Classical music is good for your blood pressure, new research says
30 September 2026, 12:45
Mozart is officially good for you.
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If the thought of practicing scales makes your heart rate rise, don’t worry...
Classical music, along with nature-inspired virtual reality landscapes, can help reduce blood pressure significantly, new research has found. Scientists at the University of Health Sciences in Ankara, Turkey, studied 130 adults who arrived in an emergency department with high blood pressure.
The study discovered that the patient’s blood pressure significantly decreased when they looked at natural landscapes with a virtual reality (VR) headset and listened to Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky and other music selected by the researchers for its calming qualities.
Anxiety can cause the body to release stress hormones that tighten blood vessels, which can increase blood pressure. The researchers wondered whether reducing anxiety could help blood pressure come down too.
The patients in a control group had no other intervention and all patients’ blood pressure was measured at 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. Those patients who had listened to music and watched the VR headset experienced a greater reduction in blood pressure.
Read more: Scientists played Bach to newborns, and found they can anticipate rhythms at two days old
Bach's Prelude in C for guitar - Raphaël Feuillâtre
Dr Dönmez, who led the study, told colleagues at the European Emergency Medicine Congress that more research like this should be carried out. “I believe it can reasonably be considered as a supportive, patient-centred addition to standard care, especially for patients who are visibly anxious or distressed,” he said, adding: “If a non-drug intervention can accelerate that process even modestly, it has practical value.
“For patients, the significance of the study is that if you were brought into an emergency department with markedly elevated blood pressure, frightened and in pain, then being offered a few minutes in a peaceful virtual forest while listening to Mozart would likely be welcomed.”
A 2019 study, published in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, found that listening to Mozart and Strauss lowered blood lipid concentrations and heart rate.
