I don’t know about you, but I love music. So, when I find a study about the impact of music on relationships, I feel compelled to check it out. The study I discovered was conducted by Yale researchers and suggested that the “right type of music” can help us feel more connected to the person across the table from us. When I say the “right type of music,” I mean music with pleasant, predictable chord progressions (like those common in pop or jazz music). This pleasant, predictable music increases the activity in brain regions associated with social perception and emotional processing. It “strengthens the neural activity in brain areas that help people understand and respond to others.” In other words, pleasant, predictable chord progressions of pop and jazz promote social bonding…even on a biological level.

You can use this information to increase family connection by playing enjoyable music in the background during family interactions. Put on some jazz during dinner. Play a little pop music while you play together in the yard. When you have a conversation, have some enjoyable music in the background. The car is a wonderful place to have conversations. When you do, put on a pleasant playlist while you talk. Don’t play the music so loud that it’s distracting. Just play it in the background. And make sure it’s pleasant, enjoyable music as opposed to dissonant, complicated music. Then, enjoy your conversation as the music enhances your brain regions for social perception and emotional processing…you might find the marriage or family conversations going just a little more smoothly, even following a more predictable and enjoyable cadence.