Music is popular for a good reason. It connects us and it affects our mood. Music also influences our perceptions of others. For example, if you’re listening to happy music, you will probably perceive the person next to you as more happy. By subtle and carefully arranged changes in chords, tempo and harmonics we start to feel differently. We project our feeling onto each other and we get sucked into the magical world of music. It helps us relax.

How does it work?

Music is a creative process as well as technical process. By producing music in a strategic way the componist decides how the listener feels. For example, using a slow tempo/bpm (= beats per minute) will affect your breathing. This is called ‘entrainment’. It means that your body will respond to external perceived (musical) rhythms. As a result the tempo of a song is effecting our breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. On top of that, we relax more easily when music has a clear structure, this is because our brain likes predictability.

Everybody likes different kinds of music and preferences are highly personal. Someone people like to put on electronic music to relax while others want to listen to classical music all day.

Music that is generally perceived as relaxing:

Vibin’ Out – FKJ with ((( O )))

Satie – Laid Back

Pure Shores – All Saints

Cranes in the Sky – Solange

BUS RIDE – KAYTRANADA (feat. Karriem Riggins & River Tiber)

So Far To Go (Feat Common & D’Angelo) – J Dilla

Breathing Underwater – Hiatus Kaiyote

Cure – Moonchild

NiceDay App

In NiceDay you can plan activities. Try to plan a music activity. Discover if music helps you relax. Compare your experiences before and after listening to your favourite music. And don’t forget to follow our NiceDay Spotify playlist to listen to the playlists our coaches put together for you!