Does music change mood? Well, these are some articles I found on the topic from fosters.com and also nytimes.com. In, “Nancy Eckerson: Music can Improve Running Performance” on fosters.com, It simply speaks about, exactly what the title depicts. Music improves running performance; so much so for a lot of people, that Eckerson states, “One year later, the ban was lifted, except for athletes competing in USA championship races; the USATF cited the difficulty of enforcement, but the uproar the ban caused was certainly part of the reason.” The USATF banned running with headphones on, and then, even after the ban was lifted, they still left the ban for athletes competing. Is it really that much of an advantage to listen to music while running? I mean think about it, people get motivated while listening to music, making you want to run faster, or doing anything with more energy and emphasis. If I’m going to run and I sit there calm, drinking a cup of tea or something haha, and then I see my opponent and he’s listening to music, getting really amped up, odds are I’m not going to be ready, especially for the average person. So unfair advantage, not proven; because, we all have the opportunity to get music if we don’t have it, but most of us have an iPod anyway. In an article on nytimes.com called, “The Power of Music, Tapped in a Cubicle,” the writer says, ”In biological terms, melodious sounds help encourage the release of dopamine in the reward area of the brain, as would eating a delicacy, looking at something appealing or smelling a pleasant aroma.” Listening to music as a reward? Well, let’s think about it. If you’re fixing an old car you got, been spending months on just the suspension, and now you’ve finally finished but you just started for the day, you feel accomplished right? But even more than that, you feel motivated and then you begin on a different part of the car, with more energy and enthusiasm. Well thats the same case with work, whether it be school or at your job, you get motivated with music. You feel joy and more energy, like you can take on the world. Music motivates. And even further than motivating, it changes your mood. The power of music is great and reaches out to people. “It breaks you out of just thinking one way,” said Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami. You’re not limited to think in one way, you can do anything in different ways. Why not do your work with energy, instead of dreading your days, instead of just going through the motions, put some headphones on! Let that be your motivation. Do the work in more than one way to do it, the music is a tool and instrument, use it.