The Driftwood #32: Self-Care Corner

February 22, 2023

Music to Study By

If you’d like to be more focused and less stressed while you study or do homework, try listening to music. Generations of students have sworn that certain types of tunes can put you in a more academic state of mind, and research seems to back this up. But not just any old tune will do. To lift your mood and increase your homework output, try listening to the following:

• Classical music: A 1993 study famously purported to show that babies who listened to Mozart and other Baroque composers were more intelligent than those who did not. It has long since been debunked. However, in the immortal words of Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast, if it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it. Classical music can help you focus on simpler assignments and other tasks, according to CNET’s Amanda Capritto. In addition to Spotify and similar platforms, you can find plenty of classical options free on YouTube, including this six-hour Mozart extravaganza.
• Ambient music with a pop-culture twist: When you have more complex studying to do, opt for ambient music, which blends background “white noise” with simple, tonal melodies. Ambient-mixer.com is a free site, recommended by past Driftwood editor Jasmine Hanson, that provides an array of ambient pieces with pop-culture themes. Do your math homework while listening to sounds from the “Gryffindor Common Room” (without giving the increasingly problematic J.K. Rowling any royalties). Read your English textbooks in the middle of “The Drawing Room at Pemberley” (inspired by Pride and Prejudice, of course). Complete your chemistry in the middle of a “Star Wars Jedi Temple.” The options are nearly endless, as budding composers add new mixes daily.
• Ambient sounds: If music tends to distract you, you might try ambient sounds, which provide “white noise” that drowns out background interruptions. The Nature Sounds Playlist on Spotify currently has more than 350,000 monthly listeners who turn to it for ocean or forest ambience. And a search for “ambient sounds” on Spotify or YouTube will pull up numerous options.
• Space music: Want something a little different? The free YouTube streaming channel Space Ambient Music provides 24/7 “space music,” combining ambient noises with futuristic spa music that might have you feeling like you’re floating among the stars as you complete your coursework.
• Movie soundtracks: While I’m still stuck on the rather mesmerizing space music channel as I write this, I usually listen to various movie soundtracks while grading or writing. Study-friendly options, all available on Spotify, include: The Living Sea (the soothing soundtrack for an IMAX film about the ocean, composed by Sting); Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (While I normally pretend the prequels never existed, just try not feeling as productive as a Sith Lord with a double-sided lightsaber when “Duel of the Fates” comes on.); and Gladiator (Oddly enough, songwriter Lisa Gerrard made up her own language to sing in on this lovely collaboration with Hollywood stalwart Hans Zimmer. Weird? Probably, but it also means you won’t get distracted by the lyrics.).