What is the best music for meditation and relaxation? What kind of music is most suited to a day spa, or as a backdrop for a relaxing massage?
No Vocals
This is probably not an absolute law, but music with lyrics tends to be distracting. On the subject of meditation, when you really want to lose yourself and remove all thoughts from the mind, vocals can actually do the opposite; with words triggering thoughts and feelings. This is something people are actually trying to avoid in the meditation process, so purely instrumental music works best.
The same goes for relaxation purposes, or using ambient mood music as a backdrop in a massage parlour or spa. The music itself is not meant to be dominant in any way. It should be soothing and, in many ways, not very noticeable at all.
Calm and Serene
Heavy hitting drums, strident sounds, sudden bursts of loud music passages; all these are things to avoid when seeking out the very best music for meditation and relaxation. Calm and serene are two key words when it comes to this sort of music.
The music should serve to free the body and mind of stress, taking the listener away to another place where everything is relaxed, a utopian experience. Strings and nature sounds work well in this genre of music, as do the swelling and falling of ambient pads. Light piano is another good instrument for relaxation music, and another that works really, really well is the pan flute.
One of my all time favourite relaxation CDs was by an Australian composer named Ken Davis. The CD – “Pan Flutes by the Ocean” – was a major seller and one of the most popular relaxation compilations of all time.
Longer Is Better
For relaxation and meditation music tracks to deliver full benefit, longer tracks tend to work better. They also tend to be quite repetitive, adding a hypnotic element to the mix. Many of these tracks are a minimum of 5 minutes in length, with many extending beyond the 10 minute mark. The idea behind this is to allow enough time for the listener to really relax and be carried away by the music before a slight change in sound and ambience takes place by the commencement of a new track.
Relaxation Music for Video and Projects
If you plan to use existing music in a video production or some other form of public project, then a music sync license will be required to be able to legally use that piece of music. But don’t worry, these days, with so many websites offering great music and licenses, the process is quick, easy and totally painless.
I license out my music on a website called – Songtradr.
As yet I only have one relaxation/meditation track in my catalogue, but there are many available on the Songtradr platform and it’s definitely worth checking out. The price for a license to use music in a video isn’t very much, so it’s not going to break the budget.
You can check out one of my tracks and others in the Songtradr catalogue by clicking on their logo below.
Hey Darren.
I thought I’d sure something interesting my guidance counsellor told me in high school (after she gave trying to convince me to stop listening to music while I study).
She recommended that I try and stick to music that was at 120 bpm (and classical) because (apparently) it was the tempo that synchronised with our brains best.
Do you think she was on to something?
Hi Ryan,
Interesting points you bring up about the tempo of music. I’m not really sure whether that’s absolutely true or not, but what it does give is an idea of writing a post on that subject and see what I can find out. Cheers.