music homework tasks

4 best music for homework that’ll dramatically improve your productivity

Choosing the right music for homework can help you focus better and learn faster.

Around 60% of students tend to listen to music while studying. Researchers also found that listening to music was the most popular side activity for teens who juggled studying with another task.

While we may prefer different genres of focus music, we can all agree that the right playlist has the magical ability to boost concentration.

This is because music activates the most diverse networks of the human brain. It’s been proven that people with ADHD focus better with the right music.

This is on top of  existing research  that has found listening to music reduces anxiety, blood pressure, and improves sleep quality, mood, and memory.

Johns Hopkins University researchers have done work on jazz performers improvising inside an fMRI machine to see which areas of the brain light up as well.

They found that jazz musicians make unique improvisations by turning off inhibition and turning up creativity.

In short, if you find the right music for homework, you can elevate both brain power and creativity.

While there isn’t a one-size-fit-all approach to this, let us help you narrow down some of the best genres for you to try:

Here are the five best music for homework to help you increase your productivity:

Having the right music matters, even for top athletes. Source: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

1. Classical music

When picking music for homework, you’ve probably heard how classical music can increase your focus when studying.

There’s a theory dubbed “The Mozart Effect” that suggests this genre of music can enhance brain activity and arouse your brain to focus.

There are also several studies done where students listening to classical music did better on quizzes than students with no music.

Suggestions:

• ClassicFM  (a free radio streaming platform that plays famous classical pieces)
• “Study Playlist: Classical Music” on Spotify
• “Classical Music for When You’re on a Deadline” on YouTube

2. Video game music 

This might surprise you but video game music is actually one of the best music for homework. According to Orion Academy , video game music is designed to keep you absorbed and focused — which is also great for memorising. 

When your brain is focused on just melody, it’s taking a break from trying to break down the lyrics of a song and thus increases your performance .

Video game music tends to stay at a relatively low, constant volume too, preventing you from becoming distracted by sudden increases in volume.

Since video game music is generally fast-paced, your brain will be constantly engaged in the task at hand.

• “Video game soundtracks” on Spotify
• “Video game music for studying” on YouTube
• Choose favourites from this list and create your own playlist!

3. RnB 

If you’re someone who easily gets distracted, RnB may not be the best music for homework for you. There’s a high chance that you might spend too much time jamming to the lyrics of the song instead of focusing.

Though music under his genre generally has lyrics, many RnB fans reported feeling more relaxed, focused, and less stressed, which may have a positive impact on their ability to focus and learn.

• “Study R&B Smooth Songs ” on Spotify
• “Chill R&B Beats Mix – Beats to Relax and Study (Vol.1)” on YouTube

4. Nature sounds 

It’s been shown that nature sounds relax our nervous system. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  have also discovered that natural sounds boost moods and focus.

The study found employees were more productive and had more positive feelings when nature sounds were playing in the background while they worked.

Nature sounds include the soothing sounds of the rain, ocean waves on the beach or even the jungle. Some prefer listening to bird calls and animal noises, so feel free to explore if nature sounds aren’t the right music for homework for you. 

Relaxing Nature Sounds for Sleeping – Natural Calm Forest Waterfall Music Meditation Sound for Study on YouTube

“Nature Sounds For Concentration” on Spotify

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Can Music Make You More Productive?

• Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

It depends on the task at hand.

Picking the right type of music, at the right time, and for the right task, can be a powerful productivity booster. At the same time, the specific types and aspects of music that influence our performance are variable. Here are a few things anyone interested in using music to improve their performance should consider:

• Your personality determines whether and how much you benefit from background music while you work. If you’re extroverted, your performance will likely increase with background music or minor distractions. Conversely, being an introvert increases the probability that you find any background noise, including music, distracting.
• Your choice of music is influenced by your desire to enhance certain moods, even when you’re not conscious of it. Most people perform best when they pick music that matches their natural personality.
• The effects of music on performance are largely dependent on task complexity. If you have to work on a boring or easy task (whether it is new or old), music can enhance your attention by providing extra stimulation to your brain.
• Background music can be a good antidote to other distractions. Even for those who prefer to work in silence, picking the right music is more likely to help them relax and focus than having to listen to their colleagues, kids, or strangers.
• Some studies report that background music is more beneficial (and less distracting) when it doesn’t have lyrics.

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Music is magical. It has the potential to boost our concentration, mindset, and performance. In the context of work, background music (including the widely-researched classical genre) has been found to improve our performance on cognitive tasks, such as spatial or verbal ability tests, for short periods of time. My own research has shown that music is a powerful emotional regulation tool, and a recent meta-analysis found that music therapy is an effective way to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

• Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, a professor of business psychology at University College London and at Columbia University, co-founder of  deepersignals.com , and an associate at Harvard’s Entrepreneurial Finance Lab. He is the author of  Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (and How to Fix It ) , upon which his  TEDx talk  was based. His latest book is I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique.   Find him at  www.drtomas.com . drtcp

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15+ Free Classroom Music Activities and Lesson Plans for the Classroom

Here are more than 15 amazing resources for teaching classroom music, suitable for use by specialist and non-specialist teachers. We keep adding to these all the time, so check back here often!

Poison Rhythm Game

This is a fun aural clapping game for just about any age group. The teacher claps a series of patterns, and the students echo. Then the teacher claps the “poison rhythm” which the students have learned in advance. If they clap, they’re out! Its loads of fun and educational at the same time.

Musical Pizza

A music composition lesson plan where students will create their own rhythms. They will use the concept of word association. Pizza ingredients put together terrific rhythm patterns!

Musical Tic-Tac-Toe

This is a flexible idea which is usable in many different grade levels. The concept is simple. The teacher writes a tic-tac-toe board on the screen. Then a students needs. to “earn” the right to place a O or X on the board. They do this by identifying whatever musical symbol or concept the class is working on!

A complete lesson plan for a bucket drumming class

A full step-by-step lesson plan for teaching a music class their first bucket drumming performance piece called “Funky Buckets”

The Importance of Aural Training

While most teachers know of echo clapping to be a standard “attention grabber”, music teachers can extend this simple habit into an amazingly effective way of getting students to listen better while teaching the aural/ listening component to any music curriculum.

Grade One Composing Lesson

A composition lesson with simple questions and answers suitable for early grades.

Homework and Hotdogs Rhythm Activity

A fantastic little rhythm piece which is great fun for percussion instruments.

Classroom music resources using tuned percussion

Moving from Singing into Playing

Learn how students can quickly move from singing a song through to learning some simple tuned percussion parts in grade two in a few easy steps.

Fun Action Song for Grade One

Learn this wonderful fun action song called “Kye Kye Kule” to inspire grade one students to sing and play their first classroom instruments.

Grade Three Tuned Percussion Lesson

A fun way to introduce xylophones, glockenspiels and how to play simple repetitive patterns called ostinati.

Classroom music worksheets

Treasure Island Music Theory Quizzes

These Treasure island quiz games will get your students to test their music theory knowledge while they find clues to answer the trivia treasure question at the end.

Emergency Pack Worksheets

This Fun Music ebook provides crosswords and find-a-word puzzles to leave in the classroom for a substitute lesson or a quick five minute filler.

Listening activities for the classroom

Musical Who Am I?

A fun beginning idea for grade three students to get into learning about some early rock and roll artists.

Stravinsky Listening activity

A fun music appreciation activity for junior high school students learning about some amazing music from Igor Stravinksy.

Grade Four Listening Lesson

A music listening and appreciation lesson based on “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. It’s a lesson designed to teach more than just the music.

Classroom music resources using boomwhackers

Mystery Boomwhacker Game

A fun listening game for Boomwhacker tubes, suitable for grades Kindergarten to Grade 4

A Video Lesson for Boomwhackers

If you’ve ever wanted to teach or play Boomwhackers, but don’t know where to start,  this video is an online play-along resource.

Boomwhacker Piece for Primary or Elementary

In a few minutes, your young students will be having fun playing this fun warm up tune called “Elephants Walk, Monkeys Run” on Boomwhackers.

Technology and software resource

Using the GarageBand Beat Sequencer

We show you how to get students started in Garageband on iPads then move onto using the beats Sequencer tool within a few easy steps in this blog video post . 

Lesson Plan for GarageBand Manual Drums

A complete lesson for GarageBand using iPads where students learn to create their own drum pattern using a function of the GarageBand software called the “manual drums”.  

Ukulele resources

Ukulele Playing Exercises

if you’ve ever wanted to get your students started with playing melody and chord patterns on their ukuleles, you can do it in minutes with these three fun beginning activities!

Equipment you will need

Many of these activities will need little or no equipment. Some may need a classroom whiteboard or display screen. You will also need a sound system, such as a high quality Bluetooth speaker so all of the instruments can be clearly heard.

Looking for more?

Checkout our four outstanding music teaching ideas for more inspiration!

More classroom music resources: 

If you’re serious about teaching the K-6 Music Curriculum to its full potential and learn more about how all these smaller teaching ideas build into a full music curriculum, you might want to join one of our signature  programs called the Fun Music Curriculum . It’s all laid out step by step and you don’t even have to do any extra preparation to get it started with your classes. You can learn more by watching this video:

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11 Comments

Great resources here for utilizing music in an educational setting.

Yeah I’m a teacher and this has been really helpful

I’m a teacher and this has made things easier

Hey, I have considered purchasing the software program DubTurbo Beatmaker and was hoping anybody could give me an actual genuine review of the application. Almost all of the online resources that supply experiences are in fact affiliate marketers endorsing the software program so I doubt that the product reviews are trustworthy. Thank you in advance for just about any insight any individual can provide.

Hi Giselle,

DubTurbo Beatmaker is not a software program we are familiar with, so can’t really provide much of an insight. We will have a look and see if we can do an independent review. I agree that most of the ‘reviews’ one finds for most software programs are in fact affiliate links, so can’t be considered ‘independent’ at all

[…] http://funmusicco.com/music-lesson-plans/15-free-music-activities-and-lesson-plans-for-the-classroom … […]

accidentally stumbled on this great thing..m a music teacher from india..i will start using this..thank u..any other great sites available please do suggest..

Any help you can provide will be appreciated! New Music Teacher here.

i, would you be kind to email me some musical lesson for gr 9 to 12. am new in teaching music.

Hi Ben, I suggest you begin by checking out our resource archive of lessons – https://funmusicco.com/resource-archive/ to see if any of these ideas might suit your students.

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March 3, 2020

Does Music Boost Your Cognitive Performance?

The answer depends on your personality

By Cindi May

Getty Images

Music makes life better in so many ways. It elevates mood , reduces stress and eases pain . Music is heart-healthy , because it can lower blood pressure , reduce heart rate and decrease stress hormones in the blood. It also connects us with others and enhances social bonds . Music can even improve workout endurance and increase our enjoyment of challenging activities .

The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework or studying for exams. But is listening to music the smart choice for students who want to optimize their learning?

A new study by Manuel Gonzalez of Baruch College and John Aiello of Rutgers University suggests that for some students, listening to music is indeed a wise strategy, but for others, it is not. The effect of music on cognitive functioning appears not to be “one-size-fits-all” but to instead depend, in part, on your personality—specifically, on your need for external stimulation. People with a high requirement for such stimulation tend to get bored easily and to seek out external input. Those individuals often do worse , paradoxically, when listening to music while engaging in a mental task. People with a low need for external stimulation, on the other hand, tend to improve their mental performance with music.

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But other factors play a role as well. Gonzalez and Aiello took a fairly sophisticated approach to understanding the influence of music on intellectual performance, assessing not only listener personality but also manipulating the difficulty of the task and the complexity of the music. Whether students experience a perk or a penalty from music depends on the interplay of the personality of the learner, the mental task, and the music.

In the study, participants first completed the Boredom Proneness Scale , which is a personality test used to determine need for external stimulation. They then engaged in an easy cognitive task (searching for the letter A in lists of words) and a more challenging one (remembering word pairs). To control for practice and fatigue effects, half of the subjects completed the easy task first, while the other half completed the challenging one first. Participants finished both tasks under one of three sound conditions: (a) no music, (b) simple music or (c) complex music. All of the music was instrumental, and music complexity was manipulated by varying the number of instruments involved in the piece. Simple music included piano, strings and synthesizer, while complex music added drums and bass to the simple piece.

The data suggest that your decision to turn music on (or off) while studying should depend on your personality. For those with a high need of external stimulation, listening to music while learning is not wise, especially if the task is hard and/or the music is complex. On the simple task of finding A’s, such subjects’ scores for the music condition were the same (for simple music) or significantly worse (for complex music) than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, their performance was worse whenever music was played, regardless of whether it was simple or complex.

For those with a low need of external stimulation, however, listening to music is generally the optimal choice. On the simple task of findings A’s, such participants’ scores for the music condition were the same (for simple music) or dramatically better (for complex music) than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, the participants showed a small but reliable benefit with both simple and complex music, relative to silence.

The results suggest that there are substantial individual differences in the impact of music on cognitive function, and thus recommendations regarding its presence in the classroom, study hall or work environment may need to be personalized. Students who are easily bored and who seek out stimulation should be wary of adding music to the mix, especially complex music that may capture attention and consume critical cognitive resources that are needed for successful task completion. On the other hand, students with a low need for stimulation may benefit significantly from the presence of music, especially when completing simple, mundane tasks.

Before students decide to slip in their earbuds, though, they should carefully consider both their musical selection and the nature of the task. All of the music used in the present study was instrumental, and lyrical music will likely be more complex. Complexity appears to increase arousal, and the Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that a moderate level of arousal produces optimal performance. When there is too little or too much arousal, performance drops. Thus, the benefits of music for those with a low need for external stimulation that were observed here could diminish or even disappear with the added complexity of lyrics.

Similarly, increases in the complexity of a cognitive task might also reduce or eliminate the benefit of music. Although the “complex” task used in this study (learning word pairs) was only moderately challenging, the increase in complexity, relative to the simple task, was enough to reduce music’s positive effect. With a highly challenging cognitive task (e.g., text comprehension or exam preparation), even those with a low need for external stimulation may fail to show such an effect with music.

With the right (low-need-for-stimulation) personality, the right (instrumental) music and the right (low-to-moderately-difficult) task, the presence of music may significantly improve cognitive functioning. Given the many other physical, emotional and psychological benefits of music, that subscription to Spotify just might pay for itself!

Cindi May is a professor of psychology at the College of Charleston. She explores avenues for improving cognitive function and outcomes in college students, older adults and individuals who are neurodiverse.

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What is chrome music lab.

Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments.

What can it be used for?

Many teachers have been using Chrome Music Lab as a tool in their classrooms to explore music and its connections to science , math , art , and more. They’ve been combining it with dance and live instruments . Here’s a collection of some uses we’ve found on Twitter.

Can I use it to make my own songs?

Yes. Check out the Song Maker experiment, which lets you make and share your own songs.

Do I need to make an account?

Nope. Just open any experiment and start playing.

How were these built?

All our experiments are all built with freely accessible web technology such as Web Audio API , WebMIDI , Tone.js , and more. These tools make it easier for coders to build new interactive music experiences. You can get the open-source code to lots of these experiments here on Github .

What devices do these work on?

You can play with these experiments across devices – phones, tablets, laptops – just by opening the site on a web browser such as Chrome .

What's next for Chrome Music Lab?

We always get inspired by new, unexpected ways that people use these experiments. If you’d like to share something with us, post it with #chromemusiclab or drop us a line .

15 Music Therapy Activities and Tools

As a therapy, music is a proven way to reduce stress and to get into a mindful state of consciousness.

Music therapy includes listening, communicating, and understanding. It is a popular method used in hospitals, educational institutions, and other clinical settings to ease clients and make them comfortable.

Psychologists believe that music therapy improves the quality of life (Scott, 2018). From pain to personal loss, attentional disorders to relationship issues, music therapy is one fix that suits all.

Professor Suzanne Hanser of Berklee College of Music said that music therapy serves five significant purposes:

• Shifting one’s attention from problems to solutions.
• Offering a rhythmic structure for relaxation and breathing.
• Helping clients visualize positive imagery that evokes pleasure and happiness.
• Helping them achieve a deep state of relaxation.
• Changing mood.

Music therapy stands undisputed as a heal for negative stress and burden. In this article, we will take a look at some of the most useful resources on music therapy for kids and adults. With a range of exercises, activities, and kinds of music, the tools mentioned in the sections below can be a great start to uncovering the real benefits of music therapy on all levels.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students or employees.

This Article Contains:

What are music therapy activities and tools, 3 music therapy techniques, a look at music therapy interventions, 3 examples of music therapy in action, common questions on the application of music therapy, 3 music therapy activities and exercises, application ideas for kids, 2 music therapy worksheets, 2 questionnaires (incl pdf), 2 books on music therapy, a take-home message.

Music therapy is an expressive art therapy . Whether you are writing a song, listening to it, or singing alongside – music therapy in any form requires some form of communication and expression.

Music therapy is mostly conducted under supervision, where the therapist uses specialized tools or other mechanisms to implement the program successfully.

For example, musical instruments like the guitar or piano are popular music therapy tools. Some forms of music therapy also involve imagery, where the therapist gently guides the client to imagine himself in a pleasant situation and plays soothing music to create the right ambiance for it.

There are numerous tools and activities that music therapists use.

Some of them are:

A musical instrument

Clients love to hear their therapist play and sing along. Having a guitar, ukulele, keyboard, or harp, is excellent for brightening up the session. It brings in an immediate sense of joy and works brilliantly for youngsters in music therapy.

Playing music on a good speaker is ideal for group therapy. It creates a sense of livelihood and encourages clients to participate in the process. Besides, it also helps the therapist to make sure he is audible to all.

A screen for visual activities

When using visual imagery to accompany the music, therapists often keep a tablet or other devices to project the image on the screen. Besides keeping clients engaged throughout the session, visual tools act as a catalyst in enhancing the positive impact of music on our mind.

Paper and pen

Many music therapists keep pen and paper for recording and managing feedback. It is also used in songwriting activities or sentence completion games where the clients express themselves through words.

The core purpose of music therapy is to strengthen one’s emotional skills and calls for a positive shift in mindset . Various methods or music therapy activities are used by professionals to meet these goals (Kimberley 2012).

For example, some music therapy activities include:

• Writing and singing songs.
• Improvising on songs and music pieces.
• Playing a musical instrument.
• Using musical devices and technology.
• Listening to music (with and without visual imagery).
• Exchanging information through music.

What music therapy techniques do you know? We reflect on three techniques.

1. Drumming

Drumming is an excellent music tool for inducing light-hearted fun, positive addiction, and unhindered engagement. Scientists believe that drumming activities increase cellular activity that helps the body fight against neurological and endocrinological disorders.

Besides improving bodily functions, drumming also has a positive social connotation and brings people together as part of a group.

There are no rules in drumming interventions. Clients are free to choose their way and play the instrument as they like.

Rick Allen, a famous drummer and the founder of the Raven Drum Foundation, suggested that some immediate benefits of drumming include:

• Reduction of stress, trauma, and anxiety.
• Controlling symptoms of chronic pain.
• Revitalizing the immune system.
• Creating a sense of social connection.
• Emotional catharsis or release of bottled-up anger and aggression.
• Providing scope for self-realization and introspection.

Singing is a universal music therapy technique that is suitable for clients of all ages and backgrounds. It has been incorporated in various forms and activities and is a widely used music therapy tool today. Many psychologists call singing the ‘mega-vitamin’ for the brain.

Studies have shown that listening to songs or singing along with them helps in repairing damaged brain tissues. This is a reason why singing is a crucial part of treating Parkinson’s disease, dementia, or Alzheimer’s (Gerdner and Swanson,1993).

3. Vibro-Acoustic Therapy

Vibro-Acoustic Therapy or VAT is a scientific approach of combining low-frequency vibrations with the resonations of slow-paced music. The International Society of VAT mentioned that ‘sound waves helps in circulating positive energy throughout the body.’ It activates the body and allows it to use the inbuilt repair mechanisms to calm the mind and body.

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Music therapy interventions are broadly categorized as active interventions and receptive interventions. In general, all forms of music therapy interventions use the power of tunes and sound waves to penetrate the human mind and help it attain a peaceful state. Whether a person is creating music, playing it, or listening to it, the instant emotions that the process evokes help bring about the positive shift in focus.

Active music interventions are the ones where clients and therapists are equally involved in the therapeutic process. Activities such as dancing, group singing, solo performances, or musical games are ideal examples of active interventions of music therapy.

In receptive or passive interventions, clients are mostly listeners more than performers. These interventions include music relaxation therapies, mindful music meditation, or the like.

A popular music intervention that many neuroscientists rely on is Neurologic Music Therapy or NMT. It is a scientific technique that records brain functions before and after exposure to relaxing music to induce desirable changes in the client. NMT is a therapy of choice for helping clients with neuro-linguistic troubles, and it also helps in developing motor skills in children and young adults. (Koelsch, 2009).

The earliest evidence of a musical instrument was a bone flute that was arguably about 40,000 years old. The in-grained impact of music therapy that more or less all of us experience is partly due to these ancient links of music and human living (Rolvsjord, 2010).

Music therapy has been around since the Stone Age. Ancient civilizations and indigenous cultures like the Aborigines of Australia and some African tribes used singing and musical group activities to pray, celebrate, or sail through tough times (such as drought, flood, or extreme weather conditions).

The Ancient Greek civilization also leaves traces of how they incorporated music into their lives and believed that it is the only way to restore the peace of mind and body.

Musings of Plato and Pythagoras have several indications of how the Greeks tried to support each other through music and encouraged music education and awareness in their communities (Pavlicevic and Ansdell, 2004; Stige, 2002; 2003; Stige, Ansdell, and Pavlicevic, 2010; Stige and Aaroe, 2012).

Another prominent example of a real-life application of music therapy is in autism treatment. Autistic children, who have impaired social and cognitive abilities, respond prominently better to musical stimuli than other modes of communication. It captures their attention and sustains it for a longer duration.

Studies have also shown that teaching differently-abled children daily duties through musical actions helps in imprinting the information permanently and internalizing the information sooner.

Why I want to change the world with music therapy – Erin Seibert

Jeff Peterson, President of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, said that most clients and caregivers, before participating in music therapy sessions come with several queries about the usefulness of music therapy.

Some common questions that people ask include:

• What is music therapy?
• How does it help in improving health?
• How often do we need to practice it?
• How does it impact on mood and emotions?
• Where can we practice it?
• Who can give us more information about music therapy?
• Are music therapy and music relaxation the same thing?

Many online resources and blogs give us an idea of what we should know before signing up for music therapy and who we should talk to. You can have a look at these articles by our writers that beautifully explain music therapy, its background, and implications in real life.

• What is Music Therapy and How Does it Work?
• What Are the Benefits of Music Therapy?

Music therapy research is at its peak, and many effective musical interventions and strategies are uniquely designed to suit our purposes. Below is a list of popular music therapy group activities and other interventions that you might want to know about.

1. Music Bingo

Music Bingo is a cognitive music activity that improves memory and reality orientation. It is a preferred method for adult interventions and is often used in association with other forms of therapy to improve mental health.

The activity involves making cards where each participant draws a song, and others sing it after guessing the name right. It can be played in pairs or as a group, and works great for people with poor memory skills.

2. Music Relaxation

Music relaxation is a well-known music therapy for mindfulness and meditation. The primary purpose of music relaxation is to induce a calm state where the mind can relax, and the muscles can loosen up to shed the pent-up stress.

Music relaxation is a vital component in many yoga retreats, where instructors moderate the room lights and minimize any external distraction before playing the tune. It is also a great way to unwind ourselves every day and helps improve emotional resilience over time.

3. Music Selection

Music selection is used for adolescents or clients with disturbances in emotional and self-regulation. The process involves letting clients choose a piece of music that they are familiar with. Self-selected pieces of music evoke emotions and bring back memories that might be associated with it.

Music selection often accompanies guided visual imagery where the therapist urges the client to imagine himself in a pleasant environment while the music continues to play in the background. It is a meditative practice that induces ultimate self-awareness and acceptance.

Music therapy motivates kids of all ages and is an excellent intervention for managing childhood depression, impulse control problems, and attention-related disorders (Gold, Voracek, and Wigram, 2004).

Musical interventions for children are used in schools, private counseling practices, medical facilities, and foster homes. The common goal is to uplift their mood and help them manage their distress effectively.

Most researchers agree that music therapy for children works best in a group setting. Performing as part of a team helps them form connections to peers and overcome any loneliness they have been facing.

Whether the interventions are conducted in schools or other facilities, group activities help in:

• Knowing others having similar problems and developing empathy.
• Communicating and motivating each other in the group.
• Expressing and reacting spontaneously to the stimuli.
• Building connections and helping each other overcome their loneliness.
• Improving listening skills, readiness, and reaction times.
• Building secure coping mechanisms and self-confidence.

Involving family and teachers in music therapy for kids is also an excellent option for rebuilding the relationships they share with their elders. Musical exercises help them come closer to each other and explore happiness by spending undistracted time with each other.

There are a few interesting music therapy worksheets in our toolkit, and we briefly describe them below.

Using Music to Express Feelings

As mentioned earlier, music therapy calls for emotional catharsis and self-expression. The ‘ Using Music to Express Feelings ‘ worksheet helps clients open up about their innermost feelings through some musical expressions.

The exercise is simple and contains the following steps. It is subjective and self-storable, so there are no right or wrong answers in this. Below is a brief description of the worksheet, and you can learn more about it from the Positive Psychology Toolkit© .

Instructions – Choose three songs that you think describe your situation and feelings right now. For each of the songs you chose, answer the following questions, and be true to yourself. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers here.

1. What are the titles of the songs? ____________________________________________________________ 2. What comes to your mind when you hear the songs? ____________________________________________________________ 3. How do they make you feel? ____________________________________________________________ 4. What part of each song is the most important to you, and why? ____________________________________________________________

Draw What You Hear Worksheet

This worksheet is used in several settings for both individual and group purposes. The task is simple and uses the following steps:

• Clients rate their listening skills at the beginning of the session.
• The therapist then exposes them to a few musical pieces and asks them to attend to each carefully.
• At the next step, each participant gets a worksheet (shown below), where they either write, draw, or journal what they felt after listening to the pieces of music.

Use the following surveys to assess your clients.

1. Music Therapy Questionnaire Survey

The Music Therapy Questionnaire Survey is an assessment that is usually used at the beginning or the end of each session. The questionnaire is objective; a brief overview of it is here below.

2. Children’s Music Therapy Questionnaire

The Children’s Music Therapy Questionnaire is an adaptation of the adult version. The worksheet is represented with bright images and pictorial representations that children should find easy and fun to do. The questionnaire is briefly illustrated below, and you can download the full version as well.

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

These Music Therapy books are great tools to improve your knowledge and skills.

1. The Handbook of Music Therapy – Leslie Bunt, Leslie Hoskyns, and Sangeeta Swami

The book is divided into four segments, each exploring a crucial aspect of music therapy such as its evolution, historical implications, clinical contributions, practical applications, and professional uses.

It comes with real-life examples and case studies and is suitable for professionals, therapists, or anyone interested to learn more about the fundamentals of musical interventions in psychotherapy.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. Rhythm to Recovery: A Practical Guide to Using Rhythmic Music, Voice and Movement for Social and Emotional Development – Simon Faulkner and James Oshinsky

The book contains over 100 drills that are suitable for different age groups and is undoubtedly an excellent reference for professional use. It offers meaningful insight on childhood and adolescent problems and uncovers unique ways of using music to address those issues.

Music reduces pain and brings us closer to ourselves. It is one of the best remedies for beating stress and loneliness, and also gives us the strength to face and express the strong emotions that guide most of our actions.

Using music as a relaxation technique, individual, or group intervention can bring desired changes in terms of cardiac functioning, blood pressure levels, and overall body functions. Whether you are an active listener or an active performer, music, in any form, will change your life for the better.

As Jean Richter said, and we all at some levels would agree to it:

Music is moonlight in the gloomy nights of our lives.

Continue Reading: 17 Best Drama Therapy Techniques, Activities & Exercises

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Blood, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion .
• Forsblom, Lantinen, Särkämö, and Tervaniemi, (2009). Therapeutic role of music listening in stroke rehabilitation .
• Guetin, Picot, Pommie, and Djabelkir, (2009). Effect of music therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with Alzheimer’s type dementia .
• Klassen, Liang, and Hartling, (2008). Music for pain and anxiety in children undergoing medical procedures .
• Koelsch, S. (2009). A Neuroscientific perspective on music therapy .
• Levy, Jillian (2017). Music therapy: Benefits and uses for anxiety, depression and more .
• Scott, Elizabeth (2018). Music relaxation: A healthy stress management tool.
• Smith, Yolanda (2018). Types of Music Therapy .

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I’m glad you found the article about Music Bingo interesting and that you’re keen to try it!

Here’s how it works: Each participant receives a card with different songs listed. Then a song is played or a hint is given about a song. Participants try to identify the song and if they have it on their card, they mark it. Eventually, the first person to complete a row or pattern (as decided before the game starts) and shout “Bingo!” is the winner.

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The 7 Laws of Multitasking

The two main hazards (and two main benefits) of multitasking..

Posted December 16, 2014

You’ve been told that multitasking is a bad idea. Articles and essays appear every day telling you why multitasking is dangerous, makes things take longer, tires out your brain, reduces the quality of your work, and lowers your IQ . And, for the most part, these warnings are all based on good research. 1, 2

But have you ever noticed that you still multitask in many ways, and it usually works out just fine?

The truth is that sometimes multitasking is a very bad idea, sometimes it doesn’t help, but also doesn’t hurt much, and sometimes it brings great benefits. The point of this essay is to help us tell the difference.

And, with that, I present the seven laws of multitasking.

Law One: Some tasks mix well.

In the simplest case, when you multitask, you have a primary task (task A), and a secondary task (task B). The primary task is your priority. The secondary task is tacked on as something else you can enjoy or accomplish at the same time.

Sometimes the two tasks will mix well. Here are some examples:

• listening to music while practicing a sports skill
• talking with strangers while waiting in line
• listening to a talk radio program while driving (sometimes)
• listening to music while working.
• talking on the phone while cooking
• cleaning a room while doing a weight workout
• doing dishes while waiting for a video game to load
• watching television while folding laundry
• listening to an audiobook while exercising
• drinking coffee while talking with a friend
• eating popcorn while watching a movie

And, contrary to idiom, even chewing gum while walking works out just fine most of the time.

On the other hand, . . .

Law Two: Some tasks mix poorly.

Sometimes tasks don’t mix well. Here are some examples:

• texting while driving
• monitoring social media while doing high-focus creative work
• watching television while doing homework
• listening to a podcast while writing
• listening to music with lyrics while reading
• talking with friends while watching a movie
• emailing one person while talking with another
• playing angry birds while landing a commercial passenger jet.

These examples, good and bad, come from my own experience, from common experience, and from the research literature. One or two of the examples might fail to resonate for you, but the point remains: multitasking is a mixed bag.

Now let’s see if we can figure out what makes multitasking good in some cases and bad in others.

Law Three: It’s partly about switching costs.

Imagine you have a small kitchen, and you plan to make two omelets and two batches of cookies. In what order should you do your cooking?

When you make an omelet, you must get out the eggs, the cheese, a cutting board, a knife, some spices, some vegetables, a skillet, and a mixing bowl. Then you make the omelet. And, if you’re like me, when you’re finished, you still have a dirty mixing bowl, cutting board and skillet sitting there, with the eggs, cheese, and maybe some extra veggies still sitting on the counter. At some point you will need to clean up and put things away.

So we can break the task of making a single omelet into three parts: 1) setup, 2) make the omelet, 3) cleanup.

And the same goes for baking cookies. You’ll have the same three components to that task: setup, make the cookies, and cleanup.

Now consider two plans for making the two omelets and two batches of cookies:

Plan 1 : omelet, cookies, omelet, cookies

Plan 2 : omelet, omelet, cookies, cookies.

And consider how much time and effort is required for each plan.

With plan 1 you will need to:

• setup for omelet
• make omelet
• setup for cookies
• make cookies

With plan 2 you will need to:

When you alternate tasks, you have to clean up task A before you can setup for task B (remember, this is a small kitchen). And it turns out that you can save a lot of work by focusing on one kind of food at a time instead of switching between them. You save two setups and two cleanups by following plan 2 instead of plan 1. This is the benefit of batch processing. It saves on overhead.

The same thing happens in your brain when you multitask. For example, when you sit down to do some homework your mind has to do some setup tasks. It must load certain information into short term memory , build appropriate mental models, erect filters to keep irrelevant information out, and so forth.

Now, if you switch your attention to watching television for a few seconds, you must free up some of the resources being used for homework, and prepare some new mental resources that are needed to track the show you’re watching.

So your mind has to perform some cleanup and setup work every time you switch from homework to television, and every time you switch back as well. These are known as “switching costs”, and they cost you in terms of both time and energy.

The costs might be small for an individual switch, but after an hour of homework/television they add up, and you might find you got only half of the homework done you could have, and you might be more mentally weary as well. 2

And the switching costs will be even greater if your primary task is a complicated creative endeavor, such as constructing a mathematical proof, developing a theory in physics, writing about a complicated topic, or coding a complex algorithm.

Richard Feynman had the following to say about allowing creative work to be interrupted (whether by accident or through multitasking):

“To do high, real good physics work you do need absolutely solid lengths of time, so that when you’re putting ideas together which are vague and hard to remember, it’s very much like building a house of cards and each of the cards is shaky, and if you forget one of them the whole thing collapses again. You don’t know how you got there and you have to build them up again, . . .” 3

The problem is that, when you’re doing complicated work, you often have to build up intricate mental models, and you’re pushing yourself to the edge of your capacity to concentrate. And when you take your attention away from your creative task and attend to an interruption, the mental models dissolve. And you probably won’t be able to build them back up the way they were.

It’s like having your computer crash while writing a paper, and realizing you hadn’t saved your document for half an hour. It will cost you time and energy trying to get everything built back up, and you might not actually get it back the way it was.

The real tragedy here is not that sometimes geniuses lose track of where they were. Geniuses typically value deep concentration and take measures to protect against interruption. The real tragedy is that many chronic multitaskers never bother with deep concentration, and might never discover the genius within them.

Law Four: It’s partly about resource conflict.

Another problem with mutitasking is that task A and task B might need the same mental resource, and they can’t both use it at the same time.

If a person listens to light instrumental music while sending an email message, there is typically little problem. Task B (listening to music) makes use of mental resources not needed for task A (writing the email message). If our email writer sub-vocalizes as she writes, there might be some auditory involvement, but the music won’t require verbal processing, so the degree of conflict is minimal.

If, on the other hand, she talks with a colleague while writing her email, then there is much more conflict over mental resources. Task B requires the person to construct and communicate meaning in sentences, just like task A does. Both require empathy and social strategizing as well. Trying to do both tasks at the same time will cause high switching costs and a greater chance of error.

Texting while driving is an iconic case of resource conflict. Both tasks compete over visual attention. When you switch your gaze from driving to texting, you will no longer be able to see new driving hazards as long as you are looking at your phone. Plus it takes some time to get situation awareness when you look back to the road. That’s why texting and driving is now the number one cause of death for teen drivers. 4

In general, when it’s important to do task A well, we should not also take on a secondary task that competes with the primary task for key resources.

Law Five: It’s partly about sweetening the pot.

But there are benefits to multitasking. Sometimes we are staring down a relatively simple task that we just don’t want to do (such as folding clothes). But we know that we would be much happier doing that task if we could do something else pleasant or useful at the same time (such as watching television or listening to an audio book). So we multitask in order to “sweeten the pot”, so we will have the motivation needed to perform the primary task.

We might not fold the clothes in record time. There will be some switching costs. But the alternative, if we’re being frank, is that we won’t fold the clothes at all. And, since the task is relatively simple, the switching costs will be manageable.

Or sometimes the primary task will contain periods of activity interspersed with periods of inactivity, while another task can be broken into small chunks that can fit those gaps. When I workout with weights, I perform sets of exercise with periods of rest in between. When I clean my office I do a series of discrete tasks with natural break points between subtasks (clear the clutter from my desk, empty a trash can, etc.).

That makes these two activities a natural fit. If I arrange to do cleaning tasks during the rest intervals in my workout, that “sweetens the pot” for both tasks. I normally don’t like cleaning my office, and will put it off repeatedly. But, if I can make use of the dead times in my workout, it seems worthwhile, because there’s little else of value I would be able to do during those two-minute rest periods.

Multitasking can help us start a task we don’t want to do, and it can also keep us doing a task when we’ve grown impatient. When the car trip gets boring , we can play twenty-questions. When we get impatient waiting in line, we can strike up a conversation with a stranger.

And pot-sweetening is just one of the two main possible benefits of multitasking.

Law Six: It’s partly about setting picks.

In basketball, it’s easier to score when you’re not being harassed by an opponent. That’s why teammates will sometimes position themselves at a spot on the floor and just stand still. The player with the ball can then dribble close enough to the teammate that the shadowing defender must either run into the teammate, go around the teammate, or switch assignments with the teammate’s defender. Sometimes this allows the player with the ball to get off a clean shot. The teammate in this case is “setting a pick”.

Likewise, a well-chosen secondary task can “set a pick” for the primary task by blocking out potential distractors.

When we work on a task, our minds do many things. Parts of our mind are concerned with executing our primary task. They help us keep the goal in mind, make plans, execute those plans, work around obstacles, keep the right things in memory for easy access, and so on. These are “foreground” processes.

At the same time other parts of our mind are looking out for signs of danger, looping through other problems we are dealing with, monitoring our internal states, or looking for opportunities to switch to more rewarding tasks. These are “background processes”. And background processes have a way of getting us off track at times.

So here’s the thing. This is where we can use multitasking to our advantage. If we choose our secondary task wisely, it can compete for resources with background processes that might otherwise interrupt us. And that means the right task B can actually help us stay focused on task A. Here’s how we might formalize that strategy:

Background Process Interference Strategy: when background processes are likely to interrupt a primary task, try to find a secondary task that will compete for resources with the background processes, but not with the foreground processes.

In other words, use task B to “set a pick” for task A.

If you don’t like doing yard work, and you know that parts of your brain will be looking for more rewarding things to do, and will be sending a constant stream of rationalizations to your mind to try to get you to quit, then you can run interference by listening to a podcast. Listening to the podcast will compete with the background processes for a key resource (strategic thinking), but will not compete substantially for the resources being used by the primary task.

On the other hand, if you’re writing an essay, and you fear your background processes will be trying to get you to quit, setting a pick with a podcast won’t work as well. In that case, task B will interfere not only with the background processes but also with the foreground processes -- like a clumsy teammate who tries to set a pick and knocks over the ball-handler in the process.

Law Seven: It’s all about making trade-offs.

It should be clear by now that we can’t say full stop whether multitasking is good or bad. It all depends on features of task A, features of task B, how A and B interact, and what a person’s goals are.

When it’s important to do the primary task well (driving), we must be extra careful about switching costs and resource conflict (that’s why texting while driving is a terrible idea). When it’s not that important, we can be more relaxed about those costs, and be more open to some of the benefits of multitasking (watching television while folding clothes is probably fine).

Sometimes it will be important to do task A quickly (studying for a test the night before an exam) and sometimes it won’t matter too much how long it takes (folding laundry on an otherwise empty evening). When it’s important to do a task quickly, we must be extra concerned about switching costs (and we might opt for some mid-tempo instrumental music to help us focus and block out distractions while we study -- instead of watching a television program).

Sometimes we are motivated to do task A (playing a new video game), and sometimes we lack motivation (working out). When we lack motivation, a well-chosen task B might just sweeten the pot.

Sometimes we are so familiar with task A, we do much of it on “auto-pilot”. And sometimes task A takes our full attention. That’s why listening to a talk program on radio can be a good idea for an experienced driver, but a bad idea for a student just learning to drive.

Sometimes task A is complicated (writing an essay), and other times it’s simple (folding clothes). Switching costs are usually higher for complicated tasks.

And so, in order to tell whether a given case of multitasking is good or bad, we will have to weigh the costs against the benefits on a case by case basis.

Conclusion: some specific and useful strategies.

We’ve covered a lot of ground. Here are the key lessons in a nutshell:

We’ve seen that multitasking can be a bad idea when:

• there are high switching costs
• there is resource conflict between task A and task B

And we’ve seen that it can be a good idea when:

• task B “sweetens the pot” for task A
• task B can “set a pick” for task A

And we’ve seen that the wisdom of multitasking can also depend on other features of task A and task B:

• how important it is to do them well
• how familiar they are
• how important it is to do them quickly
• how motivated we are to do them
• how complicated they are

Let’s finish with a few specific and useful ways to apply these lessons:

• Multitasking can be dangerous. When it’s important to do task A well, we should be very careful about choosing a task B, and err on the side of caution. We should never text and drive, or talk on the phone while driving. And we should take steps to make sure our passengers will not distract us with rowdiness or emotionally challenging conversations (this is of special relevance for those of us with children).
• Multitasking can hinder creative productivity . When working on a creative project that pushes us to the limits of our concentration, we should not multitask in ways that will expose us to interruptions of the primary activity (for example, while writing an essay, we should close our facebook, twitter, and email clients, and check them only after we’ve done a good chunk of creative work).
• Multitasking can assist creative productivity. Well-chosen secondary tasks can set picks for our creative projects, and can help us maintain focus against background processes that might otherwise interrupt us (for instance while writing an essay in a coffee shop, we might listen to invigorating instrumental music to block out ambient noises, conversations, and internal signals of discomfort).
• Multitasking can help us be more patient. We tend to grow impatient when we have a goal and we have just learned that it’s going to cost us more to reach our goal than we originally thought. And our tendency when we are impatient is to either try to find shortcuts or to abandon our goal for another goal. But sometimes the right course of action is to simply stay the course and absorb the extra costs. The right task B can both sweeten the pot, and set picks on those voices in our heads trying to get us to change course. For instance, we might talk with a stranger while waiting in line, so we don’t bolt, or listen to an audiobook while stuck in heavy traffic, so we don’t plot out risky and minimally productive lane-changing maneuvers (For more on impatience, see “The 7 Laws of Impatience” ).
• Well-chosen music mixes with almost everything. Well-chosen music has a magical ability to both sweeten the pot and set picks for almost any activity -- while avoiding resource conflict and switching costs almost entirely. The music must be chosen carefully, so it does not provide resource conflict (for instance songs with lyrics might not be optimal for reading, and death metal might be a poor choice for meditation ). But there is usually a good choice for almost any activity. Some tasks might not mix well with any kind of music, but these will probably be rare for most people.

1 Ophir, Nass, Wagner, “Cognitive Control in Media Multitaskers”

2 Armstrong and Chung, “Background Television and Reading Memory in Context”

3 Richard P. Feynman “The pleasure of finding things out.” p. 19

4 Delthia Ricks, "Study: Texting while driving now leading cause of death for teen drivers"

Further Reading

The 7 Laws of Impatience -- Jim Stone

Jim Stone, Ph.D., is a philosopher, avid student of motivational psychology, and developer of personal productivity software and workshops.

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Music Homework / Cover Research Tasks - Year 7

Subject: Music

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

19 September 2022

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Instructions for 4 homework tasks (or research for cover lessons) with differentiated success criteria/mark scheme for each.

Topics covered: elements of music instruments of the orchestra reggae

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On this website, you will find tasks to extend your learning at home, allowing you to Review, Revise , and Prepare . Please visit the section of the website for your year group or course to get started.

If you have any issues finding or completing your homework, please visit the Music Department as soon as possible to discuss this with your teacher.

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11 annoying tasks Google Gemini will soon handle for you

• Google's Gemini enhances AI search capabilities, easily generates audio content & text with photos, handles large data like videos.
• Gemini facilitates simplified Gmail usage by automating tasks, answering questions. Beta rolling out to Lab users in September.
• Android users can use Google Gemini in more apps for live video searches, near real-time scam call detection & multimedia AI task handling.

From the time Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai walked onto the annual Google I/O stage to the time the two-hour-long event wrapped up, the team would mention AI more than 120 times. That count, of course, is according to Gemini itself. The annual event held in California on May 14 was heavily focused on Gemini 1.5 Pro, Google's latest update to the AI platform formerly known as Bard.

Google I/O 2024: The 13 biggest announcements from the show

The updates coming to Google Gemini focus on "making AI helpful for everyone," as Pichai described. Key to the newest AI skills are the ability to mix and match text with audio, photos and video as well as the ability to now handle one million tokens (or two million, for developers). That will soon empower Gemini to use your phone’s camera to ask questions about your surroundings, have Gemini return that online order you didn't like, or recognize scam calls on Android in real time, to name just a few of the on-stage demonstrations.

The one million token capability and faster Gemini 1.5 Pro is rolling out beginning today for Gemini Advanced subscribers, while other AI tricks from the I/O stage were just teasers of what’s currently under development.

If you missed the biggest announcements coming from Google's largest developers conference, or perhaps tuned out after the first Taylor Swift joke, we've rounded up the biggest problems that Google's AI will soon attempt to solve.

Searching the web when you don't know exactly what to search for

You could soon search with video.

With the latest updates, Pichai says Gemini will even do the Googling for you. Rolling out today, searchers will be able to ask Google a question and have Gemini answer right in Search.

But perhaps the more powerful tool is the ability to search when you don’t have the right words to explain what you are looking for. In the coming weeks, Google is rolling out video capabilities in Search. In the demonstration, the company showed how you could use video to fix a record player or a film camera when you don’t even know what the name of the broken part is or why its not working.

Google's AI will soon power a more powerful web search that allows you to ask multiple questions in one. Multistep reasoning capabilities allow Search to answer multi-part questions. For example, the company demoed searching not just for a nearby yoga studio, but searching for specific characteristics, like studios that are beginner-friendly and within walking distance.

If you don't know what to ask, Google says Search will soon get AI organization, rolling out to dining first. This means you can search for a place to spend your anniversary dinner, and Search will organize into different options to give you more ideas, like rooftop dining or historic places. While the organization is heading first to dining, it will soon also roll out books, music, shopping, hotels and more.

Ask about real world objects in real time

Give gemini a live camera view and get real-time data.

Alphabet’s AI will soon help users search in the world around them, much like Google Search helps find things on the web. During I/O, the company demonstrated Project Astra, which uses live video to search the surroundings in real-time, tackling things like finding a specific book on your physical bookshelf to asking where you left your glasses.

During the demonstration, the feature worked both on a smartphone and using AR glasses. The demo also showed asking the AI questions in real-time, from locating a specific object to showing the AI code and asking what it does.

Did Google sneak a pair of A/R glasses into its I/O demo?

The beginnings of these video features will be rolling out to the Gemini app later this year.

Consolidate long-form content, even across multiple apps

Subscribers can feed the ai up to 1,500 pdf pages.

One of the biggest features arriving with Gemini 1.5 is the ability to handle long-form content, thanks to support for one million tokens for Gemini Advanced subscribers. (Developers will now be able to use up to two million tokens). Tokens indicate how much data the AI can handle at once, with the one million token limit meaning Gemini could summarize a PDF up to 1,500 pages or a video up to one hour long.

OpenAI finally has a ChatGPT desktop app. Mac users get first dibs

But the update doesn't just bring the ability to handle large amounts of data, but the ability to work across multiple apps. For example, you can ask Gemini to summarize all the emails from your child’s school in Gmail, but it can also read the Google Meet board meeting and summarize that as well.

Transform large data into a new format

Turn your study notes into an auditory lecture.

Gemini's large data summarization capabilities sound impressive, but Gemini will also be able to change the format of that data. It isn't limited to summarizing text and then spitting out more text -- it can tell you about those documents audibly.

Google is bringing homework help and a multimodal Gemini Nano to Android

According to the demo, you can even interrupt this summary to ask more questions. In the demo, this capability was used to consolidate multiple resources from a student to generate a study guide, take practice tests, or listen to an audible lecture on the topic.

Search your photos for answers

Gemini can use your photos to answer personalized questions.

Gemini's enhanced search capabilities also extend to Photos. Yes, Google Photos already has a search box. But, instead of delivering multiple images of your car when you ask it for your license plate number, Gemini can soon jump straight to the answer, listing your license plate number instead of a hundred photos of your car that might contain the correct information.

Gemini will make searching your overwhelming Google Photos library suddenly easy

You can also soon ask it milestone questions, like when your child first learned to swim, and it will simply tell you the answer rather than displaying all photos of a swimming pool.

Generate more detailed photos, even with text

Generative photos, video and music also gets a major boost.

The Gemini updates also extend to its generative capabilities for images, video and music. A key update for images is the ability to handle text. AI typically can’t place text on an image without creating nonsensical, misspelled words. Google's Senior Research Director Doug Eck says that the new Imagen 3 creates more detailed generative images with fewer distortions, but is also better at rendering text. (OpenAI similarly announced enhanced capabilities with text on images during its event yesterday .)

Video generation also gets a boost with Veo, the new generative video model. It delivers more tools like creating aerial images and timelapses, along with tools like extending the length of an existing video.

How I joined the waitlist for Google's Veo AI video tool

The photo and video capabilities, along with enhanced music AI, don’t yet have a launch date but are available to select creators through Google Labs, with a waitlist open now.

Summarize tasks in Gmail

Gemini can soon automate tasks for you.

Gmail's AI integration is about to get a lot more advanced than simple reply suggestions. Rolling out to Google Lab users this September, Gemini will soon power tasks like asking your Gmail questions. It can also create rules for future emails, like adding a receipt sent to your email to an expense tracker in Sheets, then continuing to update that document with new Sheets.

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Those features begin rolling out to Google Labs in September.

Answer questions or flag scammers inside Android apps

Android users can use gemini within more key apps.

Gemini on Android builds the AI directly into the operating system, which allows Android users to work with the AI without leaving the app that they are in. The Gemini overlay will soon work in more Android apps. That enables tasks like asking a question in YouTube to get an answer generated from the video that you are watching. Gemini Advanced subscribers will also have access to "Ask this PDF," a rollout coming in the next few months.

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Part of this integrated Android AI experience is scam detection, where the AI listens to your calls and immediately alerts you if it suspects the caller is a scammer. Google says that this feature is currently in testing.

Let AI Agents to do the work for you

Gemini can handle more tasks like filling out forms with less input from you.

Gemini can already write your emails for you, but with Agents, Gemini can take more actions for you. During I/O, the company demonstrated how Gemini could help you return a pair of shoes by locating a receipt in your Gmail, filling out the return form for you, and even scheduling a package pickup. Or, it could help update your address after you move across all the different services that you use. The company says that the Agents work under your supervision but are able to reason, plan and think multiple steps ahead.

Aid in learning with LearnFM

Learnnm is a new model of gemini specific for education.

Much of the demonstrations centered on how a student (or a parent of a student) can use AI for learning. LearnNM is an educational model of Gemini that’s designed specifically to help with homework, like creating a study guide or practice tests, or using the camera to help solve a math problem.

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Customize the ai interaction with gems, like gpts, gemini can soon customize your interactions.

Another key I/O update will change the way that users can interact with Gemini. Gems are personalized forms of Gemini that are designed for specific interaction. Users can tell the program how they want it to act, say, to create a writing tutor or get peer review on software code. Gems are as simple as typing out how you want Gemini to act for you. But, Google will also create some pre-made Gems for common tasks, a feature that feels similar to ChatGPT's range of custom GPTs.

The update is the latest in Google’s heavy commitment to AI this year. In 2024 alone, Google has renamed Bard to Gemini, created the Gemini Advanced subscription, created the first smartphone with AI built-in with the Pixel 8 Pro, and added image generation. The latest announcements at Google I/O make good on the company's previous promises to bring the AI into Search.

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Google Gemini, formerly Bard, is the company's artificial intelligence platform that includes not just a browser chatbot but integration into various Google tools, from helping write emails to working in Sheets. Gemini is multimodal, which means the AI can understand written text as well as images, video, code and audio.

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Google's Gemini update comes hot on the heels of OpenAI's event on March 13 which announced significant changes to ChatGPT. Chief among those changes is GPT-4o , which is a new model that works across text, vision and audio rather than using three separate models for different inputs, as in GPT-4. The move could help ChatGPT better compete with the likes of Gemini, which was already multimodal.