How Different Genres Of Music Affect Creativity

Julia Camp

Samantha Quartuccio

8th Grade Science

Miss Craddock

10 March 2017

ABSTRACT
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The effect of music on creativity is great, and this experiment shows how different genres

interact with different peoples creativity. Our experiment explores the possibility that a

particular genre could evoke more creativity than another.We defined creativity by the number of

colors used, the types of colors used, and the tone of the landscape. The different tones could be

joyful, sad, fearful, mysterious, and calm. We created a procedure in which multiple volunteers

listened to specific genres of music and composed a landscape, which was evaluated on its

creativity. We were able to test this by requiring that six volunteers draw a landscape, while they

listened to different genres of music. The genres we used were Classical, Top 40s, Country, Jazz,

and Silence. We collected some very interesting pieces of data from this experiment about

common themes, discrepancies, and outliers. This experiment also identified how favoritism in

certain genres of music affect creativity. The information will impact artists, fine art teachers,

and other people who deal with music and artwork.

QUESTION

How does the different genres of music affect creativity both positively and negatively in

artwork?

BACKGROUND RESEARCH

Music affects creativity in different ways, as everyone is affected by music differently.

According to NPR, Because of our unique experiences, we develop different musical tastes,,

but does it affect creativity? If so, how does it affect it? There were a lot of questions that needed

to be answered. How else is music used? Is there any generic music that affects how the mind
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thinks always? Does it affect the way you work? All of this was crucial information that was

needed in order to conduct this experiment to be useful.

Psychologists use music with their patients, depending on what mental illness they have,

because music can help health issues/mental illnesses or heal them (News In Health). Music has

been proven to help lighten the mood. Thats why music is used in therapy typically only for

depressed people. It is sometimes played in the background or the therapist even prescribes to

listen to a type of music. It can even help with alzheimers, since specific songs could help bring

back memories (News In Health).

There are general emotions of music people can feel when they hear a certain genre or

song. For example, infants prefer a smooth sounding music, or lullabies, rather than grunge

music. In a study on the impact of music,Grunge music led to significant increases in hostility,

sadness, tension, and fatigue across the entire group, even in the teenagers who said they liked it.

In another study, college students reported that pop, rock, oldies, and classical music helped them

feel happier and more optimistic, friendly, relaxed, and calm, (NPR). This shows that there is

some music that can generally do something, rather than acting completely different for

everyone. However, people still react somewhat differently to music. Oprah Winfrey said that

As I child, I experienced who I was through sound. I felt whole, (News In Health).

Nevertheless, there is still a general emotion felt when listening to music.

Music is powerful in other ways too. It does not just impact your mood, but it can also

impact how well you work. Background music can make working less irritable (NPR). Music

impacts your brain more than anything else by affecting how/the way it thinks (Healthy

Children). It can have a powerful impact by making it easier to study, lifting the mood, and can

talk to you on a spiritual level, even if no one is paying attention to the music. Active listening is
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paying attention to the music, but passive listening is not paying attention to it. Music has an

impact, no matter which way its being listened to. Music can be powerful, even affecting the

way people work.

VARIABLES

Independent: The Music Genre

Dependent: The Creativity

Control: Art Supplies, People, Classroom, Time Frame

HYPOTHESIS

The music genre pop will affect creativity in a positive way. More colorful and color-filled

landscapes will be drawn, also the tone of the landscape will be brighter

MATERIALS

Printer Paper
6 Volunteers (3 boys and 3 girls)
Music Genres
Classical
Top 40s
Country
Jazz
Silence
6 sets of Markers (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, pink,

teal)
Timer
Oreos, Popcorn, or Other Treats

PROCEDURE

1. Congregate in an empty classroom

2. Set each volunteer up at a table by themselves
3. Give each volunteer a piece of paper and a set of markers
4. Ask each volunteer to draw a landscape
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5. Set timer for 5 minutes and select the Classical music genre
a. Give a time check to the volunteers at the halfway point, one

minute remaining, and twenty seconds.

6. Repeat step 3-6 with Top 40s genre
7. Repeat step 3-6 with Country genre
8. Repeat step 3-6 with Jazz genre
9. Repeat step 3-6 with silence
10. Repeat steps 6-10 twice (each genre has three trials)
11. Ask each volunteer his or her favorite genre
12. Thank volunteers with treat(s)
13. Evaluate landscape for the amount of colors used, which colors were used, and

the tone of the landscape

DATA

Table 1: Colors Used for Silence

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow, Black Green, Blue, Brown,

Teal, Blue, Purple, Black
Brown, Black

Female 2 Red, Pink, Orange, Teal, Blue, Black Red, Pink

Yellow, Green, Blue,
Purple, Brown, Black

Female 3 Red, Pink, Orange, Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange,
Yellow, Green, Blue, Green, Teal, Blue, Yellow, Blue, Brown,
Purple, Brown, Black Brown, Black Black

Male 1 Green, Blue Red, Yellow, Teal, Red, Black

Blue, Black

Male 2 Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange, Green, Blue, Black
Green, Blue, Purple, Yellow, Green,
Brown, Black Purple, Brown

Male 3 Orange, Green, Blue, Green, Blue, Black Brown, Black, Teal,
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Brown, Black Blue

Table 2: Colors Used for Classical

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Red, Orange, Green,

Green, Teal, Blue, Green, Brown, Black Blue, Brown, Black
Brown

Female 2 Orange, Yellow, Black Red, Pink, Orange,

Green, Teal, Blue, Yellow, Green, Teal,
Purple, Brown, Black Blue, Purple, Black

Female 3 Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange, Red, Pink, Orange,
Blue, Black Yellow, Purple, Black Yellow, Green, Teal,
Blue, Purple, Brown

Male 1 Orange, Yellow, Black Red, Orange, Yellow,

Green, Blue, Brown Blue, Black

Male 2 Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal, Blue, Green, Brown

Green, Blue, Purple, Black
Brown

Male 3 Orange, Green, Blue, Orange, Green, Blue, Pink, Orange, Yellow,
Brown, Black Brown, Black Blue, Brown, Black

Table 3: Colors Used for Top 40s

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Orange, Yellow,
Purple, Brown Green, Blue, Purple, Green, Blue, Purple,
Brown, Black Brown, Black

Female 2 Red, Pink, Orange, Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Orange, Yellow,
Yellow, Green, Teal, Green, Brown Green, Teal, Blue,
Blue, Purple, Brown, Purple, Black
Black

Female 3 Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange,
Brown, Black Blue, Black Yellow, Green, Teal,
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Blue, Purple, Black

Male 1 Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Yellow, Green, Green, Blue, Brown,
Blue, Black Purple, Black Black

Male 2 Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow, Green, Black Red, Pink, Orange,
Green, Brown, Purple Yellow, Green,
Brown, Black

Male 3 Orange, Green, Blue, Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal,
Black Yellow, Green, Blue, Blue, Black
Brown, Black

Table 4: Colors Used for Country

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Red, Green, Teal, Red, Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Brown, Black Brown, Black Blue, Brown, Black

Female 2 Black Blue, Black Orange, Yellow,

Green, Blue, Brown,
Black

Female 3 Pink, Orange, Yellow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange,
Green, Blue, Brown, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellow, Green, Blue,
Black Black Brown, Black

Male 1 Black Black Red, Green, Blue,

Brown, Black

Male 2 Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Red, Green, Teal,
Green, Brown Green, Blue, Black Brown, Black

Male 3 Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Brown

Green, Brown, Black Blue, Black

Table 5: Colors Used for Sad Jazz

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Red, Yellow, Black Yellow, Orange, Teal, Red, Pink, Orange,
Blue, Brown, Black Yellow, Teal, Blue,
Brown
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Female 2 Red, Pink, Orange, Blue, Black Blue, Black

Yellow, Green, Blue

Female 3 Orange, Yellow, Teal, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Red, Pink, Orange,
Blue, Black Purple, Black Yellow, Teal, Blue,
Purple, Black

Male 1 Black Yellow, Blue, Black Red, Yellow, Green,

Brown, Black

Male 2 Orange, Yellow, Yellow, Green, Black Pink, Orange, Yellow,

Green, Purple, Black Green, Blue, Brown,
Black

Male 3 Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal, Blue,

Brown, Black Green, Blue, Black Black

Table 6: Tone for Silence

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Fearful Mysterious Sad

Female 2 Joyful Sad Joyful

Female 3 Joyful Joyful Joyful

Male 1 Sad Joyful Fearful

Male 2 Joyful Joyful Fearful

Male 3 Calm Calm Calm

Table 7: Tone for Classical

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Calm Mysterious Mysterious

Female 2 Joyful Sad Joyful

Female 3 Joyful Mysterious Joyful

Male 1 Joyful Calm Mysterious

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Male 2 Fearful Fearful Calm

Male 3 Calm Calm Joyful

Table 8: Tone for Top 40s

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Joyful Joyful Joyful

Female 2 Joyful Fearful Joyful

Female 3 Mysterious Joyful Sad

Male 1 Joyful Joyful Fearful

Male 2 Mysterious Mysterious Joyful

Male 3 Calm Calm Calm

Table 9: Tone for Country

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Calm Mysterious Joyful

Female 2 Sad Sad Joyful

Female 3 Joyful Joyful Joyful

Male 1 Fearful Fearful Calm

Male 2 Fearful Joyful Fearful

Male 3 Calm Joyful Sad

Table 10: Tone for Sad Jazz

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Female 1 Fearful Fearful Joyful

Female 2 Joyful Sad Fearful

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Female 3 Joyful Joyful Sad

Male 1 Mysterious Fearful Fearful

Male 2 Joyful Calm Joyful

Male 3 Calm Calm Calm

Table 11: Volunteers Favorite Genre of Music

Volunteer Favorite Genre

of Music

Female 1 Top 40s

Female 2 Top 40s

Female 3 Top 40s

Male 1 Top 40s

Male 2 Top 40s

Male 3 Country

ANALYSIS
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Most of this data suggests that the music youre listening to will affect your creativity in

some fashion. The results were quite informative. Male 1 used fewer colors for the genre Jazz

and had the tones Mysterious and Fearful for the entirety of that genre. However, Male 1 used

an exceptional amount of colors for Top 40s and his tones were Joyful and Mysterious,

contrasting the tones and color for jazz. This shows that when Sadder music is played, it

affects the creativity in a negative way. A small amount of dark color created a very bland piece

of paper that did not show particularly creative or interesting work. However, when happier

music is played in, it affects the creativity in a positive way. The genre Top 40s seemed to evoke

more color and creativity in him. It also shows that, as his favorite genre was Top 40s, his

favorite genre had a positive effect on his work.

Male 3 was also affected by the music. For almost all of the genres, his colors were

muted and his tone was calm. In fact, for most of the landscapes he drew almost the exact same

landscape each time, which usually involved the ground, a sky, an orange sun, and a river or
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road. This is not creative even without the fact that this was all he drew. This was not true for the

country genre, in which, the amount of colors did not change significantly, but the tone varied. It

traveled from his original calm to joyful to sad. This means no change in creativity.

Female 2s creativity was most affected by the music. In the genre Top 40s, Female 2s

landscapes are incredibly vibrant, color filled, and joyful. In the other genres, she had the

tendency to draw dark landscapes with only the colors black and blue. Their tone fell under the

category of sad. She did not put in an effort, and they all had a desolate feel to them. They

were the darkest pieces we received; however, her Top 40s were some of the most vibrant we

received.

Female 3 was an outlier in the data. She was almost not affected at all by the different

genres of music. Her tones were invariably joyful, and her colors almost always encompassed

the entire rainbow. Her drawings were creative, diverse, and never had a change in tone. Her

creativity was recurrently vibrant, as she was unaffected by the disposition of the music.

Male 2s landscapes often fell under the categories joyful and fearful. They had

varying amounts of color, and varying kinds of color. Female 1 always varied in color, amount of

color, and tone. She never settled for on an inclination to a particular mood for long.

A big theme in the experiment was that the Top 40s genre, most always had the highest

color amount, regardless of favoritism in genres. In comparison, country almost always had the

lowest amount of colors used, except in the case of Male 3.

CONCLUSION

In this experiment, how music affects creativity was tested. Creativity was defined by

three factors for the sake of simplicity in this experiment. Creativity was dependent on the which
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colors used, the number of colors used, and the tone of the landscape. Creativity is a big factor in

many jobs, so this experiment can help them choose a genre that will evoke more creativity for

their project. From the majority of our data, the hypothesis was supported. The creativity would

be affected by the type of music playing; however an unexpected variable also came into play.

The control variables were the people, the classroom, the time frame, and the art supplies

the volunteers were given. The genre of music, the independent variable, was changed after each

session. How the music influenced the creativity would be the dependent variable. The

volunteers would come into a classroom with 6 different tables, so everyone could sit at a table

alone. Different genres of music would play while they had 5 minutes to draw a landscape. After

the five minutes were up, the landscapes were collected and then a different genre of music was

selected. That would be repeated two more times before the next day.

In of our pool of volunteers, the subjects were heavily influenced by the genre of music

in both a positive and negative way, depending on the genre. Often, a musical genre that a

candidate found pleasing would evoke a more creative landscape and more effort. For example,

female 2 created bland landscapes, except with pop which caused joyfully toned landscapes. Of

course, the contrary was true. A musical genre a candidate found displeasing would evoke less

effort and less creativity. Again female 2 hated country and created the most dark, brooding,

uncreative, landscapes possible.

Some discrepancies that might have affected the experiment were the very small pool of

volunteers, the inability to keep some volunteers focused, and the few number of trials. A way to

improve this experiment would to have a longer time period for testing for more trials and

volunteers.All in all, this experiment shows that different genres affect creativity in different

ways for different people. This experiment will benefit artists, creative arts teachers, and other
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people who are affected by music in the field of creativity. They will know that music affects

their creativity in multiple fashions, some positively and others negatively.

WORKS CITED

Mannes, Elena. The Power of Music: Pioneering Discoveries In The New Science Of Song. New

York: Walker, 2013. Google Books. Google, 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.

Mannes, Elena. "'The Power Of Music' To Affect The Brain." NPR. NPR, 01 June 2011. Web. 15

Feb. 2017.

"Music and Mood." HealthyChildren.org. Ed. Jennifer Shu. American Academy of Pediatricians,

21 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

"Music Matters for Body and Mind." National Institutes of Health. Ed. Vicki Conti. U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services, Jan. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.