8 Incredible Benefits of Listening to Classical Music

Author: Brett Clur | Updated: | This post may contain affiliate links.

Classical music was once the leading style of music in the world. It has such a rich history that dates back to world-famous composers and eras. The great thing about classical music is that we have centuries of compositions to listen to and appreciate.

With that being said, listening to classical music has some wonderful benefits. Some of these are backed by science while others will be told straight from every music teacher around.

Classical Music in the Modern World

Unfortunately, classical music isn’t as popular as it used to be. This is thanks to modern styles of music like rock, hip-hop, and pop gaining way more traction. When it comes to classical music in the modern world, only a small fraction of people enjoy listening to it.

The main types of people who listen to classical music are older generations who appreciate the stylistic details and younger generations who play orchestral instruments themselves.

Not many young people are as exposed to classical music as they should be. The benefits of listening to it arguably outweigh the benefits of listening to many other styles of music. So, it’s a great idea to get the young people around us to try to enjoy the style.

Although there are still some classical music purists, many young composers love mixing ideas from different styles into their classical pieces. Very prevalent in movie scores, this combination has the potential to be very popular.

With classical music not being as popular as it should be, you should be aware of all the benefits of listening to it. Let’s get into them.

Listening Skills

One of the absolute biggest benefits of listening to classical music is that it boosts your musical ear. Modern styles of music such as pop and rock can get fairly repetitive, meaning you’re going to be hearing the same thing over and over again without much variation between songs.

Classical works have different movements and sections that can sound and feel very different from each other. This leads to your ear getting challenged when it can’t latch onto something that constantly repeats itself.

Your ears will be doing a bit of brainwork even if you’re just listening to classical music in the background while doing something else. A cool benefit of this is that you can listen to the same work several times and potentially hear something new and exciting with each listen.

There have been a few studies that have deduced that young children that listen to classical music tend to grasp musical concepts easier than those who don’t. All that challenging listening gives them a boost in their music instrument playing journey.

Appreciation for Compositions

Along with listening to classical pieces comes a great appreciation for what they are, how they sound, and where they came from. Every classical song has a story that is trying to be told through the instruments. The work has a dynamic flow from beginning to end.

With all the ups and downs, you can appreciate what the composer is trying to convey through the music whether it’s happiness, sadness, or any other strong emotions. Speaking of composers, there are so many famous ones to learn about.

People like Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn all played a massive part in evolving the music of their time. Without them, music probably wouldn’t be what it is today. So, a great benefit of listening to their works is appreciating how much impact they had on musical society.

Even if you’re not a musician, it’s easy to appreciate all the complexities in a classical piece of music.

Scientific Benefits

Classical music is pretty unique in that many scientific studies have been done to figure out what the benefits of listening to it are. We already touched on young children gaining musicality from it. However, there are plenty more benefits where that came from.

The first one is that listening to classical music fights depression. As down as someone may be feeling, classical music tends to boost your dopamine levels if you listen to it regularly. It won’t completely cure anything, but it goes a long way in helping.

Along with that dopamine boost comes reduced stress. The music has an extremely calming effect on most people. Playing it softly in the background can make you feel at peace with your environment. Just don’t put on any aggressive compositions!

Finally, studies have shown that listening to classical music boosts your memory. This goes hand-in-hand with the improvement of listening skills. If you start to remember things about big compositions, you’ll have no problem remembering other things that are part of your everyday life.

Boosts Productivity

Classical compositions are one of the best forms of background music, thanks to the lack of vocals. As nice as it is to listen to your favorite tunes, the vocal parts can often distract you when you’re trying to be productive.

So, the melodies and patterns of classical music are easier to listen to when you’re doing things like working. In fact, this ties into the relaxation point. Your productivity will be boosted when you’re relaxed.

The productivity boost works best when you’re working. Classical music may not be the best thing to listen to when you’re pushing weights in a gym.

In summary, you’ll probably be more productive when you’re listening to music than you would be if you weren’t. And classical music is one of the best types of musical styles to listen to when trying to achieve that productivity boost.

Improves Sleep

There used to be this thing called the Mozart Effect. It was a common belief amongst parents that getting their babies to constantly listen to classical music would turn them into superhumans.

Although that theory has been largely debunked, there are some benefits that still came from it. The big one is that listening to classical music improves how you sleep. Most babies that listening to classical music slept like a dream.

It has the same effect on most adults. Listening to classical music before you go to bed has a high chance of causing you to have a fantastic night’s sleep. With so many people suffering from insomnia, classical music has the power to be that one good natural cure.

Inspiration to Play Instruments

One great thing about classical music is that it’s played by full orchestras. These orchestras can get very large, having up to 100 musicians all playing together. It’s a unique style of music in that it takes a big group to create an effective tune.

This is completely different from modern bands that only have 3 or more people involved. With that being said, listening to classical music often inspires many people to pick up an instrument and start learning to play.

There are so many instruments that get played in an orchestra. They get broken down into four sections which are woodwind, brass, strings, and percussion. In each section, there are several instruments to play. So, you have a massive amount of instruments to choose from.

If you do get inspired to play an instrument from classical music, you could join a local orchestra and start creating the music that you listen to yourself. It’s a wonderful experience that people of all ages can benefit from.

History

Everyone can be enriched by learning the history of the world. Classical music has been around since medieval times, meaning it has a long history that can be appreciated. The main eras of classical music are the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras.

If you look into each of these eras, you’ll see what shaped them and who the main composers of the time were. You’ll be able to hear the differences in all the pieces from the different eras.

Film Scores

Classical music has had a massive impact on the soundtracks of movies. Although many soundtracks aren’t considered classical, they’re still recorded by orchestras with classical instrumentation.

If you listen to classical music, you could potentially get an idea of how music affects emotions and how film composers use music to set moods in certain scenes of movies.

Many movies still use popular classical pieces in scenes as the works perfectly reflect what is happening on screen.

Conclusion

Classical music is not the only style that has listening benefits. However, it tends to have the most benefits out of all the styles out there. You don’t need to turn into a classical music purist from now on, but you will definitely benefit from listening to it from time to time.

If you typically put listen to the radio or podcasts while driving, try putting some classical music on instead and see how it would raise your mood that day. It sounds a bit weird, but science says it works!

There are so many fantastic works out there to listen to. You may even discover that you have a favorite composer.

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About Brett Clur

Brett has been drumming for almost two decades. He also helps his students get better at drumming. He can be found on Instagram (@brettclurdrums), where you can regularly catch glimpses of his drumming.

2 thoughts on “8 Incredible Benefits of Listening to Classical Music”

  1. Thank you so much! You’ve gotten me into it. Learning about classical music from your review has really helped me understand it a lot!

    Reply
  2. Thank you for the balanced discussion which did not just touch on the positivity of classical music but also accept some other unfavorable side of classical music which I have pondered upon over many years of music study in Africa. It has given me better take about classical music. Thanks to the Brett Clur with whom I share a similarity, drumming.
    Hope to have better time with you someday.

    Reply

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