Hack Your Studying with Music
Friday, February 6, 2009 by Luke Turcotte 
Studying with music can help you concentrate and keep you from dying of boredom, but did you know that you can “hack” the sounds you listen to, giving you an extra little boost of brain power?
It should be no surprise that certain kinds of music while studying are better to listen to than others. This comes down to personal preference, but if the beats of the new Jay-Z album make it impossible to hear yourself think, it’s probably a good idea to find something else to listen to. I suggest mellow music, especially instrumental music because it doesn’t have words to distract you. Check out Explosions in the Sky or Ratatat.
Listening to white noise can help drown out background sounds and help you concentrate. Most study aid CDs are simply white noise backed with nature sounds. White noise is a great tool for those who need to listen to something but find music too distracting. There are even white noise generators for your iPhone.
The pseudoscience of Binaural Beats is perhaps the most interesting, yet least credible way to hack your studying. By playing sounds of specific frequencies, it is thought to alter your brainwaves thus stimulating your mind and body. There are specific frequencies for focusing, alertness and even some that help you fall asleep. Give them a shot, I do not make any guarantees but many people do swear by these tonic sounds.
Personally, I study at the library with foam ear plugs to block out all noise. I find the complete silence puts me in a world of my own and really helps me focus on my work.
What do you listen to when you study? Throw up your answers in the comments section.
Reader Comments (14)
I enjoy listening to music from cultures and languages other than mine. Latin American and African beats are my favorite. They are upbeat and play in a positive tone, but since they are in another language I can still focus on what I am reading. Pandora radio has some good examples of these stations through their shared stations.
I listen to the Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack or Lunar's Wall of Sound album.
When I need to do some serious studying (like for finals and such) I listen to classical music, such as Bach, Mozart, or Vivaldi. Otherwise I usually listen to some mellow stuff like Natasha Bedingfield or Vitamin C.
I agree with sooner, listening to music in another language is really great when I study. It's almost like white noise since I can't understand what they are saying. Also the band Do Make Say Think makes amazing music without lyrics so you don't have extra words to pull you out of your study trance.
Classical music is good to listen to when doing homework because of the affect it has on your brain. Mozart especially, and other composers from his time period, is great because the music is very orderly. It follows certain patterns and does what you are expecting it to. I bought a Mozart CD for my brother actually, because he is in a very difficult academic environment, and it should help him study.
Groove Salad from Somafm is really nice to listen to while studying.
It's pretty much a mix of mellow and chillout musc. Plus, good news for iPhone users, you can steam right to your phone. I've never tried it because I don't have an iPhone, but it's another option if you don't have a computer near by.
However, it also depends what kind of mood you're in. Sometimes, for me it's chillout and others it's club mixes with a high bpm. It all depends on your personality.
Oh yeah, there are also other really great stations that somafm offers too. Go check them out! =D
Depends, sometimes I don't listen to a thing, other nights I can power through albums. Typically Dylan, Nick Drake, Beatles, Radiohead, Floyd, More Beatles (haha), Sonic Youth. Beethovens 5th & 9th, but only for a 4 month period last year.
I sometimes work a little slower when I'm crankin tunes, but sometimes I just need it!
i enjoy most of music
musicisall
I mostly listen to Minus the Bear and various minimal/drum and bass tunes..ranging from The Field to Commix and LTJ Bukem's old Logical Progression stuff. No words, no stress :)
May I recommend American Analog Set? They have a couple words in their songs, but a lot of it is just chill. Oh and Ratatat I agree, is AWESOME for studying. I love to just crank it when Im in my bedroom.
love me some ratatat. may i also suggest Thievery Corpration. check out their Pandora stations too
I found these mp3's from a blog posting a while back called Polynap. They are meant to be used for napping but I've found they can also work for studying as well. In fact aside from A.D.D. medication it's the only way that I've been able to block out any and all distractions.
Polynapping
If you know how to use Audacity or any other audio editing program you can stretch out the tracks to longer blocks and w/o any added extra sounds.
Jazz piano solo's work for me. Like Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Michel Petrucciani
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