We propose a hypothesis that goes into the fascinating relationship between music and our heart rate, and I believe it might be shaped by the tempo and intensity of the tunes we listen to. My hunch is that faster and more intense music could rev up our heart rates, creating a surge in cardiac activity. Conversely, I suspect that slow, calming melodies might have the opposite effect, possibly leading to a gentle decrease in heart rate and fostering a more relaxed state.

 

But, here's where it gets intriguing - We are inclined to think that individual music preferences also play a big role in this musical-heart connection. It seems reasonable that each person's unique taste in music could influence how their heart responds. After all, we all have different emotional connections, past experiences, and associations with various genres and tunes

 

So, as we embark on exploring how music and heart rate intertwine, we are not just curious about the general trends tied to tempo and intensity, we are also enthusiastic about uncovering the detailed and personalized responses that may unfoiled based on individual preferences. This hypothesis isn't just about objective musical characteristics; it's about diving deeper into the subjective, emotional nuances that make each person's musical experience uniquely their own. 

 

 To start off our project, we checked out the website Harvard Health 

 

Publishing- Harvard medical school, and read their article. Then we 

 

looked at JEI’s Article and read through it.  After that, we talked and 

 

found out that both articles had about the same conclusion. Classical 

 

music may bring down the heart rate while someone who has a good 

 

passion for a specific genre (pop, rock, etc..) might have a different 

 

feeling to the song that could possibly (most likely) bring the heart rate

 

 up. And, familiarity with the song, plus personal preference, will affect heart rate.

After our research, we started to run through the experiment. 

 

 

 

We listened to 6 different songs, and tested on 4 people: Chloe, Hannah, and Danica, all aged 13, and Eva, aged 14

Song #1 RAIN By Tony Ann. Genre: New Age Music

Song #2 Chills: Dark Version By Mickey Valen. Genre: Alterative, Indie/dance, electronic.

Song #3 Can't Hold Us By Macklemore. Genre: Pop, Hip Hop

Song #4 Ocean Eyes Sped Up By 90degrees. Genre: Nightcore

Song #5 Set Fire to the Rain By Adele. Genre: Pop

Song #6 BABA By Lvbel c5. Genre: Turkish Rap

 

Our dependant variables would be the heartrates, which are listed later

Procedure:

1. Start with counting the beats before the song plays
2. 15 seconds for beats and multiply by 4
3. Play song genres
4. At the 1:50 minute mark, we found the heart beat then started the 15 second mark
5. Repeat with multiple genres

 

After analyzing the heartbeat of 4 people, we noticed some similarities and differences. We noticed that the people who were familiar with the song had more stable heart beats.

Person: Chloe

Song 1

Before: 71

After: 80

Knew song

Song 2

Before: 72

After: 77

Knew song

Song 3

Before: 71

After:82

 

Song 4

Before: 62 

After: 75

Knew song

Song 5

Before: 78

After: 74

Knew song

Song 6

Before: 75

After: 73

Knew song

Person: Danica

 

Song 1

Before: 72

After: 96

Didnt know song

 

Song 2

Before: 76

After: 88

 

 

Song 3

Before: 84

After: 80

Knew song

Song 4

Before: 92

After: 76

 

Song 5

Before: 76

After: 84

knew part of song

Song 6

Before: 88

After: 88

 

Person: Hannah

 

Song 1

Before: 92

After: 96

Knew full song

 

Song 2

Before: 72

After: 84

(huge beat drop in song)

 

Song 3

Before: 68

After: 76

 

Song 6

Before: 80

After: 76

Knew a part of the song

 

Person: Eva 

Song 1

Before:64

After: 56

Didn't know song

Song 2

Before: 64

After: 68

Didn't know song

Song 3

Before: 52

After: 84

Knew song, loves song

Song 4: 

Before: 52

After: 40

Knows song, listens alot

Song 5

Before: 64

After: 92

Knows song, used to listen alot

Song 6

Before: 64

After: 48

didn't know, liked song

 

After measuring 4 people's heartbeats, we started to notice some similarities and differences.

Starting with Chloe, we saw that since she was familiar with all songs except song number 3, she had more stable heart rates for the other songs. Her average heart rate before listening to the music was 71.5 BPM, and average after listening was 76 BPM. Her favourite song is song 6.

Next is Hannah. She did not listen to all of the songs, (only 4) and she only knew 2 of them. Hannah's average BPM before listening to the songs was 78, and after her average was 83 BPM.

Next is Eva. She knew 3 songs, and loves listening to song 3 and 4. Her average heart rate before listening was 60 BPM, and after 63 BPM.

Finally we have Danica. Her favorite song is song 3, and she knew song 5. Her average heart rate before listening was 81 BPM, and after 85 BPM.

Everyone's heart rate went up after listening to music. The people who were familiar with the song, had more stable heart rates. But if they liked the song, their heart rate changed a lot. And for people who used to hear a song a lot or listen to it alot, their heart rate also spiked, and we guess it's because of nostalgia.

After experimenting multiple times, we came to the conclusion that yes, music does affect heart rate. We found that A), the type of music can affect heart rate, and B), familiarity or nostalgia can affect it as well. We did some research, and we found that when you like a song, your body synchronizes its natural rhythm with the song. Although the experiment was quite a success, we still could have gotten better results if we tested on more people, in a bigger age range, or using more songs. With the information we got from this experiment, we can now understand which songs are better for calming us down, hyping us up, or just enjoying some music.

 

After doing this experiment, we can now understand and apply this to the real world. If someone wanted to make themselves excited and prepared for a sports match for example, we could see which songs raised heart rate the most. Or if someone needed to calm down and bring heart rate down so they can take a test, they could listen to the song that lowered heart rate the most. 

 

Where this experiment could have gone wrong is at the testing phase. We listened to a bunch of songs, and sometimes the heart rate sounded off. After testing a lot, the heart rate kept coming out odd. Either our counting was wrong, or other factors of the environment affected our heart rate. 

Thanks to Hannah, our friend, for participating in our experiment.

Also thanks to Eva, another friend, for also participating in our experiment.