For me, making a finals playlist can be almost as stressful as studying for the final itself. Will mainstream help me study best? Should I listen to classical, or maybe country, or maybe even some dub? What's going to be helpful and what's going to be distracting?
But it's still important to have a playlist to put on in the background and help with the studying mood. To incorporate all of my possible musical needs, I developed an eclectic playlist to fit a variety of moods. Here's 10.
1. "Pretty Girl Rock" by Keri Hilson. This is what I like to call the pump-up song. It's that song that makes you excited to work. You know all the lyrics and can't help but moving to the beat. This will let you dance around a bit and loosen up before sitting down to work.
2. "We Owned the Night" by Lady Antebellum. After the excitement of the last song, it's time to slow it down so you can concentrate on organizing your thoughts for the upcoming task. I recommend a slow country song for this, possibly something like "We Owned the Night."
3. "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven. One of my best friends once told me that listening to classical music while writing a paper is like "writing art" so she always puts some on in the background to make it more fun. I figure if classical music makes writing a paper more like art, then it might help with studying too. Maybe it will make you feel you feel smart and sophisticated to the point where you soak up all the knowledge on the page in front of you.
4. "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson. At this point of studying, you should be so focused on the task at hand that any sound you have is complete background music and not all that important. It's best to avoid loud sounds interrupting your train of thought at this point, so keep the song simple and quiet. Jack Johnson is always pretty mellow, so he's a safe choice.
5. "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. Here's a comforting song from the 90s to celebrate your halfway mark. It's nice to have a familiar song of the past that you can hum along to while you're so intensely focused on studying. It's just a little nostalgia to help you through your current struggles.
6. "Ours" by Taylor Swift. Another chill song to allow maximum concentration. It's important to focus now that you're halfway done since this is when the mind usually begins to wander.
7. Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Just in case that song didn't help with your concentration, here's pump-up song No. 2 to help you get back on track. You can take a little break for a dance party if necessary, but this should just give a little jolt to your brain, which may or may not being falling asleep by now.
8. "Let's Go Surfing" by the Drums. I call this the "OMG, this is taking forever" song. It's to keep the momentum going as you get closer and closer to being finished.
9. "(If You're Wondering If I Want You Too) I Want You To" by Weezer. You're almost done, just a little bit longer, but you need that song that will let you power through to the end. This song is cheerful, upbeat and allows you to bob your head as you study.
10. "I Like It Like That" by Hot Chelle Rae. This is a celebration song. You're finally done studying! Relish the success.
So there's a wide variety of music to fit a lot of the moods you might go through during your studying in the final weeks of school. I like to listen to all of them in order most of the time, but other times, I'll just pick a genre and stick with it for the entire night. It all depends on my mood and what subject I'm working on.
Also, here's a random inspirational video to remind you why you should study. I'll be playing it all week while I stay up all night writing papers, so I thought it was worth sharing.
Want to add these songs to your finals playlist? Check out our Grooveshark. What music helps you concentrate?
Listening to music with lyrics while trying to study is like trying to sleep with the TV on: it can be done, but it will be far more distracting and harder to actually achieve your desired goal. Listening to instrumental music or white noise is really the best alternative when trying to really retain what you are reading and learning.
My favourite music to listen to while studying any subject, even just for doing homework, is the entire Battlestar Galactica collection of soundtracks, including the two TV-movie ones. Only one song has English singing, everything else is instrumental or foreign-language lyrics. Every song has great energy, and most of them stimulate me enough to create a similar type of physiological arousal as I'd get when doing my exams. I find this helps me to focus better and retain the knowledge better, as I'm pretty well matching my arousal states in the studying and exam-taking situations. This is why some recommend exercising while you study, as you are creating a very similar type of physiological arousal as what you'd get when doing the tests. Plus, Bear McCreary is just a crazy talented composer, and definitely is able to capture the energy and aura of a show; some of his music I'd not have recognized as his own as it all sounds so different from each other!
If music is not your thing, then white noise will also help. I like SImply Noise, which is free, although you can only use it on your computer. If you study without it, this wouldn't really work.
@ashleynicole - I couldn't agree more. I would never listen songs with lyrics while attempting to study!
Even if I wanted to listen to music that had lyrics while I studied, these songs wouldn't cut it. Cheesy pop-rock singles and over-played radio-friendly mainstream songs don't cut it for me. Not while I'm studying. Not while I'm...anything.
oh i really can't listen to music while studying.
i need complete silence. i can't even stand people whispering! i get really annoyed.
studying for finals AND listening to taylor swift at the same time....Id rather drown myself
@kissmycouturex@xanga - I think that a nice lyrical song is good for breaks, as it gives you something else to think about for a few minutes. But then that can lead me to taking like, a 6 hour break LOL. Staying with the music I was listening to while studying helps bring me back into that study mode faster after a break.
@prettykay04@xanga - I am totally the opposite. If there is absolutely no sound around me, it distracts the hell out of me, and kind of freaks me out!
That video is so inspirational but I wouldn't have it playing in the background when trying to study. Writing papers? Yeah, but when memorising essays that would just distract me lol.
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Listening to music with lyrics while trying to study is like trying to sleep with the TV on: it can be done, but it will be far more distracting and harder to actually achieve your desired goal. Listening to instrumental music or white noise is really the best alternative when trying to really retain what you are reading and learning.
My favourite music to listen to while studying any subject, even just for doing homework, is the entire Battlestar Galactica collection of soundtracks, including the two TV-movie ones. Only one song has English singing, everything else is instrumental or foreign-language lyrics. Every song has great energy, and most of them stimulate me enough to create a similar type of physiological arousal as I'd get when doing my exams. I find this helps me to focus better and retain the knowledge better, as I'm pretty well matching my arousal states in the studying and exam-taking situations. This is why some recommend exercising while you study, as you are creating a very similar type of physiological arousal as what you'd get when doing the tests. Plus, Bear McCreary is just a crazy talented composer, and definitely is able to capture the energy and aura of a show; some of his music I'd not have recognized as his own as it all sounds so different from each other!
If music is not your thing, then white noise will also help. I like SImply Noise, which is free, although you can only use it on your computer. If you study without it, this wouldn't really work.
@ashleynicole - I couldn't agree more. I would never listen songs with lyrics while attempting to study!
Even if I wanted to listen to music that had lyrics while I studied, these songs wouldn't cut it. Cheesy pop-rock singles and over-played radio-friendly mainstream songs don't cut it for me. Not while I'm studying. Not while I'm...anything.
oh i really can't listen to music while studying.
i need complete silence.
i can't even stand people whispering! i get really annoyed.
studying for finals AND listening to taylor swift at the same time....Id rather drown myself
@kissmycouturex@xanga - I think that a nice lyrical song is good for breaks, as it gives you something else to think about for a few minutes. But then that can lead me to taking like, a 6 hour break LOL. Staying with the music I was listening to while studying helps bring me back into that study mode faster after a break.
@prettykay04@xanga - I am totally the opposite. If there is absolutely no sound around me, it distracts the hell out of me, and kind of freaks me out!
@islandmonkeylover@xanga - ahahahah this.
That video is so inspirational but I wouldn't have it playing in the background when trying to study. Writing papers? Yeah, but when memorising essays that would just distract me lol.