What is alpha music?
Alpha music is music designed to create a relaxed state of mind. It generally has a speed (tempo) of around 60 beats per minute (bpm). It uses musical features to encourage relaxation, for example, simple, repetitive melodies, and low levels of dynamic contrast. Alpha music may also feature white noise or nature sounds, such as flowing water, a heart beat, or the wind in trees.
Alpha music works by encouraging the brain to enter the state characterised by alpha waves. These brain waves are associated with a relaxed but awake mental state. This relaxed state can make it easier to fall asleep.
Alpha music can be used to support sleep, and is often used during yoga and meditation sessions.
Brain waves
Brain waves are the minute electrical signals in the brain. They are what is being measured during an EEG (electroencephalogram). Different levels of electrical activity are recorded during different activities or mental states.
Brain waves are categorised into five types, associated with 5 states.
Gamma waves
Gamma waves are found during the most focussed periods of mental activity. For example when you are using all of your concentration to solve a problem, or actively learning, processing and applying information. Gamma brain waves are the fastest brain wave length. They often occur with adrenaline release so there may be a sense of stress or excitement alongside this state.
Beta waves
Beta waves are associated with being awake, alert and concentrating. They can be found in students listening to or thinking about information, but less actively engaged than when gamma waves are present.
Beta waves are sometimes divided into high and low beta waves, associated with focus levels. High beta waves would be concentrating on something, whilst low beta waves would be associated with mulling something over, perhaps whilst walking or cooking. You are thinking about something, but able to do other things at the same time.
Alpha waves are associated with relaxation and an unfocused or meditative mental state. It is considered to be a restful but conscious state.
Theta waves
Theta waves are associated with daydreaming or being in a light drowsy sleep. They are the brain waves associated with REM sleep, in which the brain is active and dreaming often occurs.
Delta waves
Delta waves accompany deep restorative sleep, and the brain is less active than in REM sleep.
Alpha waves and alpha music
Alpha waves are associated with a relaxed but awake state, that can help you easily fall asleep. If alpha music can help create this relaxed state then it can make falling asleep easier.
Some studies have shown that toddlers played alpha music take less time to settle to sleep than those not played music. Parents may find using alpha music during bedtime can help to create a relaxing sleep environment. This can help babies, toddlers, children, and even parents get to sleep more easily.
How alpha music helps sleep
Alpha music is not magical, any relaxing music can help you to enter an alpha state of relaxation. Features of alpha music can help encourage sleep.
Slow
Alpha music tends to be quite slow with a pace, or tempo, of around 60 bpm. This is said to be around the heart rate of a sleeping adult. As our body and mind relaxes, our heart rate lowers as we fall asleep.
Heart-rate
Young babies are used to the sounds they heard inside the womb. This includes the constant heart beat in the background. They can find the heart-rate-like beat of alpha music soothing. Alpha music could help recreate a little of the familiar comfort of the womb.
Calm the mind
For toddlers and older children, slow music can help little bodies and minds slow down, whilst giving them something to focus on. Total quiet may help some people go to sleep. However, it can give busy brains free reign to think over everything that’s going on in their learning-packed lives. That’s why kids often get chatty at bedtime.
Alpha music can be a helpful calming sensory sleep cue to build into sleep rituals for people of any age. It can provide just enough stimulation to allow the brain to calm down, without being too interesting.
Constancy and familiarity
Continuity
Buffer noise
Try our calming sounds CDs
Sensory cues for sleep
Alpha music can be a helpful calming sensory sleep cue to build into sleep rituals for people of any age. It can provide just enough stimulation to allow the brain to calm down, without being too interesting.
Sensory cues can help to create a relaxing sleep atmosphere by soothing the senses. Alpha music, like white noise, can work by calming the auditory, or hearing, sense.
Sleep cues are conditioned by being used consistently in sleep routines or rituals. Through repetition we (or our children) begin to associate these cues with feeling sleepy. In time, simply using the cues can make us start to feel sleepy.
The auditory sense is only one of eight senses. To create a relaxing sensory environment it can help to think about all the senses. Remember you aren’t trying to recreate a baby sensory session. You are aiming for soothing, not stimulation.
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