The Department of Behavioral Sciences at Hiroshima University in Japan reports that people prefer music of tempo in the 70 to 100 cycles-per-minute range. This range is congruent with human heart rate during normal everyday situations. A study published in the Sport Journal (U.S. Sports Academy) asserts that people synchronize their heart rates with fast or uptempo music during physical activity such as running. Working harder or scaling back effort to match music timing and crescendo increases and decreases heart rate respectively.
According to a University of Oxford study, merely listening to music that is fast or upbeat in tempo increases heart rate and breathing. Music causes a level of arousal directly proportional to its tempo. Because music does so in such a controlled manner, it may be useful for therapy and treatment of heart rate-related conditions.
An additional study published in Circulation indicates that crescendo---or gradual volume increase---in music increases heart rate and respiration as well. In the study, all crescendos preceded narrowing of blood vessels in listening participants, causing increased heart rate and respiration.
Conversely, listening to music that is slow or meditative in tempo decreases heart rate and breathing. Such music has a generally relaxing effect on the body. Decrescendo---or gradual volume decrease---in music dilates blood vessels during listening, causing a decrease in heart rate. Silence and respites in music create the same effect in heart rate.
Music may not affect your heart rate as greatly if you regularly engage in cardiovascular training. People trained in running and other forms of cardiovascular exercise are conditioned well enough whereas music may affect timing, pace and emotional output to a greater extent than it does heart rate.