced by music and music education.
According to research conducted at Mission Viejo High School in Southern California, music students had an overall grade-point average of 3.59, while non-music students had an overall grade-point average of 2.91.
Children who play musical instruments have considerably increased grey matter volume in their brains, according to brain scans of 9- to 11-year-olds.
When youngsters learn to compose music, their spatial-temporal cognition — the capacity to solve problems and put them together as a whole — improves, according to Harvard University research.
According to research undertaken by the Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, college-age musicians who had music instruction as youngsters are emotionally healthier than non-musicians.
According to the Associated Press, college admissions authorities consider music involvement when making admissions choices. Music engagement, they argue, exhibits time management, creativity, expressiveness, and open-mindedness.
However, it remains unclear whether or not listening to rock music would make you smarter in the long run.
Listening to any type of music offers a slew of health advantages.
Listening to any type of music offers a slew of health advantages that will, at the absolute least, keep your brain and emotions in excellent shape. “Extreme” music genres like rock, for example, tend to be effective in lowering negative emotions and controlling anger and despair.
Keeping these negative feelings at bay can benefit your brain’s capacity to work at its best. According to one research, listening to music you enjoy, such as rock, can improve your cognitive powers and memory.
It was discovered that there were some fascinating changes on the brain when people listened to music they loved or despised. Participants’ capacity to spin items in their imaginations was shown to be significantly reduced when they listened to music they didn’t like (spatial rotation).
Listening to music (whether liked or hated) did, however, appear to impair short-term memory ability. The effects of music on the human brain have been investigated for a long time. Music has been discovered to have the ability to activate certain parts of the brain, promoting self-awareness, creativity, and other advantages.
It makes no difference what type of music you enjoy as long as you have a specific connection to a song. Rock music is one of the most popular genres among people of all generations. Rock bands’ success has inspired many individuals in so many ways that it has become a way of life for many.
Rock music has a significant influence on our brains.
Rock music has a significant influence on our brains, as evidenced by the observations of those who listen to it. When it comes to increasing mood and vitality, all genres of music have powerful impacts on the brain. Anything that makes a person happy causes the brain to release more happy hormones.
If you are a major fan of rock music, this involves listening to it. When you listen to music that you genuinely enjoy and connect with, you experience catharsis, which allows you to relax and de-stress.
It only works with music you enjoy, thus if you enjoy rock music, it will work for you every time you listen to songs by your favourite band. This is in contrast to a common assumption that associates rock music with rage due to its loud metal sound.
Moderation is the key to obtaining its beneficial benefits on the brain, as it is with everything else. Many people might become trapped in a rut in life, unsure of what they should do next. Everything becomes a bit monotonous and uninteresting.
Rock music, fortunately, can assist to prevent this. It causes emotional shifts in individuals, motivating them to take action to improve their life. People have been known to make big life decisions while listening to strong rock music.
For many people, actively performing rock music is preferable to simply listening to it. It’s frequently more fun to combine drum machines from merchants like Singular Sound with guitar strumming than it is to just listen to music on iTunes.
Even young youngsters are inspired by rock music and learn how to perform the songs on a guitar. According to Ben Phillips of Pretty Reckless, “a lot of individuals in the rock music business cooperate effectively because of their common sense of creativity brought about by the impact of this genre.”
It becomes an integral component of the process of composing a song’s lyrics and musical score. Rock music also has more keys and changing notes, making it an excellent practice for children beginning to play any instrument. It can aid them in the short and long term while also improving muscle memory.
When people have shared interests and activities, social skills are simpler to facilitate. When you meet someone who enjoys rock music, you are encouraged to socialise with them and tell them about your own musical experiences.
Shyness, social disengagement, and other nervous thoughts can all be helped by music. This is why listening to your favourite music before meeting new people makes you feel better about meeting new people.
What you listen to has a significant influence on you, particularly on your mood, creativity, and socialising ideas. Listeners of this genre of music will appreciate these effects as well. Rock music, like any other genre, has a favourable influence on the brain of a die-hard fan.
Conclusion –
This blog post attempted to answer the question, “Does rock music make you smarter?” and reviewed the genre of rock music and its various benefits to help determine if rock music can make you smarter. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments you may have.
References –
Does Music Make You Smarter? Bach to Rock. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://bachtorockfranchise.com/research-bach-to-rock/does-music-make-you-smarter/#:~:text=It%20shows%20that%20music%20and,patience%20and%20fine%2Dmotor%20skills.
Does Rock/Metal music make you less smart? Quora. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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Wang, A. The Big Impact Rock Music Has on Our Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Your Barin On Music. A popular class breaks down how our brains respond to music. University of Central Florida. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/
Patel, D. These 6 Types of Music Are Known to Dramatically Improve Productivity. (2019, January 9). Retrieved from
Keep Your Brain Young with Music. The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Vitale, John. (2011). Music Makes You Smarter: A New Paradigm for Music Education? Perceptions and Perspectives from Four Groups of Elementary Education Stakeholders. Canadian Journal of Education. 34. Retrieved from
