Music For All Ages: The Research on Music Medicine for Kids

It’s summertime, but the living is not easy for millions of parents with young kids. With schools closed, parents need to cobble together activities to fill long days, find ways to balance work and family time, and manage the occasional tantrum. All these extra responsibilities can make summer “break” feel like anything but. Can music therapy provide some relief?

Here’s the stressed parent’s guide to strategically using sound to help your child (and yourself) feel calm, relaxed, and focused.

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The research on tunes for tots

In addition to toothy smiles and spontaneous dance sessions, music can evoke a physiological response in children. Certain songs may affect their heart rate and blood pressure, for example, with faster tempos generally leading to higher energy levels, and slower, more melodic music having a relaxing effect.

Music can also spur noticeable (and quantifiable) changes to the developing brain. Interestingly enough, music and emotional processing share a few common neural networks, and there’s reason to believe that music can positively impact emotional intelligence.

One systematic review of the science on music and emotions in 3- to 12-year-olds found that students who took part in musical activities were better able to recognize and express their emotions and regulate emotional states such as aggression than those who didn’t. This could be partially driven by music’s ability to facilitate self-awareness and empathy, essential traits at any age, but especially for growing kids. 

Music can also help children fine-tune their attention and focus. In one 2020 study, 30 minutes of a guided music intervention was shown to improve 6-to-9-year-olds’ ability to stay on-task compared to a video game intervention. (However, music with lyrics can sometimes have the opposite effect and be distracting, so it’s important to choose your tracks wisely. (More on this below.) 

Beyond helping children individually, crafting musical routines can also lead you to bond as a family. 

When groups of people come together to listen, sing, or play instruments, their heart rates, breathing patterns, and movements tend to synchronize. Music listening can also increase levels of oxytocin, the “love hormone” that promotes bonding, empathy, and trust. 

To summarize, though we could still use more research on how music impacts children (particularly those who encompass diverse backgrounds and psychological needs), existing studies show that it can enhance mood, emotional intelligence, attention, and the ability to bond with others.  

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How to bring music medicine home

Here’s how to strategically use music at home this summer, based on recent research on sound therapy for kids:

+ Encourage kids to play along to their favorite songs: During the 2020 study that found that music can improve attention control in children, participants were prompted to play percussion instruments during certain points of songs (i.e., whenever they heard a high note). Providing these cues for kids seems to help them further “tune into” what’s playing and stay focused on the music. Try out a version of this yourself by encouraging your child to play along during certain inflection points of their favorite songs. If you don’t have any instruments at home, buckets, pots, pans, or clapping work well too!

+ Ask them how music makes them feel: If your kids are older, ask them about how a song or album makes them feel or the emotions that it brings up for them. This can help them develop emotional acuity and practice their expression skills. If they have trouble putting their feelings into words, they can always dance them out! 

+ Craft a summer playlist together: Create a music ritual as a family by collaborating on a playlist of your favorite upbeat summer tunes. That way, it will always be for when a dance party mood strikes.

Music can also help reverse tantrums and mood swings when selected with intention. That’s where Spiritune comes in. 

During emotional outbursts or distress, listening to music that begins by matching your heightened emotional state and then gradually transitions to a calmer or more positive tone is a therapeutic method for calming you down or guiding your mood to a more positive state. Spiritune tracks take the guesswork out of musical synchronization by arranging tracks that are customized to match the current mood (i.e., Angry) and then transition the musical features to evoke the desired emotional state (i.e.,Relaxed). 

“My toddler son was losing his mind, didn’t want to be held, wanted no one in his room, screaming and crying,” one Spiritune reviewer writes. “Ten minutes of Spiritune ‘Angry to Relaxed’ music and he’s back to normal.” 

Since Spiritune tracks don’t have distracting lyrics, they’re also ideal background music for tasks that require more focus or creativity. Another user notes that her son now requests Spiritune (or, as he calls it, “brain music”) to help him concentrate during Lego building. 

For Spiritune founder, Jamie Pabst, it's very personal. She was finishing building the final stages of the Spiritune platform while pregnant with her first child -and launched it with a newborn in her arms. Using Spiritune music in a family setting has been part of her journey from the very start. Jamie says, “As a mom of two, I use Spiritune with my kids daily - whether it’s calming transitions at bedtime or setting a positive tone for the day. I designed Spiritune with fellow parents in mind, knowing how powerful - and necessary - sound can be as a gentle, supportive tool for emotional regulation at every age. It's definitely helped build emotional awareness within each of my kids, and it's a joy to help others do the same.”

Spiritune has no age limit. After it helps your kids calm down, the app can bring you moments of peace and clarity as well. Try it out this summer whenever you could use more energy, less stress, and enhanced focus. Let the music help you connect with your senses and remember: Parenting is hard work, but you’re doing the best you can to bring the harmony.

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