--- title: "Does Music Reduce Stress? What 104 Trials Found" description: "Yes, music does reduce stress: a review of 104 trials with 9,617 people found it lowered heart rate and how stressed people felt." url: https://shimmr.app/learn/music-for-stress/ --- - [Learn](https://shimmr.app/learn/) - [Relaxation](https://shimmr.app/learn/relaxation/) # Does music reduce stress? What 104 trials found Yes, music does reduce stress: a review of 104 trials with 9,617 people found it lowered heart rate and how stressed people felt. The Shimmr team Published Oct 31, 2026 4 min read - **Short answer:** yes, music reduces stress, and a 2020 review of 104 randomised trials with 9,617 people found clear effects on both the body and the mind. - **Size of the effect:** the effect on how stressed people felt was medium, and the effect on the body was a little smaller, strongest for heart rate. - **Which music:** studies often use slow, gentle music, but music you choose and like is the usual advice, because there is no single best playlist. - **Nature sounds:** in a 2013 study of 60 women, rippling water before a stress test led to a lower stress hormone response than relaxing music did. - **Frequencies:** there is no stress-specific evidence for 432 Hz, 528 Hz or any other “stress frequency”. Hear it Does music reduce stress? Yes. A large 2020 review pooled 104 randomised trials and found that music lowers stress in both the body and the mind. The effect is real but moderate, and nature sounds can work just as well. Here is what the research shows, which music to pick and how to use it on a busy day. ## Does music really reduce stress? Yes, and the evidence is strong for a simple everyday habit. A [2020 review](https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897) ran two meta-analyses (studies that combine the results of many trials) across 104 randomised controlled trials, with 327 results and 9,617 people in total. Music lowered stress on both kinds of measure: | What was measured | Effect size (d) | | --- | --- | | How stressed people felt | 0.545 | | Body measures overall | 0.380 | | Heart rate | 0.456 | | Blood pressure | 0.343 | | Stress hormones | 0.349 | An effect size of about 0.5 is what researchers call medium, and about 0.2 is small. So music did most for how people felt, and in the body it did most for heart rate. ## What kind of music is best for stress relief? There is no single best kind, so start with music you like. The relaxing music in studies is often slow and gentle, with no sudden changes in volume, like the choral piece used in the 2013 study below. A steady tempo gives your breathing something to follow, and a piece with no surprises is easy to let go into. Liking the music matters too. A piece you find dull or irritating is unlikely to relax you, however slow it is. That is why music you choose yourself is the usual advice, rather than a set playlist. A few practical points: - Pick instrumental music or songs you know well, so the words don’t pull at your attention. - Keep the volume low to moderate. - If you use music for focus as well, keep a separate quieter playlist for winding down. ## Is nature sound better than music for stress? Nature sound can be as good as music, and on one measure it did better. In a [2013 study](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070156), 60 healthy women were randomly given relaxing choral music, the sound of rippling water or silence before a standard social stress test in a lab. The results were more mixed than you might expect: - The stress hormone cortisol rose least after rippling water and most after the relaxing music. - After the test, another stress marker in saliva went back to normal faster in the music group than in the silence group. - Heart rate and how stressed people said they felt did not differ between the three groups. So the music mostly helped the body recover faster, rather than stopping the stress response. And water sounds did at least as well. If music feels like too much, rain, a stream or the sea is a good alternative. ## What frequency is best for stress relief? No frequency has been shown to work best for stress. Videos promise that [432 Hz](https://shimmr.app/learn/432-hz/), 528 Hz or 396 Hz music melts stress away, but none of those claims has stress-specific research behind it. The 2020 review looked at music in general, not at any special tuning or frequency. Binaural beats are a separate idea: two slightly different tones, one in each ear, that the brain hears as a slow pulse. They have their own small body of research, which our guide to [binaural beats for anxiety](https://shimmr.app/learn/binaural-beats-for-anxiety/) covers. For everyday stress, the music you enjoy is a safer bet than any number in a video title. ## How long should you listen to music to reduce stress? There is no proven ideal length, but 10 to 20 minutes is a practical start. That is enough time for your breathing to slow and your heart rate to settle, and short enough to fit into a break. Timing helps as much as length. Music before or after a stressful event, like a meeting or a hard conversation, gives your body a chance to recover instead of carrying the tension into the next hour. ## How do you use music for stress during a busy day? Make it a short, planned break rather than background noise you stop noticing. Put on headphones, close your eyes if you can and pair the music with slow breathing. Breathing at about six slow breaths a minute, in for 5 seconds and out for 5, as in [coherent breathing](https://shimmr.app/learn/coherent-breathing/), works well alongside it. In Shimmr, the Busy → Quiet Shift glides from Beta toward Alpha over 10 to 20 minutes. You can use Add Music in the mixer to play your own music under it, or layer rain or brown noise instead. If you like the idea of resting in sound for longer, a [sound bath](https://shimmr.app/learn/sound-bath/) is another way in. Music is a good tool for everyday stress, but it has limits. If stress has disrupted your sleep, work or relationships for several weeks, talk to a doctor. In the app Busy → Quiet · 10 to 20 min A Shift that glides from Beta down to Alpha for a short reset at your desk, with your own music or rain underneath if you like. ## Common questions **Does music really reduce stress?** Yes. A 2020 review of 104 randomised trials with 9,617 people found that music lowered both body measures, like heart rate, and how stressed people felt. **What kind of music is best for stress relief?** There is no single best kind. Slow, gentle music without sudden changes is a common choice in studies, and music you like and choose yourself is the usual advice. **How long should you listen to music to reduce stress?** There is no proven ideal length. A practical start is 10 to 20 minutes, which is long enough to let your breathing and heart rate settle. **What frequency is best for stress relief?** No frequency has been shown to work best for stress. Claims about 432 Hz, 528 Hz or 396 Hz have no stress-specific research behind them. **Is nature sound better than music for stress?** It can be as good. In a 2013 study of 60 women, the sound of rippling water before a stress test led to the lowest cortisol response, lower than relaxing music. Keep reading - [Relaxation Binaural beats for anxiety: what helps, which frequency, how long](https://shimmr.app/learn/binaural-beats-for-anxiety/) - [Relaxation Coherent breathing: 6 breaths a minute and what it does](https://shimmr.app/learn/coherent-breathing/) - [Relaxation Sound bath benefits: what happens and what studies show](https://shimmr.app/learn/sound-bath/) This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Binaural beats are not a treatment for insomnia or any other condition.