I think it is easily agreed upon that everybody enjoys music. I was not surprised to find a few articles that verified by hunch that music can be motivating for students during school.
Through a controlled study by An, Tillman, Boren, and Wang (2014) students used mathematics knowledge to answer mathematical tasks constructed from music. Participants in this study had multiple opportunities to experience the applications of mathematics in the real life situations such as using mathematical knowledge to compose music and design musical instruments. Results of this study demonstrated that despite statistically equivalent pretest scores prior to the intervention, after the intervention the music group students had statistically significantly higher positive mathematics dispositions scores than their non-music group peers. These findings prove that there are advantages to teachers utilizing music-themed activities as a context for offering students the opportunity to learn mathematics in a challenging yet enjoyable learning environment.
Additionally, another study proved that playing music in the background during physical education motivated students, and increased their regulation and general liking for the lessons (Digelidis, Karageorghis, Papapavlou, Papaioannou, 2014). Although I do not have any problems with motivation for PE, I am assuming that this would also be significant during other subjects.
I think it would be a good idea to incorporate singing in lessons, as well as play background music. Music is also great for transition times and behavior management to get students attention. I think students would enjoy this and would be more motivated to work.