Creativity is thinking outside the box, taking the smallest things, and turning them into something new. Everyone can create; some just take longer to find it within themselves. Creativity comes in two forms: divergent thinking and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking allows you to come up with a wide range of ideas; it has no limitations or boundaries, creating many possibilities to solve a problem in many different ways. Convergent thinking is more structured; convergent thinking finds a single logical solution to a problem.
Based on a study, “Happy Creativity: Listening to Happy Music Facilitates Divergent Thinking,” conducted by Simone M. Ritter from the Behavioral Science Institute and Sam Ferguson from the Creativity and cognitions studios. These researchers found that participants who listened to happy, high-energy music could become more creative companions than those who worked in silence. The study concluded that happy music works by stimulating the dopamine system, which is responsible for improving mood and increasing cognitive flexibility. Listening to music while doing your history project or trying to solve a complex calculus problem is an effective technique for brainstorming and problem-solving. Three main pathways are responsible for creativity: the default mode network, the salience network, and the executive control network. The default mode network is responsible for cognitive processes like dreaming and mind-wandering. It’s a system of connected brain regions that become active when a person is resting. The salience network manages the attention span and filters stimuli that are important and worth focusing on. Lastly, the executive control network helps people manage their decision-making skills using cognitive senses like memory and attention. Common everyday tasks like multitasking, decision-making, and understanding information all use the executive control network.
Overall, music has an impact on the brain’s cognitive function; listening to specific types of music can affect creativity. Classical music compositions by Mozart and Bach have been shown to enhance problem-solving skills as well as spatial reasoning. Many studies show that due to the harmonic rhythms and melodies in classical compositions, the brain’s ability to organize, focus, and create is much stronger.
Aside from classical music, jazz is another genre that helps boost creativity, specifically in divergent thinking. Jazz’s free-flowing characteristic allows the brain to open up and explore different ideas. Music that has a moderate tempo, usually 60–80 beats per minute, syncs with brain waves, which leads to a focus called "flow.". The “flow state” is similar to the saying “in the zone.”. It’s a psychological state where an individual is completely immersed in the task they are doing.
Music shapes how we think, learn, and create. Creativity isn’t a skill that can be inherited; it’s a skill that is constantly being nurtured and refined with experience and exposure. With the right music, our minds will open up to many new experiences and possibilities.
