Music is one of the most accessible forms of art. It speaks to our hearts. The poetry made by someone else, it allows us to experience our feelings. It motivates, soothes, and makes us laugh. Perhaps that’s why making a playlist can be such a fun activity — but it’s more than that. When you put on your headphones and close your eyes, you open tiny windows between your soul and the music flowing through you.
Let’s learn why music affects our psyche so much and how to create a playlist that is perfect just for you.
How Music Influences Your Well-Being
Research agrees on the impressive value music has on our well-being. It impacts our heartbeat and breathing. Listening to music triggers our dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol, all of which are important in our mood regulation. Don’t forget about ambience and noises, like the ones we provide at liven.com for our users — they can be just the perfect addition to a long studying session or an evening with a book. However, each rhythm and genre has its effects depending on the listener and their preferences. In a way, you become one with the melody that appeals to you.
Music also activates our memory by engaging the hippocampus, which is why we start thinking about past events while playing nostalgic songs. There’s evidence that certain types of music, including those generated by music AI, contribute to thinking and decision-making. While classical and instrumental music are the typical culprits, individual preferences matter more when it comes to physical and mental performance.
Here’s how music affects our psyche:
- Better emotional state. Listening to music that uplifts you almost always switches your emotional radio to joyful frequencies.
- Improved organization and thinking. Some types of music boost focus and help individuals to set their eyes on the goal without getting distracted. On a more superficial level, you cannot be distracted by others talking if you’ve got your headphones on.
- Enhanced physical performance. While there are people who run, dance, or hike in silence, they are mostly the minority (we don’t judge!). Music gives our bodies the physical push they need to stop being sluggish and start to imagine ourselves as superheroes while doing another set or just cleaning the house.
We want to highlight that there’s no such thing as bad music or music that causes unpleasant feelings — these beliefs stem from stereotypes. Every genre has its own benefits for each listener, just like some people like horror, comedy, or literary fiction. It should work for you, and that’s all!
Creating Playlists for Different Purposes
So, how to create a playlist of your dreams? Let’s explore some of the ideas you might find useful.
Different Emotions — Different Playlists
The thing is, every playlist has its specificities. You won’t find your “Running Three Miles” playlist having the same effect as the “Crying Over Breakup” track list when you need to get melancholic. Take time (and joy) creating a playlist for every major mood you are prone to. Some songs will repeat while others will not. Remember that in this situation, songs you are at least familiar with will work best. These should be the pieces that would allow you to dive into a specific frame of thought quickly. Here are some ideas for naming your playlists and not being too serious about it:
- I’m DONE
- Pretending to be Mrs Doubtfire
- Ugly crying about romance
- Studying like Hermione Granger
- Don’t mess with me, baby!
- Lunges and crunches
While these are just suggestions, we believe these examples show you how easy it is to get creative.
Healing With Music
Sometimes, we need to get through various sensations and emotions to let something go. That’s when music can get particularly useful. For better clarity, let’s try using a hypothetical example.
Example: You used to go to a cool sports club, but people were mean to you. As a result, you left it, but you want to regain the love for that sport and your confidence.
When it comes to healing that wound, we suggest using a three-scene method, where the playlist is divided into Sad, Hopeful, and Happy parts, like in a movie. Although simplified, this approach can help you naturally move from one stage to another with the songs you listen to.
When choosing songs for the Sad section, you would want something to go through the feeling of hurt and rejection (if we use our example). For instance:
- Hurt — Johnny Cash
- I Know It’s Over — The Smiths
- How to Disappear Completely — Radiohead
Is it cheesy? Perhaps. But hey, it’s a no-judgment zone!
Then, your Hopeful part should be dedicated to when you want to grow and leave the past hurt behind. Perhaps it’s right now.
- I’m Still Standing — Elton John
- Fleetwood Mac — Don’t Stop
- Hold On — Teminite
Lastly, your Happy (or Energized, or whatever you want to call it) section would be about imagining yourself happy and doing well at your passionate sport.
- Feeling Good — Nina Simone
- Here Comes the Sun — The Beatles
- Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry
This healing playlist example illustrates how you can implement things you love into going through something painful and getting back on top.
Playlist of Your Life
We’ve been surrounded by music all our lives. This playlist shows how to represent it and, in good or bad moments, remind yourself of who you are and what you have accomplished.
Step 1. Write down your life stages. Take time to write down the main events in your life, whether they were childhood, learning how to ride a bike, your first love, or getting into the school of your dreams.
Step 2. Align your songs with these stages. There are no rules here. Every stage can have an equal number of songs or vary them — it’s up to you.
Step 3. Organize your playlist like a story. It should reflect the narrative, as if you’re reading a book.
Step 4. Give it a memorable name. Don’t just call it “My Life Playlist.” Find a phrase that would summarize your life.
If you want an extra step, you can make a collage, whether online using something like Canva or Pinterest, or with your hands, while listening to your playlist. Set it as the picture for your “album.”
With Music Through Life
Music you love is an incredible, intimate view of your heart. While you prepare to make the first playlist, remind yourself of how creative and unique you are, and how much each word and tune speaks to and through you. We hope you’ll have fun creating the first list of tracks — share it with someone, keep it private, or have a good dancing solo party with the lights off. Good luck!
Andrew Reeves is a content writer from USA with a strong background in blog writing. Starting his career in news writing, Andrew has built a broad portfolio, covering everything from feature writing to SWOT analysis of apps. When not at his laptop, Andrew can be found recording his podcast, taking selfies, or road-tripping.