Question: Hey Dawn, I studied music for GCSE and have it as a hobby and I find it has a very calming effect on me, would you be able to explain why this is or is it very subjective to the person?

Dawn Rose answered on 13 Mar 2019:

Hi Laurie, Thanks for the great question.
It could be that learning music helped you get into a flow state. Here is a great TED talk by the inventor of that term: https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en
This is a way of functioning optimally – i.e. a perfect balance of challenge, skill and knowledge.
I have written a bit about how learning an instrument/music helps develop something called autotelic value, that is a love of learning. When you practice something, you reap the rewards and this can promote wellbeing in terms of physiological states (dopamine release for example) but also a sense of calm and that time passes effortlessly.
My current research is investigating whether this is actually one of the benefits of learning music in general, or whether, as you suggest it is subjective. But then, concepts like subjective and objective are very difficult in science – pretty much everything is biased by personal experience, including how we choose to measures such concepts.
Anyway, keep playing 🙂