The Heartbeat of Music: Impact on Pulse Rate

1. The Heartbeat of MusicHow does changing the type of music have an impact on a person’s pulse?by AnonymousBurley school, 8th grade, rm. 203

2. Purpose Determine what type of music increases the pulse of the average human. This can help the world by increasing exercise capacity with different types of music. Procedure PREPARATION Materials, person, breath, pulse EXPERIMENT Music, pulse, repeat Abstract • Conclusion • Hypothesis proven correct • Different types of music had different impacts on the pulse

3. Purpose • To determine what type of music increases the pulse of the average human. • Proper exercise makes people healthier

4. Main points of Review of Lit • Its been proven that the type of music we listen to depends on our mood • Loud music with rhythmic beats excite the mind and pump us up • Pop music is very easy to grasp onto since most people know it. • Classical music calms the body and mind • Classical music relieves stress

5. Review of Literature • Do you listen to a certain type of music when you go to workout? When you’re sick? When you’re angry? Its normal, many people do. But why? Does a certain type of music increase your pulse? Or lower it? Is it possible that music affects your hear rate? • For many people, music is an outlet of stress. Some people express it with exercise, dance, sports and lots of other common hobbies. (Fullick, 26) One of the most common outlets of stress is dance. If you’re angry, you may play a more heavy and upbeat song to let out your anger. If you need to be relaxed, softer and more lullaby-like music may relieve your stress. Therefore, the genre of classical music is most likely the most common most likely calming down the body. • Music is a stress outlet and its a hobby. It occupies your time in a good way. Loud music, mostly with rhythmic beat, excite us. Our brain can grasp onto the repetitive beat easily.(17) This music is mostly pop or dance. The definition of pop music comes from the word popular since most pop music has a pretty general sound. The music is music that is well known from artists that we all here from. Artists such as Britney Spears, Ke$ha, the Backstreet Boys, and Adele. Pop music consists of lyrics that people can relate to, and beats and instruments that catch our attention. • Some newer songs don’t even have an instrument in them. They consist of techno beats that create some sort of drum or guitar sound into them. This is where dance music comes in. Dance music isn’t what actual dancers may dance to, more what you can “jam” to. (5) Dance music is mostly played at clubs. Dance music has a catchy beat and may be remixed from pop or country music. Country music has a mostly folk and roots sound to it. Country music includes the fiddle, violin, acoustics, and the cymbal. • Classical music is known for its soothing music. Softer music soothes and relaxes our body and brain. Classical music is also known for the harp, lyre, trumpet, and cymbal. Dance music has an intense sound that can intensify the adrenaline level. Alternative music has a touch of rock music to it, but isn’t the full on heavy metal type. Alternative music has a softer touch to it, giving it an almost pop sound, but still consists of the rock sound. Rock can be very hardcore or more mellow. • All kinds of music have different sounds and different beats. Its all about what a person prefers and their mood. Can these beats effect your heartbeat?

6. Main Points of Hypothesis • I believe that pop music will increase the pulse • Pop music has fast and rhythmic beats • These beats are easiest for our mind to catch onto • Pop music is very well known • I believe that classical music will decrease the pulse, since it is known to calm the mind and body • I believe that rap, rock, alternative, and dance music will all increase the pulse, but not more than pop music.

7. Hypothesis • My hypothesis is that pop music will increase the pulse of most people. I believe pop music will increase the pulse because its easier for our mind to catch onto the rhythmic beats. Also, loud and rhythmic music excites us and interests the mind. Pop music is well known by most people since it is popular and is mostly played on most listened to radio stations. Softer music such as classical relaxes the body, so that won’t increase the pulse. Alternative and rock music isn’t listened to enough by the average teenager. Pop music is also known for intensifying the adrenaline level which would obviously increase the pulse. Dance is also know for being like pop, with its rhythmic beats and loud tunes. However, since dance music isn’t as well known as pop, our mind may not be able to catch onto it quick enough to excite us.

8. *How to Measure the Pulse/Beats per Minute • Put the stopwatch to zero • Place two fingers at blue vein on wrist or right below jaw and ear lobe. • Start the stopwatch and count the beats per minute • Stop the stopwatch at 10 seconds • Multiply the beats counted by 6 in order to get 1 minute Procedure • Collect materials • Take the person and have them sit in a chair • Make sure no movement takes place and the person is in a relatively calm mood • Have the person take a deep breath • Measure their current pulse rate* • Write the pulse rate down • Repeat steps 2-5, 3 times • Play the portion of music selected. • Keep the music going on for 30 seconds • Measure their pulse rate directly after listening • Repeat steps 8-12, 3 times for each genre of music

9. *Music List Alternative: “Paradise” by Coldplay 3:21-3:51 Pop: “Good Feeling” by Flo Rida 1:07-1:37 Rock: “Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers 3:10-3:40 Dance: “Without You” by David Guetta & Usher 1:10-1:40 Classical: “The Waltz of the Snowflakes” by Peter Illyiach Tchiavosky 1:35-2:05 Rap: “How to Love” by Lil’ Wayne 0:00-0:30 Material list • Headphones • 8 human test subjects • Music* • Computer (for data) • Stopwatch

10. Results Before Music 83 b.p.m.

11. Results

12. Main points of conclusion • My hypothesis was correct, pop music does increase the pulse more than any of types of music I tested • Dance music increased the pulse • Classical, Rock, and Rap decreased the pulse • Alternative didn’t have an effect on the pulse • If I conducted this experiment again, I would test more people and types of music.

13. Conclusion • Based on my data, my hypothesis was correct because pop music increased the beats per minute by 6 b.p.m (beats per minute) on average. (The beats per minute is an average of the 8 students’ I tested, pulse rate.) • The average beats per minute of the eight students I tested was 83 b.p.m. When I tested the genre of rap music, the beats per minute decreased by 13 b.p.m. When I tested the genre of rock music, the beats per minute decreased by 2 b.p.m. The same data applied to classical music. When I tested the genre of alternative music, the beats per minute did not increase nor decrease. When I tested the genre of dance music, the beats per minute increased by 2 b.p.m. Therefore, pop music increased the beats per minute the most of five genres of music. • My results indicate that rap, rock, and classical all decreased the beats per minute. My results also indicate that alternative music did not effect the b.p.m. Pop and dance music were the only two genres of music to increase the b.p.m. Because of the results of this experiment, I can determine that listening to pop music will increase the b.p.m. This also applies to dance music, but pop music will increase the b.p.m. by 1 more b.p.m. than dance music. • From my results, I learned that rap, rock and classical decreased the pulse rate; alternative music did not effect the pulse rate; and dance and pop music increased the pulse rate. Many critics, magazines, people, and other sources of information may claim that rap and rock increase the pulse rate, but in my data, it is evident that rap and rock do not increase pulse rate. Coming back to my experimental question, changing the type of music does have an impact on the average person’s pulse. • If I were to conduct this science fair project again, I would test more people. We’ve seen in science that the larger the test group, the more accurate the data. Also, I would test more genres of music and narrow down the genres. Over all, my experimental procedure went as planned and went pretty smooth. If I were to do my experiment again, I would do it in a more secluded and silent place. It was almost impossible not to have any noise during the school day, no matter which location I was in. • In the end, my hypothesis was correct. In the world, my science fair can be used to help gain more exercise. The faster the heart beats, the more exercise. Pop music, evidently, increases the pulse. Therefore, a combination of pop music and exercise, the healthier a person.

14. Acknowledgments • Special Thanks to Mr. Medintz for giving me all the guidance and help when it was most needed. Thank you to Connie H., Evana J., Isabel L., Sarah G., Logan W., Yuri K., Donald M., and Alejandro S. for participating in my science fair. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks a lot to Connie H. for teaching me how to take a proper pulse. Thank you to Cole H. for lending me a stopwatch. Thank you to my parents for providing me with all the advice and support. Thanks to Isabel L. for volunteering her time to help. Thank you to Jaley B. for volunteering her time to help. Thank you to everyone who helped me in my long road to science fair! :)

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