Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi!
I am doing a science fair project. It's about music and plant growth. I am using two types of plants- lettuce and sweet pea. One of each type of plant will be exposed to Beatles music, Classical music (specifically Saint-Saens), or no music. One of my project requirements is to have an interview with an expert. I was hoping you could answer my questions. Here they are: When you were studying music or plants, did you ever read any (or were you involved in any) research about music and plant growth? If so, what type of things did you learn?
Do you know if different types of music affect plants differently?
Have you seen other studies that have show how music affects growth in other things (animals, etc)?
Is there anything else you think might be helpful to know for my project?

Thanks for any thing you can tell me,
Sincerely,
Jordan

Hi Jordan,

Your science fair topic has been heavily debated, so it will be very interesting to see your take on the project. I'm not too familiar with your field and hope that some other experts can offer some more advice, but I had a few tips for you regarding your project:

1. Make sure you are careful about controlling your variables. How do you plan to or to not expose your plants to music? Could other sources of sound affect your results?
2. Replication: the more plants you experiment on, the more confident you can be in your conclusions. Increasing the number of plants you test will help you gather more data that you can analyze.

Music can have powerful effects on people and animals, so much so that it has been used in the medical field to improve patient well-being.

Good luck on your project!
Derek

A neat idea to test. I love the Swan! If I were a plant, I would grow into a big oak tree if I could listen to it all day.

I agree with Derek in that this topic is heavily debated, or at least was in the 1970s and 80s. It was about the same time that scientists argued that plants had emotions just as humans do. Thus, praise made plants grow faster than when you verbally abused them. So you want to steer clear of this in your scientific exploration. I would definitely encourage you to go forth with curiosity and wonder but to have all your controls lined up and know how to measure growth properly (biomass, height, leaf formation, color, etc). That said, you will have to define on scientific terms what the difference is between rock music and classical music. The difference between music and no music is clear; If you are arguing frequencies and sound waves, then it becomes more scientific. However, in comparing rock music and classical, it sounds like you're testing something more on the emotional side of music. And correlating emotion with plant growth is difficult mostly because of the lack of primary sources that can support your hypothesis.

I have some music theory and music performance in my blood, but I'm by no means an expert. In humans, music education can help mold brain development in a growing person. As far as plants go, I'm not sure. Mythbusters did a "study" on this and found there was a difference. You should check that out.

But the best way is to go out and test your hypothesis!

And if you were interested in reading a famous book from the 70s that talks about it:
The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird

Just be aware that many of their findings have not been supported by other botanists.