Can listening to music really help you sleep?
Last year, a review of scientific research concluded that: ‘Across studies, listening to music consistently reduced sleep-onset latency, improved sleep efficiency and increased total sleep time.
In other words, it cut down the tossing and turning time before you drift off and boosted the the percentage of time you spend actually sleeping while in bed. Sleep efficiency is calculated by dividing your total time asleep by your total time in bed, then multiplying by 100. Experts consider 85% to 90% optimal, while scores below 75% often signal insomnia or other sleep disorders.
Pause before you queue up Metallica, however. There were some important provisos.
The kind of music that works best
Not all music has the same effect
Researchers found the greatest benefits came from music that was:
- Slow, at around 60 to 80 beats per minute
- Soft and gentle in tone
- Simple rather than highly complex
- Instrumental, particularly classical or ambient music
Nature sounds and familiar music also appeared to help many people relax enough to fall asleep.
In other words, Dame Judi’s nightly date with Classic FM makes rather more sense than you might think.
