Want to Change Your Mood? Listen to Your Favorite Songs

Have you ever turned on classical music hoping it would calm you down? Or cranked up some classic rock to set an upbeat tone? Makes sense. Music’s ability to change your mood is its superpower. 

Music allows you to feel the emotion of another person without the need for words, explains Dr. Charles Limb, neuroscientist and director of the Sound and Music Perception Laboratory at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. He says this is why music can influence your mood. 

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But the latest songs preselected by recording companies and labeled with directives like “party,” “relax” or “get happy” may not help as much as you’d think. Research shows that your favorite genres and songs are more likely to improve your mood than broadly defined “mood” music selected by someone else. 

But using music to change your mood may involve a two-step process. “We’ve consistently seen that whether you’re in a depressed or anxious mood state, simply putting on happy music may not help and can sometimes make you feel worse,” says Edward Roth, a professor and director of music therapy at the University of Houston. “What tends to work better is choosing music that matches where you are emotionally and then gradually shifting toward the state you want to reach.” 

You know your favorite songs

Who knows better than you the songs that will get you from where you are to the desired mood ahead? Your favorite tunes earned a spot on your various playlists for a reason. They’ve been road tested.

A review of research published in the journal NeuroImage in 2020 shows that a complex neural network made up of areas of the brain known for their roles in emotional processing and reward are activated by music that evokes a range of emotions — from mere goosebumps to all-out joy to deep sadness.

“It’s no coincidence that people use music for all manner of behavioral tasks with very specific goals in mind,” Limb says. The trick is to pick the kind of music you like. 

How to get to the mood you want 

Roth recommends creating a playlist — or tweaking an existing one — so that it includes a progression of songs. “Start with music reflecting your present state and then move step-by-step toward the mood you’d like to achieve,” he suggests. “That progression supports your brain’s natural emotional response to music.”

Say, for example, you’re feeling anxious, angry, and wound tight at the end of a workday. Start with music that falls squarely within that emotional ballpark (think “Get Off of My Cloud,” by the Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”). Then gradually move toward more mellow selections. The tracks should reflect a gradual shift from the way you feel in the moment (agitated after a long day at work) toward the way you want to feel by the time you get home (laidback).

This “start where you are” strategy is based on a well-established music therapy known as the iso principle which has been shown to improve mood and manage stress.  

“There’s always a piece of music that exactly encapsulates what I have felt,” Limb says. “Whether it’s positive or negative, music has a way to help us understand the full range of human emotion and experiences.”