The Heartbeat of Music
How does changing the type of music
have an impact on a person’s pulse?
by Anonymous
Burley school, 8th grade, rm. 203
Abstract
Purpose
Procedure
PREPARATION
Materials, person,
breath, pulse
EXPERIMENT
Music, pulse, repeat
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.
Conclusion
•Hypothesis proven
correct
•Different types of
music had different
impacts on the
pulse
Purpose
•To determine what type of music
increases the pulse of the
average human.
•Proper exercise makes people
healthier
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
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.
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.
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.
I.
Collect materials
II. Take the person and have them sit in a
chair
III. Make sure no movement takes place
and the person is in a relatively calm
mood
Procedure
*How to Measure the
Pulse/Beats per Minute
IV. Have the person take a deep breath
V. Measure their current pulse rate*
VI. Write the pulse rate down
VII. Repeat steps 2-5, 3 times
VIII.Play the portion of music selected.
IX. Keep the music going on for 30
seconds
X. Measure their pulse rate directly after
listening
XI. Repeat steps 8-12, 3 times for each
genre of music
• 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
Material list
•
•
Headphones
8 human test subjects
•
Music*
•
Computer (for data)
•
Stopwatch
*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
Results
Before Music
83 b.p.m.
After Music
Rap
70 b.p.m.
Classical
81 b.p.m.
Rock
81 b.p.m.
Dance
85 b.p.m.
Pop
86 b.p.m.
Alternative 83 b.p.m.
Results
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.
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
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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