Medical Mysteries of Music

Can music help you sleep?

Reader Tom, whom we might assume is suffering from insomnia, sends us this link to WebMD about the use of music to help us sleep.

“Yes, there is data that suggests that music can help people fall asleep,” says Michael Breus, Ph.D., upwave sleep expert and author of The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Simple Rules for Losing Weight While You Sleep. But the kind of music you choose makes a difference. Music that has a relatively slow beat may help your body hit its internal snooze button. “If you play Guns ‘N Roses, chances are low that it will put you to sleep,” says Breus.

The music-sleep connection has been supported in studies all over the world. It works in young people and elderly men and women. Heck, music even helps people with schizophrenia get some shut-eye. A recent meta-analysis of music-sleep studies focusing on 10 high-quality studies found that music helps people with both short-term and chronic sleep problems.

Tom wants me to make an “Enter Sandman” quip, but I think we should all just keep reading instead.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39665 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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