A modern student can barely live without a tune playing in his or her ear at all times. And it’s no surprise – music has therapeutic effects, it can help one switch from one mood to another, relax or focus on command.
On the other hand, if you share a living space with someone who doesn’t appreciate your taste, it can drive both of you nuts. That’s why for the ultimate effect, it’s best to study in headphones or in a separate room.
Whether you need to write paper or prepare for midterms one night prior, music is something many of us rely on. But listening to some of your favorite albums or playlists might not be the best thing to do. Merely because you’ll want to sing along.
Read on further to see what kinds of music will help you achieve the best performance!
Classical Music
Not everyone can call themselves a true fan of classical music, especially nowadays. But things don’t come to be named ‘classics’ without a reason. Classical music has immense benefits for the brain. It can help you improve concentration, eliminate distractions, and remain focused for longer.
If you don’t know where to start, try listening to Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, and Handel. The trick here is the speed. They made music at 60-beats-per-minute, which is quite fast. This tempo will not let you sleep without distracting you at the same time.
Spotify has lots of playlists for that matter. Look up ‘Bach: Music for Focus’, ‘Mozart: Music for Focus’, ‘Classical Essentials’, or ‘Classical Focus.’ Each of these will work for your purpose.
Since classical music often has no lyrics, it will work perfectly if you need to read or write. When you need to write an essay fast, you basically have two options. You either go to a study help site, or you put your headphones on and listen to Bach or Mozart. Both options work pretty well, your choice depends on your purpose and timeframes.
Nature Sounds
While we are on the no-lyrics streak, it’s worth mentioning the sounds of nature. Many students prefer to listen to birds, wind running through trees, and other calming noises while intensely cramming all night. It’s not specifically about nature. Although it can be, indeed, relaxing, it’s more about the white noise.
This is a perfect option for when you’re trying to study in a crowded hall, cafe, or any other noisy place. Since white noise contains all the different frequencies at the same intensity, it’s great for masking any other sounds.
Creating a wall of white noise around yourself can be extremely helpful if you keep on getting distracted by people’s conversations.
People with ADHD tend to listen to white noise nearly every time they need to focus. Mothers often use white noise to calm their babies down to sleep as well. There’s a myriad of YouTube videos with white noise. You can also download an app or look up sites that store libraries of white noise.
Electronic Music
Electronic music does an amazing job in creating a wall of sound around a listener. Upbeat, repetitive tunes can help you focus to the point you stop noticing the music at all.
The best part is that once you decide to stop studying for a minute, you might as well take a dance break without changing the soundtrack. Below is the list of the best electronic albums for studying.
- Groove Armada: Vertigo
- Session Victim: The Haunted House of House
- Dusky: Stick By This
- Cassius: Dreems
- Jamie XX: In Colour
- French 79: Joshua
- GusGus: Forever
- Air: Moon Safari
- Tycho: Awake
- Pink Floyd: Animals
- Daft Punk: Alive 2007
- Tricky: Maxinquaye
Some of these albums have lyrics, some don’t. Give all these a spin and see what works best for you. Music is an extremely personal subject and what helps one person focus can only distract the other.
Playlists
Sometimes, it’s good to just have something playing and not worry about looking for a new album every hour. This is when playlists come in handy. Spotify and YouTube have a lot to offer in this genre.
In the ‘Moods’ section of Spotify, you can find ‘Focus’ and under it, a whole bunch of subcategories will appear. Everything, from classical music to house beats, and even some nature sounds can be found there.
Have you ever heard or seen those live streams with Lo-Fi beats on Youtube? Yeah, apparently, students are just crazy about them. The main benefit here is convenience – you just press play and don’t worry anymore.
Those streams play for days on end and nearly every other channel out there has one: from a popular makeup artist Michele Phan to Will Smith. If you’re into lo-fi, you should definitely go check them out.
If you need something more upbeat and energy-driven, try house or funk music. Spotify has a five-hour playlist called ‘House Origins’ with the best tracks that have defined the house music of the 80s and 90s. You might even recognize some of the samples often used in modern pop tracks.
’Instrumental Funk’ is another playlist option for those who can’t be distracted by lyrics, yet are afraid to fall asleep. It contains 80 tracks that translate to almost 6 hours of music and can take you through the most intense study session ever. The best part about funk is that it puts you in a good mood almost immediately.
Ultimately, good-mood-music is what you’re looking for. Sure, if you’re used to listening to hardcore metal, house might not satisfy your cravings in terms of speed. However, a good mood is your ultimate goal. Otherwise, you might get easily frustrated, and hence, distracted, by minor failures and slips.
Wrapping Up
Music is extremely personal. Even if you and your roommate have similar tastes in music for parties (which is ideal, yet, rare), you still might prefer different music for concentration.
By experimenting with different genres, you can find something new for yourself, something you never knew you enjoyed. This is how many hardcore metal addicts turn to love dark techno music and vice-versa.
