Music for the Heart - harrisonhawks Music for Heart... · Music for the Heart Student ID# 1203, Page 3 A B S T R A C T The hypothesis was that if a person listens to music, then their

Music for the Heart

Student ID: 1203

Music for the Heart Student ID# 1203, Page 2

Table of Contents

Project abstract …........................................................................................ pg. 3

Question/Problem & Hypothesis……………………………………………… pg. 4

Background Research ………………………………………………………….. pg. 4

Experiment Materials…………………………………………………………….. pg. 7

Experiment Procedures………………………………………………………….. pg. 8

Experiment Variables ……………………………………………………………. pg. 10

Data Table………….. ……………………………………………………………. pg. 11

Analysis Graphs/Charts………………………………………………………….. pg. 15

Analysis………. …………….…………………………………………………….. pg. 17

Conclusion…………. …………………………………………………………….. pg. 20

Biblical Principle ………………………………………………………………….. pg. 22

Student Learning Expectations ……..………………………………………….. pg. 22

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………pg. 24


A BSTRACT

The hypothesis was that if a person listens to music, then their heart rate will

change. The research showed that music can affect the heart rate by affecting the

mood and emotions. For the experiment, eleven songs were used. The heart rate was

measured as pulse rate in beats per minute. There were eight trials performed for each

song. The initial pulse rate was measured at each trial and then the average was

calculated. Then, the pulse rate was measured after each song was listened to and the

average was calculated. There was a two-minute rest in between each song. The data

clearly showed that the pulse rate would decrease or increase for each song. This data

supported the hypothesis.


Q UESTIONS & H YPOTHESIS

Will listening to music affect a person’s heart rate (pulse rate)?

If a person listens to music, then their heart rate will change. The type of music

listened to will either slow or increase the heart rate, measured as pulse rate.

B ACKGROUND R ESEARCH

To begin the discussion about heart rate and music, the heart and heart rate

have to be discussed. The heart is important for the circulatory system. How is it

important? “The heart keeps blood moving throughout the circulatory system” (Frost

19). It does so by pumping blood. “The heart pumps blood through the body using the

various blood vessels” (Miller et al. 272). What exactly is the heart rate? Heart rate is a

heart beat that you feel like a pulse on your wrist or neck (“How to Check Your Pulse

(Heart Rate)” 1).

Now that heart rate has been discussed, it is important to talk about a normal

resting heart rate. A resting heart rate that is normal for adults will range from 60 to 100

beats per minute (Laskowski 1). However, children will have a different normal resting

heart rate. A normal resting heart rate for children ages 6 to 15 is 70 to 100 beats per

minute (Seladi-Schulman 1). This shows that a normal resting heart rate for children is

a little higher than the normal resting heart rate of adults. There is also an average

normal resting heart rate. The average resting pulse rate is 72 beats per minute

(Piscatella and Franklin 158). This shows that most people will have a resting pulse

rate of 72 beats per minute. If a person has a lower resting heart rate then they are

considered to be in better health and will have a longer life (Gillinov and Nissen 157).


Therefore it is important for people to try to have the average normal resting heart rate

because it means being healthier and living a long life.

A person can measure their heart rate by counting how many times the heart

beats per minute (“How to Check Your Pulse (Heart Rate)” 1). This means anybody can

measure their own heart rate. However, there is a certain method to do it. A person

can manually measure their pulse rate by pressing their index and middle finger against

their wrist, under the fat pad of the thumb (“What Your Heart Rate is Telling You” 1).

This means a person has to count how many times he or she feels their pulse for a

minute. However, there are instruments that can be used to measure pulse rate like a

pulse oximeter.

Next, it is important to know what can affect heart rate. Many things can affect

our heart rate, and our emotions are one of them (Laskowski 1). This means that

things like stress and sadness can affect the heart rate. Reducing stress can help a

person have a healthy heart rate (Seladi-Schulman 1). This means being stressed can

cause a person to have an unhealthy heart rate.

Having an unhealthy heart rate can cause many problems. If a person has a

high or low heart rate for a long time, this can cause many serious health complications

(Seladi-Schulman 1). This means that having a low heart rate can be as bad as having

a high heart rate. What are the serious health complications that come with having a

low or high heart rate? There are many. For example, it can cause blood clots, heart

failure, recurring fainting spells, and sudden cardiac arrest (Seladi-Schulman 1).

Therefore, having a healthy heart rate is not something that should be taken for granted.


Also, the blood clots that can come with an unhealthy heart rate can be deadly. Blood

clots in the heart arteries cause most heart attacks (Klaidman 19).

Since having an unhealthy heart rate can be very bad, different types of

therapies should be taken seriously and researched. One of the types of therapies that

should be researched is music therapy. Listening to music engages a lot of parts of the

brain (“Tuning In” 1). However, how can music affect heart rate? So it can affect heart

rate by reducing stress and anxiety (“Tuning In” 1). Reducing stress is important

because reducing stress can help a person have a healthy heart rate (Seladi-Schulman

1).

The reason music reduces things like stress and anxiety is because it has an

effect on emotions. Music can affect the heart rate by affecting the mood and emotions

(“Music Boosts Heart Health” 1). In fact, there have already been studies on the effects

that music can have on heart rate. Past study results have shown that music can

reduce heart rate (“Music Boosts Heart Health” 1). This means music can be used as a

treatment to help patients have a healthy heart rate.

The next question would be if the types of songs used matter? The answer is

yes. Different types of songs have different types of effects (“Music Boosts Heart

Health” 1). So, music can affect heart rate, but it depends on the type of genre

(Crisanti 1). This means the type of song has to be chosen carefully. It has been

previously found that soft and slow music will lower heart rate (Crisanti 1). Therefore,

slow music should be included in music therapy for people with a high heart rate.

Therefore, a great way to look at the effects of music on people would be to


record the change in pulse rate after listening to different genres of songs. Slow music

like R&B and Soul should be used. However, other genres of music should also be

used. For example, Heavy Metal and Rap. This would measure any type of effect

music could have on heart rate. To reduce human error, a pulse oximeter should be

used. This way the pulse rate can be more accurate. It is also important to include

many test subjects. This way the data can also be more accurate.

E XPERIMENT :

Materials List

● 1 - Metene fingertip pulse oximeter

● 4 - MUNSKT heavy bass wired earphones 3.5 mm

● 1 - HP laptop

● 10 - Human test subjects

● 1 - Up & Up 75 wipes container of fresh scent disinfecting wipes

● 1- Apple Music Subscription (Non Explicit Lyrics)

● SONG: “Moonlight Sonata” by Ludwig Van Beethoven

● SONG: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

● SONG: “Milky Way” by Red Velvet

● SONG: “Ballin’” by Mustard ft. Roddy Ricch

● SONG: “All the Small Things” by Blink-182

● SONG: “Russian Roulette” by Red Velvet

● SONG: “Sweet Delta Rose” by Kyle Nix

● SONG: “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holiday


● SONG: “Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag” by Mika Singh

● SONG: “Won’t Let Go” by Travis Greene

● SONG: “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith

Procedures

1. Turn on HP laptop.

2. Open Apple Music.

3. Sanitize pulse oximeter and earphones.

4. Reset pulse oximeter.

5. Set up human subject in an upright position in a chair in a quiet setting.

6. Hand human subject a pair of wired earphones.

7. Insert earphone jack into earphone port in computer.

8. Set volume to 50.

9. Place pulse oximeter on human subject’s right index finger, palm down.

10.Write down pulse reading in science fair composition book.

11. Immediately after, remove pulse oximeter from human subject’s right index finger.

12.Play “Moonlight Sonata” by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

13. Immediately after song ends, place pulse oximeter on human subject’s right

index finger.

14.Write down pulse reading in science fair composition book.

15.Remove pulse oximeter from human subject’s right index finger.

16.Let human subject relax in silence for exactly two minutes.

17.Repeat steps 9 through 11.


18.Play “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.



21.Play “Milky Way” by Red Velvet.



24.Play “Ballin’” by Mustard ft. Roddy Ricch.



27.Play “All the Small Things” by Blink-182.



30.Play “Russian Roulette” by Red Velvet.



33.Play “Sweet Delta Rose” by Kyle Nix.



36.Play “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holiday.



39.Play “Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag” by Mika Singh .




42.Play “Won’t Let Go” by Travis Greene.



45.Play “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith.


47.Remove earphones from test subject.

48. Repeat steps 3 through 47 for each of the remaining nine test subjects.

Variables

List the variables to be observed indicating which variables you may be changing or

affecting.

1) DEPENDENT/RESPONDING : Pulse rate

2) INDEPENDENT/MANIPULATED : Genre of music

3) CONSTANTS : Pulse rate oximeter, headphones, HP laptop, volume, songs, two

minute rest after each song

D ATA C OLLECTION

For the experiment, eleven songs were used to measure any effect they would have

on pulse rate. There were eight trials performed for each song. The initial pulse rate

was measured before each song. Then, the pulse rate was measured after each song

was listened to. There was a two minute rest in between each song to make sure that

the subjects would not be affected by the previous song. The pulse rate was measured


in beats per minute.

Key

BPM Beats Per Minute

Table 1: Pulse Rate Readings After Different Songs

Title of Song Trial Initial Pulse Rate

(BPM)

Pulse Rate After Song

(BPM)

AVG. Initial Pulse Rate

(BPM)

AVG. Pulse Rate After

Song (BPM)

“Moonlight

Sonata”

Trial 1 82 72 85 80.75

Trial 2 88 92

Trial 3 68 66

Trial 4 75 80

Trial 5 80 72

Trial 6 99 89

Trial 7 94 94

Trial 8 94 81

“Thunderstruck”

Trial 1 81 73 84.5 83.25

Trial 2 86 90

Trial 3 69 73

Trial 4 87 87

Trial 5 80 78

Trial 6 98 93

Trial 7 92 87


Trial 8 83 85

“Milky Way”

Trial 1 75 75 83 85.5

Trial 2 91 93

Trial 3 71 70

Trial 4 81 88

Trial 5 78 82

Trial 6 96 96

Trial 7 88 93

Trial 8 84 87

“Ballin’”

Trial 1 73 80 85 84.25

Trial 2 88 89

Trial 3 69 69

Trial 4 92 89

Trial 5 84 77

Trial 6 96 93

Trial 7 92 92

Trial 8 86 85

Trial 1 78 81 85.5 84.5

Trial 2 86 84

Trial 3 75 71

Trial 4 90 83

Trial 5 84 77


“All the Small

Things”

Trial 6 93 99

Trial 7 93 93

Trial 8 85 88

“Russian

Roulette”

Trial 1 76 83 83.75 87.25

Trial 2 87 91

Trial 3 67 75

Trial 4 82 93

Trial 5 84 80

Trial 6 97 94

Trial 7 89 93

Trial 8 88 89

“Sweet Delta

Rose”

Trial 1 73 82 82.25 85.75

Trial 2 83 86

Trial 3 65 70

Trial 4 85 89

Trial 5 81 81

Trial 6 95 98

Trial 7 90 93

Trial 8 86 87

Trial 1 76 81 84.25 82.75

Trial 2 86 88

Trial 3 66 65


“I’ll Be Seeing

You”

Trial 4 85 80

Trial 5 83 76

Trial 6 97 94

Trial 7 93 92

Trial 8 88 86

“Sawan Mein

Lag Gayi Aag"

Trial 1 75 83 84 86

Trial 2 90 93

Trial 3 70 67

Trial 4 83 92

Trial 5 79 80

Trial 6 94 98

Trial 7 92 90

Trial 8 89 85

“Won’t Let Go”

Trial 1 72 79 84 83.75

Trial 2 87 89

Trial 3 63 67

Trial 4 93 85

Trial 5 83 78

Trial 6 99 93

Trial 7 90 93

Trial 8 85 86

Trial 1 80 88 83.25 87.5


A NALYSIS

“Walk This Way”

Trial 2 92 94

Trial 3 68 73

Trial 4 78 91

Trial 5 79 82

Trial 6 94 96

Trial 7 91 92

Trial 8 84 84



In order to perform an analysis of the results of the experiment, it is important to

look back at what the research showed. The research showed that music can affect the

heart rate by affecting the mood and emotions (“Music Boosts Heart Health” 1). It also

showed that different types of songs have different types of effects (“Music Boosts Heart

Health” 1). From the research it was expected that soft and slow music would lower

heart rate. Therefore, different types of genres were chosen to measure their effect.

So, then it is important to see what happened.

The trend seen throughout the experiment was that there was a change in the

pulse rate after listening to music. For some songs, the average pulse rate decreased

after listening to them. However, for others the average pulse rate increased after

listening to them. This is clear in Graph 3. The trend was clear. Listening to music

caused a change in pulse rate. So, each song used and its effect should be discussed

as shown in Graph 1.

The first song used was “Moonlight Sonata,” which is from the classical music

genre. The song is soft and slow. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the

song was eighty-five beats per minute. The average pulse rate after listening to the

song was eighty and seventy-five hundredths beats per minute. Therefore, there was a

decrease of four and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute after listening to the song.

The second song used was “Thunderstruck,” which is from the rock musical

genre. The song is hard and fast. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the

song was eighty-four and five tenths beats per minute. The average pulse rate after

listening to the song was eighty-three and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute.


Therefore, there was a decrease of one and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute

after listening to the song.

The third song used was “Milky Way,” which is from the KPop genre. The song is

slow but bubbly. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the song was

eighty-three beats per minute. The average pulse rate after listening to the song was

eighty-five and five tenths beats per minute. So, there was an increase of two and five

tenths beats per minute.

The fourth song used was “Ballin’,” which is from the Hip-hop genre. The song is

fast and soft. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the song was eighty-five

beats per minute. The average pulse rate after listening to the song was eighty-four

and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute. So, there was a decrease of seventy-five

hundredths beats per minute.

The fifth song used was “All the Small Things,” which is from the alternative rock

genre. The song is upbeat but has some soft parts. The average initial pulse rate

before listening to the song was eighty-four and five tenths beats per minute. The

average pulse rate after listening to the song was eighty-four and five tenths beats per

minute. So, there was a decrease of five tenths beats per minute.

The sixth song used was “Russian Roulette,” which is from the KPop genre. The

song is fast but upbeat. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the song was

eighty-three and seventy-five hundredths beats per minute. The average pulse rate

after listening to the song was eighty-seven and twenty-five hundredths beats per

minute. So, there was an increase of three and five tenths beats per minute.


The seventh song used was “Sweet Delta Rose,” which is from the country

genre. The singer’s voice is slow-paced, but the music is a bit hard. The average initial

pulse rate was eighty-two and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute. The average

pulse rate after listening to the song was eighty-five and seventy-five beats per minute.

So, there was an increase of three and five tenths beats per minute.

The eighth song used was “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which is from the Jazz genre.

The singer’s voice is slow-paced and so is the music. The average initial pulse rate

before listening to the song was eighty-four and twenty-five hundredths beat per minute.

The average pulse rate after listening to the song was eighty-two and seventy-five

hundredths beats per minute. Therefore, there was a decrease of one and five tenths

beats per minute.

The ninth song used was “Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag, which is from the

Bollywood genre. The song is fast, hard, and upbeat. The average initial pulse rate

before listening to the song was eighty-four beats per minute. The average pulse rate

after listening to the song was eighty-six beats per minute. Therefore, there was an

increase of two beats per minute.

The tenth song used was “Won’t Let Go,” which is from the Gospel genre. The

song is slow and upbeat. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the song was

eighty-four beats per minute. The average pulse rate after listening to the song was

eighty-three and seventy-five hundredths beats per minute. So, there was a decrease

of twenty-five hundredths beats per minute.

The eleventh, and last, song was “Walk This Way,” which is from the hard rock


genre. The song is hard and fast. The average initial pulse rate before listening to the

song was eighty-three and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute. The average pulse

rate after listening to the song was eighty-seven and five tenths beats per minute. So,

there was an increase of four and twenty-five hundredths beats per minute.

Therefore, the trend is clear. There was a change of pulse rate after listening to

music. It is important to mention that when the songs had a slow or soft element, then

this usually caused a decrease in pulse rate. Also, most of the songs with an upbeat or

hard element caused an increase in pulse rate. But, what was clear was that a change

in pulse rate occurred after each song. This is shown in Graph 2. The hypothesis was

that if a person listens to music, then their heart rate will change. The type of music

listened to will either slow or increase the heart rate, measured as pulse rate.

Therefore, the data supports the hypothesis because there was a change in pulse rate

after each song.

However, something that should be mentioned is that individual trials of each

song sometimes were different. For example, for “Thunderstruck” some of the trials

showed an increase in pulse rate while others showed a decrease. It was only when

the average was calculated that a decrease was clearly shown. Yet, the important thing

was that the songs caused a change in pulse rate. So, maybe a follow up to the

experiment would be why different genres affect different subjects differently.

C ONCLUSION

The hypothesis was that if a person listens to music, then their heart rate will

change. The research showed that if a person has a high or low heart rate for a long


time, this can cause many serious health complications (Seladi-Schulman 1). Listening

to music can be used as a form of therapy. Music can affect the heart rate by affecting

the mood and emotions (“Music Boosts Heart Health” 1). In fact, there have already

been studies on the effects that music can have on heart rate. Past study results have

shown that music can reduce heart rate (“Music Boosts Heart Health” 1). This means

music can be used as a treatment to help patients have a healthy heart rate.

For an adult a normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute. For a

child a normal resting heart rate is 70 to 100 beats per minute. For the experiment,

eleven songs were used to measure any effect they would have on pulse rate. There

were eight trials performed for each song. The initial pulse rate was measured before

each song. The average initial pulse rate was then calculated. Then, the pulse rate

was measured after each song was listened to. After this, the average pulse rate after

listening to each song was calculated. There was a two minute rest in between each

song to make sure that the subjects would not be affected by the previous song. The

pulse rate was measured in beats per minute.

Throughout this experiment the trend was that the pulse rate would change after

listening to music. After calculating the average pulse rate after listening to each song,

it was clear that the pulse rate would decrease or increase for each song. Graph 1 also

shows the trend very clearly. This data supports the hypothesis. This is because the

hypothesis states that the pulse rate will change after listening to music. Which is what

happened. This data proves that listening to music can be used as a form of therapy for

regulating the pulse rate.


Even though everything possible was done to make the experiment as accurate

as possible there are still some possible sources of error. One possible source of error

is the pulse oximeter used to measure the pulse rates of each subject did not record the

pulse rates correctly. Even though, all instructions for the pulse oximeter were followed

correctly, there is a chance the pulse oximeter was not completely accurate. Another

possible source of error could be that some subjects were taking medications that

affected the pulse rate that was recorded.

However, the experiment also raised some questions. Different genres affected

the pulse rate of individual subjects differently. So, a question that is raised is why

different genres affect different subjects differently? Another question that was raised

from the experiment is how can the results of the pulse oximeter be verified? Both of

the questions can be followed upon next time.

B IBLICAL P RINCIPLE

A verse from the Bible that relates to this experiment is Psalms 105:2. The verse

states, “Sing praise to him, play music; proclaim all his wonderful deeds!” This Bible

verse relates to this experiment because it talks about music. In this experiment the

pulse rate of the subjects was measured after listening to music. Also, the research

showed that music affects mood and emotion. This is just like the bible verse because

it evokes emotions when it uses words like sing, play, proclaim, and wonderful. This is

why this Bible Verse relates to this experiment.

S TUDENT L EARNING E XPECTATIONS

Several SLEs relate to this experiment in some fashion. SLE S5 relates to this


experiment. It states, “Appreciate God’s gifts in others and treats them with respect and

dignity.” This relates to the experiment because I had to appreciate God’s gifts in my

subjects and treat them with respect and dignity. SLE C1 also relates to this

experiment. It states, “Clearly and intellectually express themselves in written and oral

communication.” This relates to the experiment because I had to express myself in

written and oral communication in order to complete my science fair report. Another

SLE that relates is A4. It states, “Exhibit good work habits, organizational procedures,

time management, and study skills.” This relates because I exhibited good work habits,

organizational procedures, and time management when doing my science fair project. I

had to make sure to organize my time in order to finish each section of the experiment

and report on time. This is why these three SLEs relate to this experiment.


Works Cited

Crisanti, Analeigh Joy. “Does Listening to Music Affect One's Heart Rate?” Penn State

University. Penn State. 2015. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://sites.psu.edu/

siowfa15/2015/09/18/does-listening-to-music-affect-ones-heart-rate/.

Frost, Helen. The Circulatory System . Pebble Books, 2001.

Gillinov, Marc, and Steven Nissen. Heart 411. Three Rivers Press, 2012.

“How to Check Your Pulse (Heart Rate).” Heart Foundation. Heart Foundation. 2020.

Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/wellbeing

/managing-risk/how-to- check-your-pulse-heart-rate.

Klaidman, Stephen. Saving the Heart. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Laskowski, Edward R. “What’s a Normal Resting Heart Rate.” Mayo Foundation . Mayo

Foundation. 29 Aug. 2018. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.mayoclinic.org/

healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/heart-rate/faq-20057979#:~:text=A%20no

rmal%20resting%20heart%20rate%20for%20adults%20ranges%20from%2060,t

o%2040%20beats%20per%20minute.

Miller, Zipporah, et al. California Life Elevate Science. Pearson Education Inc., 2020.

“Music Boosts Heart Health.” CardioSmart. American College of Cardiology Foundation.

13 Oct. 2015. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.cardiosmart.org/news/

2015/10/music-boosts-heart-health#:~:text=First%2C%20studies%20suggest%2

0that%20compared,rate%20compared%20to%20pleasant%20music.

New American Bible. Revised Edition. World Catholic Press, 2010.

Piscatella, Joseph C., and Barry A. Franklin. Take a Load Off Your Heart. Workman


Pub., 2003.

Seladi-Schulman, Jill. “What’s Considered a Dangerous Heart Rate?” Healthline.

Healthline Media. 26 Mar. 2019. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.

healthline.com/health/ dangerous-heart-rate#dangerous-symptoms.

“Tuning In: How Music May Affect Your Heart.” Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health

Publishing. June 2018. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.health.harvard.

edu/heart- health/tuning-in-how-music-may-affect-your-heart.

“What Your Heart Rate is Telling You.” Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health

Publishing. 30 Aug. 2020. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020. https://www.health.

harvard.edu/heart-health/ what-your-heart-rate-is-telling-you.

Documents

Music for the Heart - harrisonhawks Music for Heart... · Music for the Heart Student ID# 1203, Page 3 A B S T R A C T The hypothesis was that if a person listens to music, then their