Music is a big part in a person’s day to day life. Whether one is driving in a car, trying to relax, or getting pumped up for a big game, chances are there is music playing. The big question that seems to always be asked is “Does music help someone study?”

While music does wonders to affect a person’s mood, does it help students when it comes down to concentrating on studying? A recent study conducted at the University of Wales observed the effects of background music and noise on students taking a test. The students were given a serial recall test in five different environments. The first was a quiet environment. The second had “steady state” speech, which means a single word was repeated for the duration of the test. The third had “changing state” speech, in which a variety of words were playing during the test. In the fourth environment, “liked” music containing lyrics was played. Students brought in their own music to be played during the test. Disliked music, in this case metal songs, was played for the duration of the test in the fifth environment. Researchers found that the scores of tests taken in the first and second environments were significantly higher than the scores of the tests taken in the third, fourth, and fifth environments.

Before the idea of playing music while studying is completely ruled out consider this: a research from the University of Dayton found that students performed noticeably better when Mozart was playing in the background. “I always have to listen to instrumental music to help me study better.” says Sophomore Maria Marioni. So the next time the need to play music is felt while studying, try playing instrumental music to potentially help work performance.