Now, I know we’ve all seen it before: “How to study for better grades,” “Which music is the best,” “Why should I listen to music while studying” and “Will classical music make my brain smarter?”
These are things that I don’t really care about.
The real question is: what music do I already like that I can listen to while I’m working away?
Don’t get me wrong. I love it when I’m recommended music that I haven’t heard before. I’m a music major. Music is my life. But, when I’m studying, that’s just not for me. I’m studying, not figuring out what my next favorite song is.
Therefore, I came up with a couple of tips and tricks to help you pick through your favorite songs to find out what you can study with! And don’t tell me you can’t because we all have numerous playlists that we’ve created, so what’s one more?
1. Pick a song you know well
The more you know the song, the better. Don’t choose something that you’re listening to for the first time. Instead of studying, you’re going to be more focused on the music, and if you’re reading this, that’s probably not what you’re going for.
2. Try to avoid songs with words
Words make things a little more difficult. I know we’ve all had that moment when we’re listening to a song with words, and then absentmindedly, write the lyrics instead of the essay. It’s not really productive. Instrumental, lo-fi or classical music is preferable. If you really want a song with words, make sure it’s a song you really know, can tune out and won’t give you the urge to sing along. On the other hand, when doing homework or studying topics without words (e.g. math), words are helpful to keep you entertained.
3. The song has the same volume throughout
A song that crescendoes and goes from being very quiet to really loud, or vice versa, can get distracting very quickly. The best idea is to have a song that is either really quiet or really loud, not both. Better yet, make sure all the music in the playlist is around the same volume. You might get thrown out of the zone if one song is an “Avatar: The Last Airbender” lo-fi track and the next is an AC/DC song.
4. Aim for calming songs rather than pumped-up songs
Do you want to stay motivated? The fewer songs that have you bopping around and dancing, the more focused on your task you will be. In addition, you tend to focus on more pumped-up songs because they’re bops and you’re waiting for the beats to drop, which is not conducive to studying.
5. Calming songs are not “sleeping” songs
I cannot reiterate that enough. You don’t want to fall asleep doing your work. You want to stay awake and aware. Pick the music that will keep you keep you up and motivated. Tired brains take forever to get work done.
6. Find which type of music works for you and stick with that genre
The best playlist has songs that all sound similar so that you’re not thrown off when a new song comes on. I know I study best when I listen to movie scores, and more specifically, “The Dragon Prince” score. It keeps me calm, the music is similar and there are no surprises.
That’s all I’ve got. I hope that this will be helpful in picking out the songs for your new studying playlist. You got this!
Photo byDollar GillonUnsplash
