[Fernando Pancho]

I am in the middle of taking end of year exams and find it difficult to select the right kind of music. I need music that can calm me down but does not cause me to want to concentrate on the music. Otherwise I might forget what I am trying to absorb from revising. My best example of what I mean would be like the music you hear in restaurants. You never really listen to it but  you can hear it in the background and it makes the mood of the restaurant feel better. Somebody suggested classical. But I am too young to know anything about that  type of style let alone know what to pick. Maybe somebody who has been through this same experience can give me some pieces to try out? I am happy for even youtube links since the playback quality is not so important in this case.

 

[alexm23]

Try just turning on a classical music channel on pandora.

 

[alexm23]

Personally I listen to drum 'n bass when I'm studying, but that's not really calming. At all.

 

[JuanseAmador]

Symphony No. 1 in G Minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dop_dPIgeI[/VIDEO]




You could also listen to some ambient/chillwave electronic music.


I recommend Bonobo:


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbgyKJkHxQ[/VIDEO]


Full Black Sands album


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLkmTWRt0g[/VIDEO]



and Tycho:


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XJBDX3Z0BY[/VIDEO]


Full Awake album


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEI1_oGPQr0[/VIDEO]



You should listen to both Awake (Tycho) and Black Sands (Bonobo), those two tracks were taken off of each.




Cheers,

 

[BoldList1]

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden

 

[xkonfuzed]

I usually listen to game OST's, specifically Assassins Creed OSTs. They are just magnificent.

 

[Aeneas]

If you use Spotify there are numerous public playlists with music for studying or writing.

There are also a number of apps designed for this. The most polished one that I know of is Focus at Will, which seems to work pretty well. And if your exams will finish within a month the the free trial will be perfect.

 

[Lynolix]

For the house flavour, Luomo - Vocalcity, Biosphere - Microgravity and DJ Sprinkles - Where Dancefloor Stands Still, Project Pablo - I Want To Believe are preferences which comes to my mind.
 
For the scientifically inclined, I recall from my music psychology lectures that there are certain features in music which are most optimal for study conditions (i.e. processing of information with background sound) such as lack of vocals and music which aren't your absolute favourites as they tend to draw your attention away.
 
And to take it a step further, generic first-year psychology would suggest that studying with background music will correlate with poorer performance in scenarios where the music isn't present due to habituation and environmental cues. This isn't the case as academic literature has shown though.
 
I ought to elaborate further (it's all so interesting!) but I too have my exams creeping up on me

 

[EriCCirE]

+1 for classical music. Easy listening and one does not get focused on the music! 

 

[AKGman]

 I am in the middle of taking end of year exams and find it difficult to select the right kind of music. I need music that can calm me down but does not cause me to want to concentrate on the music. Otherwise I might forget what I am trying to absorb from revising. My best example of what I mean would be like the music you hear in restaurants. You never really listen to it but  you can hear it in the background and it makes the mood of the restaurant feel better. Somebody suggested classical. But I am too young to know anything about that  type of style let alone know what to pick. Maybe somebody who has been through this same experience can give me some pieces to try out? I am happy for even youtube links since the playback quality is not so important in this case.

 
I find that I can listen to any music which is instrumental (i.e., no vocals), and read a book at the same time. Sometimes, music with vocals in a language other than English can be okay, because if you only speak English, you can't understand the lyrics, and that might mean they don't throw you. But I still find it easier to read a book without any music of any kind in the background. And listening to music on headphones might be too distracting, even if it is instrumental music. For some reason, speakers are less distracting than headphones. Maybe that's because when you listen to headphones, they tend to block out or overwhelm the other sounds around you, so they take up more of your attention. And you are also wearing something on your head, which can be more distracting than just having a couple of speakers in the room.
 
If you are doing end of year exams, I would suggest taking it easy with music. Get a small portable CD player, and have it in a corner of the room. Perhaps try some instrumental music (at low volume), while reading books for some of your easier subjects. You could have the volume low, but not so low that you are straining to hear it. Or you might find you do better with no music at all. Everyone is different.
 
Some of the music I listen to while reading:
 
Vivaldi- The Four Seasons
Japanese instrumental music
Beethoven- the Symphonies, all of them except the 9th, which is a little too intense and exciting for studying.

 

[Zelmindy]

Symphony No. 1 in G Minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.





You could also listen to some ambient/chillwave electronic music.


I recommend Bonobo:



Full Black Sands album




and Tycho:



Full Awake album




You should listen to both Awake (Tycho) and Black Sands (Bonobo), those two tracks were taken off of each.




Cheers,

Brilliant videos. For me, I will lock myself in a quiet room, my bedroom of course, listening to nothing when I'm studying. 

 

[ThatSlimJoeKim]

Any of the Lights & Motion albums.
 
Very calming and soundtrack-esque.
 
I particularly like Save Your Heart Album.

 

[nick n]

Baroque has been studied and has a beat/tempo that is conducive to increased learning, yep it is classical.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Late Night Alumni at moderate volumes plus beer.

 

[JuanseAmador]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Symphony No. 1 in G Minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.







You could also listen to some ambient/chillwave electronic music.



I recommend Bonobo:





Full Black Sands album






and Tycho:





Full Awake album






You should listen to both Awake (Tycho) and Black Sands (Bonobo), those two tracks were taken off of each.





Cheers,

Brilliant videos. For me, I will lock myself in a quiet room, my bedroom of course, listening to nothing when I'm studying. 

Thanks I rarely study