The story of how music that was fine on a good day felt noisy on a tired day—thinking about how to choose music you can focus on, based on the mechanisms of the introverted brain.
Music that was fine on a good day suddenly feels noisy on a day when I am tired.
The lyrics pierce my ears. Songs with fast tempos bother me for no reason. But it is not that I want to move to a quiet place either. Do you remember that strange sensation?
I had always thought it was just a "matter of mood." But when I looked into it a little, it seemed that there is a deeper relationship between music and the brain's attention system than I had thought.
In this article, I will consider why introverts are more easily saved by specific music from the perspective of the brain's "processing of stimulus volume." The reason why Bach or minimal music is calming might not be because of having refined tastes, but rather something else entirely.
Why music can make you tired
If you think of music as entertainment, you might notice a slightly strange phenomenon.
Environmental sounds at work, noise on the train, information flowing in from social media. After being exposed to such things all day, when you play music after returning home, it can sometimes reach the brain as something that needs to be "processed" further.
When the brain listens to sound, it does not just receive it; it simultaneously processes the structure, rhythm, and meaning of the lyrics. If the song's progression is intense or the lyrics enter your ears, the amount of processing is unexpectedly large.
Feeling that something is "noisy" when you are exhausted may not just be a matter of volume. It can be a sign that the amount of information the brain has to process has already exceeded its limit for the day.
Introverts have a different way of "receiving" stimuli
As I have repeatedly mentioned in my articles, a hypothesis has been proposed that introverts tend to have a higher level of arousal compared to extroverts. However, this is not a simple story of "introverts being weak to stimuli," and individual differences are also very large. Since this is a field where debate is still ongoing, there is not much that can be stated definitively.
Even so, I think many introverts have the realization that "I get exhausted if I stay in a lively place for a long time" or "I cannot recover unless I have time alone." It means that the capacity for how much external stimulus one processes differs from person to person.
Why some people find Bach comfortable
When I say I like Bach's music, it can sometimes sound like a slightly pretentious hobby. But it might not just be a matter of preference.
Bach's music, such as the "Goldberg Variations" or "The Well-Tempered Clavier," has strong regularity and symmetry. It has a structure where you can predict to some extent what will come next.
When the brain processes "unpredictable things," it uses more resources. Conversely, a regular and predictable flow of sound gives a sense of being able to "go with the flow" to some extent without having to focus attention on it.
Therefore, the reason it is calming might not be because Bach is noble, but because it has a structure that the brain finds easy to judge as "something I can keep up with." Of course, individual differences are large, and there are many people who feel that Bach does not suit them. However, the explanation that "there are people who fit it because it is regular music" makes sense in a way. (By the way, I am terrible at Mozart and Vivaldi because of their unpredictable high notes.)
The reason why minimal music works
In a similar direction to Bach, there is a music genre called minimal music.
Works by Steve Reich and Philip Glass are representative. It is music where short phrases are repeated and change little by little, and some people might feel it is "monotonous" when they first listen to it.
However, when comparing pop music and minimal music, you can feel the difference in the load on the brain.
Pop: New information comes one after another, such as choruses, verses, key changes, and lyrical developments.
Minimal: A gentle flow where small changes accumulate.
The act of "processing new information" itself places a load on the brain. It could be said that minimal music intentionally limits that amount of processing. That is why it can sometimes be effective when you are exhausted.
Why music with lyrics is tiring
Have you ever had the experience where you couldn't make progress on your work when playing songs with lyrics while trying to concentrate on writing something?
There is an explanation for this related to language processing.
Tasks such as reading, writing, and speaking use the brain's language processing resources. Since lyrics are also processed as language, listening to music with lyrics while reading or writing text can easily cause a conflict in the resources being used. This is not a matter of musical preference, but a matter of brain processing.
There is a lot of accumulated research on the effects of music on cognitive tasks, but it is said that there are large individual differences in the effects. Some people say, "I'm fine even with lyrics," while others say, "I can't concentrate at all if there are lyrics." I think knowing your own pattern is the best shortcut.
How to find music that suits your brain
If you search for "music to increase concentration," many recommended playlists will come up. However, even if you follow them, they might not suit you.
That is natural, because the tendencies of brain processing, the degree of fatigue, and the content of the work are completely different from person to person.
There is a simple experiment I would like you to try.
Try changing your music for 3 days
Day 1: Spend time in a silent environment
Day 2: Play your favorite songs with lyrics
Day 3: Play Bach or minimal-style songs
On each day, try making a simple note of how easy it was to work and your level of fatigue. There is no need to give it a score. A level of detail like "I was distracted today" or "I felt strangely calm today" is sufficient.
Knowing which situation quieted the "noise in your brain" the most for you is, in a sense, creating an instruction manual for your own brain. (Of course, your state at any given time will also have an effect. However, I still think it is possible to know a certain tendency using the method above.)
Also, choosing music for each scene is effective.
When you want to concentrate
No lyrics
Constant tempo
Lower volume
When you want to calm down
Piano music
Ambient music
Bach-style music
When you want to organize your thoughts
Minimalist music
Environmental sounds like rain or river sounds (commonly known as white noise, which is also used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Personally, I like the sound of a bonfire.)
It might not be that you 'want silence'
When I'm tired, I want to go somewhere quiet. But when I'm actually in a silent room, my head starts to feel noisy instead.
Perhaps what introverts are looking for is not complete silence.
I think it's about the low amount of information the brain has to process.
It's not that I want quietness, but that I want sounds with low cognitive load. Realizing that difference makes the meaning of how I get tired look a little different.
I believe that enduring stimulation through sheer willpower is not the way for introverts to live, and that designing stimulation for oneself is a strategy for surviving quietly.
※ This article discusses the 'relationship between introversion and stimulus sensitivity' based on findings in personality psychology, but it does not assert that 'listening to Bach will increase concentration' or that 'minimalist music is guaranteed to work for introverts.' The effects of music vary greatly from person to person, and I would be happy if you could use this as just one perspective.
In this note, I share information from the perspective of someone who has an introverted and sensitive temperament, so that they can survive without becoming too exhausted. I write this while incorporating my knowledge as a certified social insurance labor consultant and career consultant.
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