Relaxing music, stress and tension: what does research say?
SoundYou Team
Author
Relaxing music may support a sense of calm and ease perceived stress. Research shows, however, that how we feel and how our bodies respond do not always change in the same way. It helps to understand what has actually been tested, especially when discussing a reduction in muscle tension.
Does calm music help reduce stress?
In a large 2020 review, Martina de Witte and colleagues brought together 104 randomized studies involving 9617 people. On average, music interventions had a beneficial effect on both psychological and physiological measures of stress. These included anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure and hormone levels. This provides an important basis for considering music as a possible aid to relaxation. Publication by de Witte and colleagues.
The term “music interventions” covered a range of activities and settings. Listening to a recording on your own is a different experience from sessions led by a music therapist. In music therapy, a specialist tailors their approach to the individual's needs as part of a therapeutic process. Simply playing a playlist in a salon does not make it music therapy. .
A narrower 2022 review looked specifically at listening after a stressful laboratory task in healthy people. Its meta-analysis of 14 studies involving 706 participants found no statistically significant overall advantage for music in recovery from stress. Results varied considerably between experiments. This shows why it is worth allowing for individual responses rather than expecting the same effect from every recording. Review by Adiasto and colleagues.
What does “less tension” actually mean?
When we say “I feel less tense,” we may mean quieter thoughts, less anxiety or a greater sense of physical ease. In research, each of these changes needs an appropriate method of assessment. A questionnaire response is not a measurement of muscle activity, and a slower heart rate does not, on its own, tell us what is happening around the jaw.
This distinction also appears in more recent findings. A 2025 meta-analysis of music therapy covering 51 studies found a beneficial effect on self-reported anxiety. The effect on physiological measures was small and did not reach statistical significance. Perceived relief can therefore be an important outcome even when physical measurements do not show an equally clear change. Study in eClinicalMedicine.
In a treatment room, it is worth asking about comfort: whether the guest enjoys the music, whether it is too prominent and whether it helps them rest. Their answer can guide the choice of background music, although it is not evidence of a therapeutic effect.
Does music relax facial muscles?
Direct research on this question is much more limited than the literature on stress and well-being. In a small 2021 experiment, 20 healthy people rested after fatiguing their arm muscles while listening to relaxing music, stimulating music or no music. Movement smoothness afterwards improved more following calm music than silence. However, the listening condition had no significant effect on the sEMG measure of muscle activity being analyzed. Publication in Music & Science.
This is an interesting direction for further research. The experiment did not, however, examine facial muscles, bruxism or massage outcomes. It therefore does not justify a promise that a calm playlist alone will relax a tense jaw. During relaxing or therapeutic facial massage, music can be chosen to support rest; addressing symptoms remains the responsibility of the person providing the treatment or clinical care.
What kind of sound helps you unwind?
There is no need to start by counting beats per minute. First, listen to how a piece develops. Do the sounds arrive gently? Does the melody stay delicate? Is there a point where you need to turn the speaker down because the music suddenly becomes much louder?
Tempo can matter. In an experiment by Bernardi and colleagues, faster music was associated with greater cardiovascular and respiratory arousal. However, the study involved only 24 people and did not establish a single ideal tempo for relaxation. A calmer progression is a reasonable starting point, but a BPM figure alone is not enough to make the choice. Study published in Heart.
In practice, gentle timbres, gradual changes and a volume that feels comfortable to the listener are useful. Ambient music can remain a diffuse background, while piano can provide a clearer melody to focus on. We explore these differences in our comparison of ambient music, piano and nature sounds.
Nature sounds as part of rest
Flowing water, rain and forest sounds have their own research literature. A 2021 review by Rachel Buxton and colleagues identified benefits of natural soundscapes, including lower stress and annoyance. The meta-analyses included 18 publications. Bear in mind that the studies compared different conditions, including nature sounds with noise. The findings do not mean that every composition featuring rain will have the same effect. Publication in PNAS.
When choosing for a treatment room, pay attention to the particular recording. A gentle wash of sound may suit one person, while distinct bird calls may distract another. It is worth asking before the treatment and offering the option of music without nature sounds.
Calm music during Kobido and therapeutic massage
In a treatment room, the background should suit the treatment and the guest's preferences. For a quiet part of the visit, discreet ambient music, gentle piano or Japanese-inspired sounds can be options. During a more dynamic part of the massage, the music can still remain soft. It does not need to follow every movement of the hands.
Before the treatment begins, listen from the place where the guest will be resting. The same speaker can be barely audible near the door yet too prominent next to someone's head. It should be possible to discuss comfort without raising your voice. A useful question is: “Would you prefer a gentle melody, a background with nature sounds or silence?”
For Japanese facial massage, we suggest Onsen Radio in SoundYou. We describe its sound in our article on music for Kobido. This is a suggestion for the treatment's musical setting, without promising a particular clinical outcome.
Make room for silence and personal preferences
In Bernardi's study, a period of silence was also associated with lower heart rate, blood pressure and ventilation. It is a useful reminder that rest does not always require another sound. If the guest prefers silence, make room for it. Experimental findings.
There is likewise no need to insist on a calm genre simply because it appears on a playlist labeled soothing. In a study of the daily behavior of 711 people, music listening was associated with better mood and lower momentary stress; how participants perceived the music also mattered. This was an observational finding, not proof that every listening session will produce a change. Study by Feneberg and colleagues.
For your own rest, choose sounds that genuinely feel comfortable. In a treatment room, begin with a prepared, gentle background and adapt it to the person visiting. Explore our SoundYou music for Kobido and facial massage, then choose a playlist in the app that suits your space.
