Creation and investigation of musical forms designed to promote relaxation

Graduation date: 1984The study was a creative endeavor in which research\ud findings from the areas of medicine, mental health and\ud education concerning effects of background music were combined\ud into an experimental musical form designed to promote and\ud facilitate the relaxation response. This experimental music\ud was cormared with Baroque largo musical background, as recommended\ud in Lozanov's method of accelerated learning, and with a\ud no-music control.\ud Three groups of 19 subjects each were selected from\ud volunteers enrolled in classes at Oregon State University\ud for Summer Term 1983. Participants were randomly assigned\ud to one of three treatment groups. Group A listened to\ud an audio tape of voiced relaxation instructions. Group B\ud listened to voiced instructions with Baroque largo musical\ud background. Group C listened to voiced instructions with\ud experimental musical background.\ud Pre-post measurements of pulse, respiration, and\ud systolic and diastolic blood pressures were taken for each\ud treatment as indices of relaxation. Participants also responded\ud subjectively by means of a questionnaire and through informal\ud interviews with the investigator at the end of each session.\ud Results indicated that the experimental music treatment\ud was statistically significant over the no-music control in\ud promoting the relaxation response at the .05 level of confidence\ud for all measurement parameters. The experimental music treatment\ud was significantly more effective than Baroque over the no-music\ud control in three areas - changes in rate of respiration, and\ud reduction of systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The experimental\ud music treatment was dramatically more effective than\ud Baroque in facilitating the reduction of diastolic blood pressure.\ud Subjective response indicated that while all three groups\ud reported the relaxation sessions enjoyable, 10 out of 19 subjects\ud in the experimental group requested tapes of what they had heard,\ud 2 out of 19 who listened to the Baroque background requested\ud tapes of their treatment, and no one in the no-music group requested\ud tapes of the voice alone. Participants reported feelings\ud of increased general well-being after listening to the tapes.\ud Recomuendations for further study included testing the\ud experimental music as background in classrooms, offices, and\ud as part of the Lozanov method of accelerated learning. Testing\ud of variables of sex, age and time of sessions was recommended