By Grace G.
In a college library, headphones seem to appear everywhere as students attempt to isolate themselves from conversations around them by listening to music while studying. Listening to music while studying can be either helpful or harmful to you. The type of music you listen to while studying or doing homework should be different from the type of music you would listen to while running or lifting weights. Most students find that music makes studying more enjoyable. In any case, music is better than Facebook and Twitter, and some students find music helps keep them focused while studying. If you are the type of student that wants some music ideas for studying, then read on for my personal suggestions. Many of these playlists come from my favorite free music playlist site, www.songza.com, with hundreds of playlists that fit your activity or mood.
Overall, you should try to pick music that is not too energetic or aggressive (heavy metal, hair metal, death metal, or any type of music with the word “metal” is not a good choice). Aggressive music will have growled vocals and distorted instrumentation, making it hard to focus on studying. I tend to lean towards pop/soft pop, classical, jazz, light dubstep, instrumentals, or alternative music for most of my studying.
Lyrics vs. No Lyrics
Music with lyrics is likely to have a problematic effect when you are working on something that requires a higher level of concentration. Music with lyrics probably has a lesser effect on math, since you’re not using the language part of your brain. This is up to your personal preference. I personally find that I can do readings for my humanities courses and write lab reports while listening to music with lyrics, but then I have to switch to no lyrics (classical, jazz, instrumentals) when I’m tackling a harder chemistry problem that I’m not familiar with.
Pop Music
This is the type of music that you usually hear on the car radio. That type of music would fall under “Top Pop Hits”. Some other pop choices include:
Soft pop: http://songza.com/discover/activities/working_studying_with_lyrics/soft-pop-songza/
Cram Session Pop Rock: http://songza.com/listen/cram-session-pop-rock-songza/
Singer/Songwriter: http://songza.com/listen/today-s-male-singer-songwriters-songza/
This type of music is what first comes to people’s minds when they hear “relaxing music”. Classical music isn’t always soft and slow, but the mixture of melody, harmony, and tempo usually isn’t distracting.
Classical for Studying: http://songza.com/discover/genres/classical/classical-for-studying-songza/
Clear and concise solo piano: http://songza.com/discover/genres/classical/mellow-solo-piano-songza/
Mellow Cello: http://songza.com/discover/genres/classical/mellow-cello-songza/
Jazz
There are many types of jazz that evoke different musical feelings. Jazz usually has light instrumentals, medium tempos, and have a cool feeling that will relax you.
Mellow Jazz: http://songza.com/discover/genres/jazz/mellow-jazz-songza/
Jazz for Working: http://songza.com/discover/genres/jazz/jazz-for-working-TacticCo/
Jazz for Reading: http://songza.com/discover/genres/jazz/jazz-for-reading-songza/
Dubstep and Instrumentals
I’m not talking about the dubstep you hear in mixers and other dance parties. The type I’m talking about is the perfect soundtrack to studying or working. This is for the student that is seeking a more contemporary and cool sound.
Instrumentals: http://songza.com/discover/activities/working_studying_without_lyrics/downtempo-instrumentals-songza/
Dubstep: http://songza.com/discover/activities/working_studying_without_lyrics/electronic-study-dubstep-songza/
Film scores: http://songza.com/discover/activities/working_studying_without_lyrics/a-list-film-scores-ggunn-1/
Obviously, you have a lot of choices. My final suggestion is for you to try each type of music with a type of homework. For example, you may find that you prefer listening to classical while doing chemistry, but listening to pop while writing a humanities paper. Start experimenting, and then you can be prepared for any studying situation!
I listen to film score music like Lord of the Rings and stuff by Hans Zimmerman, and that is really helpful! And then I'll play a song before I take a test that I was listening to while studying and it really helps! I'm love the Film Score link of songs you posted!
ReplyDeleteOh i listen to music all the time when i study. I find bands like The Head and The Heart and The Kooks and Two Door Cinema Club to be the ones that work the best for me. It helps me so much and really has improved how i do homework and study. Thank you for supporting this topic, my parents always give me grief about it.
ReplyDeleteI can't listen to music and study at the same time, no matter what genre. I always end up daydreaming about something.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this blog post. I think this is going to give great ideas to students. And I totally agree with your comment on lyrics. I teach Spanish and when I'm trying to go back and forth from Spanish and English, it is often hard to do when I have so many lyrics pounding in my head at the same time.... :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Grace! I am sure this post will help many of our auditory learners that enjoy music while studying! Great article!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post! I will definitely mention it to my students. I think that it would be interesting to do a comparison using the different music styles. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. I think it was a balanced approach to the question of music and studying. Personally, I think the key is indeed knowing yourself and what works for you. It's important to know yourself and be honest about what actually works for you and not just what you want to work for you.
ReplyDeleteI think your article has a lot of merit. My husband did some studies on how music affects the emotionally challenged student. Your suggestion of calming music and music that does not distract is very good. My husband also found that elementary students with emotional challenges focused really well with classic musicals. Students having headphones on while studying helps to keep auditory distractions out of their "zone".
ReplyDeleteSince I talk or hear other people talk all day long, I want quiet, no lyrics, music. I listen primarily to soft classical through Pandora if possible or a classical radio channel.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful article. You make very valid points and the inclusion of play lists is fantastic. I often find that many of my students want to listen to music while doing independent work in my f2f class but I wonder if any of them think much about the songs they choose to play? I think I may have to do some research of my own! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThroughout high school and then college, I found my best study sessions were when I had background music. It had to be soft and not very loud for me to focus. After trying them all, I like soft-rock, classical, and spa-like music. I have to be alert when listening to that kind of music, though. My daughter used to study with music. Her grades dropped dramatically when her music became loud hard-rock. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t listen to me and her grades showed it. She’s in college now and listens to spa music too. I think I won this round.
ReplyDeleteThis post was very informative and helpful both as a parent and as a teacher. I am a person that is distracted easily and trying to listen to music while studying would have been something that would have been very detrimental to my ability to process and retain information. However, I have had battled this war with my students and my children, as they tried, unsuccessfully, to convince me that music actually helps them to concentrate. After reading your initial post and the comments others have left, I have become aware that indeed many who benefit from listening to music while studying. While i know that it will never be true for me,I will in the future be more open minded when a student asks if they may listen to music while completing an assignment or studying. I may however suggest some of your playlists. Thanks for the great insight.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome article! In a time where students are constantly juggling multiple forms of technology and old-school education sees it as a bad thing, it's nice to have a positive outlook on some of the benefits. The hints and playlists in the article are a great way to say that it's okay (and sometimes extremely helpful) to have a little background distraction. I know I wish Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes had been around when I was a student!
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