ABSTRACT
Calming music (CM) has been shown to reduce agitation in nursing home residents (Remington, 2002; Hicks-Moore, 2005). e response to calming or relaxing music is related to the qualities of the musical sound that produce a cognitive and physiological response in the participant, whereas familiar music relies on the emotional response to the music to achieve the eect (Remington, 2002). In research, music chosen for its calming qualities has been referred to as an experimenter-centred approach, minimizing response bias in studies (Elliot et al., 2011). Characteristics of music that have been shown to be relaxing include a slow tempo, 80-100 beats per minute (Elliot et al., 2011). It has also been suggested that a tempo less than the resting heart rate is more calming (Watkins, 1997), whereas a faster tempo heightens arousal (Ziv and Dolev, 2013). A constant, subtle rhythm with a regular beat played at a constant volume and in a major key was found to be relaxing (Elliot et al., 2011).
