Remember getting through a breakup listening to music that defined your situation the best?

And running a car on the highway listening to music that created an environment?

I definitely do. All of us do. But why is it said how does music affect teenagers’ emotions and behavior when we choose to listen to it accordingly?

There are lot many impacts on teenagers‘ emotions when they listen to music. And these emotions aren’t exactly defined with the fact that you listen to a kind of music according to your mood, but how your emotions are affected after listening to certain kinds of music when you go through different days.

This article is going to help you see how your emotions work and in which direction your life leads on listening to music, be it happy or sad.

Especially teenagers as they seem to have a variety of emotions, mood swings, excitements at a time that doesn’t seem to be understood by others, not even parents.

How Is Music So Powerful To Affect Emotions?

How does music affect teenagers' emotions
Music is actually a language of emotions. It defines your mood, your thoughts and your feelings through its power. On days when you are excited or numb, you choose music because you find nobody else understanding the emotions you are feeling.

Music imitates your emotions, your situations which makes you even more attracted to it. Sometimes you wouldn’t even like the musician but fall in love with them on falling in love with their musics. That’s the power of musical language.

How Does Music Affect Teenagers’ Emotions In Happy Sad Days?
Happy Sad days are felt on certain situations. We all know what makes us happy, what sad and how every incident, every good bad day, every experience leave an impact on our emotions. That is how we get to know whether this makes us happy or sad.

Let’s see how does music affect teenagers’ emotions differently.

1. Relating To Singer/Musician

Concert, how does music affect teenager
Teenagers’ like to be a part of concerts. If not concerts, then they would frequently listen to their favorite singers. If in the process, they happen to listen to sad music or song, they will connect themselves with singers and musicians.

Even if they haven’t been in the same situation, they will find a connection and put themselves in those singers’ place. Eventually, their moods will change. They will get low, sad, angry and may even cry assuming things.

Sad music affects teen differently. Probably, leading them towards depression, anxiety or just sadness.

However, if they happen to listen to happy music. They will connect to singer’s happy emotions and find themselves in a dreamy world. They will start living the fantasy, would start dancing.

As a result, they will start to feel happy to an extent where they will realize of unnecessary happiness and positive influences on their mind.

On listening to these musics, teenagers’ will see themselves doing things that others would find weird. Let it be a sudden cry or sudden dancing move. They will go in a complete different world.

2. Violence In Music

There’s sense of violence in music. Rap music are appreciated beyond words. Teenagers’, mostly teenage boys love listening to raps. However, raps leave negative effects of music on youth.

Certain raps and their popular music are challenging, competitive and convey hate. The violence in music videos impact teenagers’ emotions badly.

They immediately become aggressive. Start hitting their friends in joke, substance abuse, using words they never used before, getting nightmares, create bad environment and tend to teach their groups the same.

Accordingly, they also become a bad influence for frequently being violent and aggressive, for complete no reason.

The other thing is, metal or hard rock music impact physical health, which may lead to serious health issues.

3. Rise In Motivation

motivational music, how does music affect teenagers' emotions and behavior
Suddenly, you will be motivated to do all the activities you were so lazy to do. Under the influence of music, you will see your emotions leading towards self-development.

You would find yourself pretty, handsome, being creative, imaginative, talented and would even crave to show it to the world.

Music tends to motivate during hard times. Teenagers’ while going through issues in their lives, they choose music or watch music videos. It heals them. Motivates them. But sometimes, they also choose the relatable music that hurts them.

A lot of teenager’s use motivating music to feel the strength, while feeling the pain. It gives them energy to heal from it.

They even choose motivational music videos before their workout sessions, study periods, and before bed for the inspiration to do better, which leads their emotions in the direction where they seek motivation before doing anything.

4. Inner Peace

Not all, but, some individuals find peace in meditation. Once they are asked or shown any meditation music, that impacted their emotions, they would want to listen to it again.

I thought meditation is never helpful. I ran from it every time people asked me to do it. Once, I heard the music in the therapy studio and it got to my brain. I couldn’t stop feeling so peaceful while having so many issues. I actually thought I do not need therapy anymore because now I calm.

But obviously, to fix a problem permanently, therapy cannot be avoided.

Basically, the point is when teenagers’ are directed toward meditation, they start feeling calm, their thoughts take a break, and they start to seek for it every time they feel heavy. That’s the power of meditation and its music.

And there are so many types that can actually help individuals heal like sleep meditation music, relaxation music, workout meditation music and so on.

5. Mood Alteration

As we all know, every individual is different and so their taste in music. So, when individuals get upset about something, some of them tend to listen to sad music. In such cases, sad music will actually leave them feeling better.

Feeling better in a sense that they will get connected to the singer. People around them do not get their emotions. How are they feeling? And what is triggering them? But music understand their exact emotions. That is why they choose to listen to sad music.

However, even though they feel better listening to sad music, it still takes them in sad direction. Where they keep listening to it, imagining their situations, feeling only music understands and remain in numb state.

If the teenager is sad and chooses happy music, they get enlightened up. They recall good memories. Happy days. Start missing people. And get boosted up forgetting what pain feels like.

6. Identification

For teenagers, it is sometimes hard to deal with their emotions concerned with adolescence, sexuality, conflicts, racism, or loneliness and depression. Music help them identify their emotions. These emotions reinforce negative and positive effects of music on the brain.

They may not be comfortable to discuss the issues with their close friends, family members or workmates, so they will seek music.

Music, in such cases, can be really helpful. When they are unable to find understanding around them, they find closeness in the music which influences their further negative and positive effects on the brain.

7. Expression

Teenagers who find difficulty in expressing emotions, creates music. They either become lyricist or do free verse occassionally.

Their words speak a lot, when they put their emotions into music, it really helps them heal. A lot of them even use instruments to put out the pain. And most other individuals relate to them.

Music is way beyond powerful. As much as listening to music can make them feel better, creating music makes them feel better. So, they would do hip-hop rap, or instruments, or songs to let their heart out and feel less heavy.

That is why so many music videos convey hate, deep messages, bad mental health, drugs abuse and so much more. At the same time, so many music videos are innocent, emotional, and adorable. For every individual puts out their feelings using different types of music.

8. Finding The Right Group

How does music affect teenagers’ emotions and behavior convey a lot about them when they look for a perfect gang. Music and emotions go along. When they see people having different taste in music, they do not feel the sense of closeness.

They do not seem to share their music taste sometimes to feel unacceptable by the friends they are with. If somebody happens to match that, they immediately get connected.

They will feel as if they both are meant to be together. And that’s how they will realize the type of people they like, the type of people they want to be around, so they can feel complete.

Thus, in many ways their emotions and behavior are impacted. Music heal them. It reinforces their positive and negative thoughts. In which direction their thoughts, their satisfaction leads them depends on the kind of music they listen to.

If they are listening to sad music and feeling better, it is still making them more sad. So, this is how music influences behavior and feelings.

What Are The Benefits Of Music?

Music improves thoughts
Makes one feel better
Listening to happy, enlightening music reduces stress
Improves memory
Understands
Helps deal with pain
Music is therapy
It will comfort you

Side Effects of Music -

Music influences drug abuse
Wrong music makes you a wrong person
Certain rock and heavy metal musics affect the brain and mental health
Sounds and vibrations leave impact on brain and behavior
Adverse effect on ears
Bad influence on language, becoming troubled teenagers
Behaving in a certain manner
Frequently using words
Nightmares from horror, violent music lyrics and videos.
How To Make Use of Music Better?
Explore all music genres, choose good ones to listen to
Listen to musics video lyrics to not get distracted
Choose inspiring, motivating music to boost yourself
Be in a group that has uplifting music taste
Avoid distracting music for better mental health
Listen music to feel happy, for inner peace, for workout
Use meditation before bed, before study hours, before important occasions
Music has the power to divert your minds. Make use of it for better purposes, and not due to peer pressure. Uplift yourself, boost up, workout, meditate, listen to happy songs, write innocent and emotional, avoid violence.

When you will use it for self-development, there will be higher chances of positive impact of music on the brain, rather negative.

Hope I helped you discover some important areas to work on. If you found this worth, do let us know in the comment section below.

Author's Bio: 

Rukayya Zirapur is a certified counseling practitioner and an author. She aims at directing individuals toward self-healing. https://rukayya.com/how-does-music-affect-teenagers-emotions/