Does Music Really Help You Perform Better in Academics? | Abbos Jurayev | TEDxTermez PS Youth
Abbos Jurayev explores whether listening to music while studying improves academic performance, drawing on personal experience, a school survey, and a 2023 Malaysian university research study. The evidence consistently suggests that background music, particularly lo-fi and classical genres, can enhance motivation, memory, attention span, and the overall learning environment. He concludes that while not a universal solution, background music has the potential to make a meaningful difference for students.
Summary
The speaker opens with a personal anecdote from six or seven years ago, describing how he used a small music player to listen to favorite songs while doing household chores he found boring and repetitive. He noticed that the music made the tasks feel easier, less annoying, and — counterintuitively — helped him concentrate rather than distract him. This personal observation serves as the entry point into a broader discussion about a widely practiced student habit.
Jurayev then contextualizes the behavior within his own school community, citing a recent online survey he conducted among 53 students. Approximately 60% reported usually listening to music while studying or doing homework, and another 37% said they sometimes do — meaning over 90% of surveyed students had used this method in some form. This sets up the central question of his talk: does listening to music actually improve concentration and academic performance?
To answer this, he highlights a September 2023 research study conducted by three scholars — Tamin Farog, Norman Rashid, and Ken Neio — from Malta University in Malaysia. The study examined the effects of background music on the cognitive performance of 100 volunteer university students. Participants were split into a treatment group (who completed a test while listening to lo-fi or modern classical music) and a control group (who completed the same test in complete silence). Afterward, all participants filled out a questionnaire about their experience.
The results supported the researchers' hypothesis: students in the music group reported improvements in motivation, memory, and attention span, and felt the music created a better overall classroom environment. Jurayev summarizes that the study suggests background music can positively influence learning outcomes.
He concludes by synthesizing his personal story, the school survey, and the academic research into a consistent pattern: background music — especially lo-fi and classical genres — has the potential to make boring tasks feel easier, sustain motivation, improve memory and concentration, and enhance the learning environment. He acknowledges that it is not a magic solution and may not work equally for everyone, but argues the evidence points to it making a meaningful difference for many students.
Key Insights
- Jurayev recounts that as a child, listening to favorite songs while doing chores not only made the tasks feel easier but also helped him concentrate on them rather than distracting him toward more enjoyable activities.
- A school survey Jurayev conducted among 53 students found that over 90% had listened to music while studying in some capacity — about 60% doing so usually and 37% doing so sometimes.
- A September 2023 study by Farog, Rashid, and Neio from Malta University in Malaysia tested 100 students in two groups — one listening to lo-fi or modern classical music and one in silence — to examine music's effect on cognitive performance.
- Students in the music-listening group reported improvements in motivation, memory, and attention span, and said the music made the overall classroom environment feel better, supporting the researchers' hypothesis.
- Jurayev argues that while background music is not a universal academic fix and may not work identically for every person, the convergence of personal experience, survey data, and academic research suggests it can make a meaningful difference in focus and achievement.
Topics
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to Access