I am awful at concentrating; like, I have the attention span of a five year old boy in a Target toy sale. It’s a terrible habit for when I need to do assignments and studying. One thing that helps me stay on board the attentive boat is music, very specific music. I hope this list assists anyone who feels like they need to have that extra something to get their academic juices flowing.
5) Gospel/Blues/Motown/Jazz
Think about the wonderful Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Elvis and the new generation of blues artists: Gin Wigmore, Duffy and Ivy Levan. I do believe a lot from this genre may be distracting to the majority (hence why its at 5 instead of 4) but for some reason I love listening to gospel and jazz when I’m reading. I put these genre's together because a lot of the time I find they are combined. My personal favourites include:
Happy Ever After | Black Sheep | Man Like That - Gin Wigmore (this lady is awesome; I adore her voice)
Money - Ivy Levan (spammed for several hours once, still not sick of it)
Blue Suede Shoes | Heartbreak Hotel | All Shook Up | etc - Elvis Presley (from the rock n' roller king himself)
Superstition - Stevie Wonder (I love most of Wonder's tracks actually)
You've Made Me So Very Happy - Brenda Holloway (happy tears)
At Last - Etta James (even happier tears)
Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) | The Way You Look Tonight | etc - Frank Sinatra (need I say more?)
4) Consistent electro/pop/dance beats
The ultimate pop song to do some work or work out to is hands down Work B***h by Britney Spears, obvs. I find Piece of Me, Toxic and pretty much everything else from Britney works too. That auto-tune, repetitive lyrics and overall crappy-ness just fuels that writing power. I passed through this phase once where I went from heavy metal to dubstep; it was awesome. Since then I have learnt to love many different genre's of music and implement them all into my cuddly life. Try Trampoline by Tinie Tempah & 2 Chainz for IMO pretty good pop music and anything from Ellie Goulding, David Guetta and Avicii for generic dance/pop. Oh and also, this great guy who goes by Stromae has this great album called Racine Carree, straight out of France you guys. Get on it. Now, if you haven't already.
3) For some reason I had a bit of a mind blank at this point
Trying to find the perfect point between good-music-study-help and awesome-study-music is darn difficult. Lets just go with silence. Sometimes all you need is the music around you.
Wow that was corny. Moving on...
2) Anything in a language you don’t understand
Pour moi (for me), this is mainly something in French or anything from the Gypsy Kings. I grew up with Gypsy Kings as travel music. It wouldn't be a proper road trip for me without Gypsy Kings, they were like the staple lipstick every girl has to have equivalent to the perfect car ride. I love that this band even transferred into my study routine. The happy beats and superb guitar work is so good for maintaining a positive attitude to study, even life. Listen to Gypsy Kings Medley for a glorious mix of their best tracks and hopefully you’ll hear what I mean.
One of the most played songs on my iTunes is a cover of Ne Me Quitte Pas by Maysa Matarazzo; It is PERFECTION. Classic French songs such as Edith Piaf’s Padam Padam and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien are constantly in rotation alongside the entirety of Stomae’s French pop album Racine Carree (mentioned in point 4)
The main perk of songs in foreign languages is of course the fact that I can barely understand what is being said, especially with my limited French. So once I get over how fantastic tune is, it leaves so much room for focusing on work instead of lyrics.
Extra:
Gentleman - PSY (applies to 4 as well; of course you can't forget Gangnam Style)
Un Amor - Gypsy Kings (for when you're feeling a little mellow)
Rose - Lee Hi
All Right - Lim Kim (this point applies for Lee Hi as well. Both these girls have fantastically refreshing voices that are unique to the Korean entertainment industry and that is what makes me really enjoy them, unlike the general icky-pop of most young Asian bands. Beware the weird s**t that happens about halfway through of All Right though)
Nil Se’n La - Celtic Woman (I know this is cheating, but it is partially in Celtic)
1) Instrumental: Epic, Classical, Drums (inc. African, Chinese, Latin American, etc)
True story - I once did a 4000 word assignment with referencing in six hours, in one fell swoop, listening to: Erik Satie's The Gymnopédies 1, 2, 3; Richard Clayderman's Ballade Pour Adeline and Les Fleurs Sauvages; Illusions, Clairvoyant, Femme Fatale, White Witch, Master of Shadows, Tristan, Queen of Crows - all by Two Steps From Hell; White Specter which I think is from Adrian von Ziegler; and the opening theme song from Game of Thrones. SO EFFECTIVE! It was amazing. I believe it was the lack of lyrics, good mix of motivational - which sound like they're from epic films - and relaxing themes, and pure awesomeness of the G.o.T track that made my writing stamina increase like crazy. For legal research no less. That playlist is still reserved for intense studying even months after my initial testing.
The sound of beating drums is very effective too, especially ethnic African drums. To me, beating drums basically feel like the rhythm of mankind's origins. Excuse me while I go download some percussion compositions.
BONUS:
Swept Away | Fiction - The xx (so soothing, omg)
Walking in the Air - Celtic Woman (this song is a beautiful blend of folk and epic movie soundtrack put together)
Grown Woman | Single Ladies | Run the World (Girls) - Beyonce (werk it, gurl)
Wings - Little Mix (spread those brain wings)
Hotel California -The Eagles (everyone knows Hotel California well enough to sing along their a few paragraphs of a textbook in melody with this classic)
Feeling Good - Michael Buble and Pussycat Dolls renditions (so, so good)
Sway | Quando, Quando, Quando ft. Nelly Furtado | etc- Michael Buble (I mean, come on, this guy is the new Sinatra of easy listening)
Everything from LANA DEL REY (Duh, she is most of my most-played list)
Money in the Bank - Swizz Beatz ("I ain't tryna save that girl" on repeat is quite helpful)
Royals | Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Lorde (these are pretty much the only two songs I like from her)
Dumb - Nirvana (I recommend Heart Shaped Box and Lithium too)
We Are the Champions | We Will Rock You - Queen (these usually make me want to cry in nationalistic fervor or something, but if Freddie Mercury’s voice isn't motivation, then what is)
Dream On - Aerosmith (Dream On is like We Are the Champions younger-not-quite-there-brother, but still pretty inspiring)
Can’t Rely On You (Live from the Kitchen) - Paloma Faith (yeah man, like, you can groove out life anywhere…including your unfinished [read: barely started] 2500 word essay on duty of care)
Image source: http://mrsmoothemt.com/
5) Gospel/Blues/Motown/Jazz
Think about the wonderful Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Elvis and the new generation of blues artists: Gin Wigmore, Duffy and Ivy Levan. I do believe a lot from this genre may be distracting to the majority (hence why its at 5 instead of 4) but for some reason I love listening to gospel and jazz when I’m reading. I put these genre's together because a lot of the time I find they are combined. My personal favourites include:
Happy Ever After | Black Sheep | Man Like That - Gin Wigmore (this lady is awesome; I adore her voice)
Money - Ivy Levan (spammed for several hours once, still not sick of it)
Blue Suede Shoes | Heartbreak Hotel | All Shook Up | etc - Elvis Presley (from the rock n' roller king himself)
Superstition - Stevie Wonder (I love most of Wonder's tracks actually)
You've Made Me So Very Happy - Brenda Holloway (happy tears)
At Last - Etta James (even happier tears)
Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) | The Way You Look Tonight | etc - Frank Sinatra (need I say more?)
4) Consistent electro/pop/dance beats
The ultimate pop song to do some work or work out to is hands down Work B***h by Britney Spears, obvs. I find Piece of Me, Toxic and pretty much everything else from Britney works too. That auto-tune, repetitive lyrics and overall crappy-ness just fuels that writing power. I passed through this phase once where I went from heavy metal to dubstep; it was awesome. Since then I have learnt to love many different genre's of music and implement them all into my cuddly life. Try Trampoline by Tinie Tempah & 2 Chainz for IMO pretty good pop music and anything from Ellie Goulding, David Guetta and Avicii for generic dance/pop. Oh and also, this great guy who goes by Stromae has this great album called Racine Carree, straight out of France you guys. Get on it. Now, if you haven't already.
3) For some reason I had a bit of a mind blank at this point
Trying to find the perfect point between good-music-study-help and awesome-study-music is darn difficult. Lets just go with silence. Sometimes all you need is the music around you.
Wow that was corny. Moving on...
2) Anything in a language you don’t understand
Pour moi (for me), this is mainly something in French or anything from the Gypsy Kings. I grew up with Gypsy Kings as travel music. It wouldn't be a proper road trip for me without Gypsy Kings, they were like the staple lipstick every girl has to have equivalent to the perfect car ride. I love that this band even transferred into my study routine. The happy beats and superb guitar work is so good for maintaining a positive attitude to study, even life. Listen to Gypsy Kings Medley for a glorious mix of their best tracks and hopefully you’ll hear what I mean.
One of the most played songs on my iTunes is a cover of Ne Me Quitte Pas by Maysa Matarazzo; It is PERFECTION. Classic French songs such as Edith Piaf’s Padam Padam and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien are constantly in rotation alongside the entirety of Stomae’s French pop album Racine Carree (mentioned in point 4)
The main perk of songs in foreign languages is of course the fact that I can barely understand what is being said, especially with my limited French. So once I get over how fantastic tune is, it leaves so much room for focusing on work instead of lyrics.
Extra:
Gentleman - PSY (applies to 4 as well; of course you can't forget Gangnam Style)
Un Amor - Gypsy Kings (for when you're feeling a little mellow)
Rose - Lee Hi
All Right - Lim Kim (this point applies for Lee Hi as well. Both these girls have fantastically refreshing voices that are unique to the Korean entertainment industry and that is what makes me really enjoy them, unlike the general icky-pop of most young Asian bands. Beware the weird s**t that happens about halfway through of All Right though)
Nil Se’n La - Celtic Woman (I know this is cheating, but it is partially in Celtic)
1) Instrumental: Epic, Classical, Drums (inc. African, Chinese, Latin American, etc)
True story - I once did a 4000 word assignment with referencing in six hours, in one fell swoop, listening to: Erik Satie's The Gymnopédies 1, 2, 3; Richard Clayderman's Ballade Pour Adeline and Les Fleurs Sauvages; Illusions, Clairvoyant, Femme Fatale, White Witch, Master of Shadows, Tristan, Queen of Crows - all by Two Steps From Hell; White Specter which I think is from Adrian von Ziegler; and the opening theme song from Game of Thrones. SO EFFECTIVE! It was amazing. I believe it was the lack of lyrics, good mix of motivational - which sound like they're from epic films - and relaxing themes, and pure awesomeness of the G.o.T track that made my writing stamina increase like crazy. For legal research no less. That playlist is still reserved for intense studying even months after my initial testing.
The sound of beating drums is very effective too, especially ethnic African drums. To me, beating drums basically feel like the rhythm of mankind's origins. Excuse me while I go download some percussion compositions.
BONUS:
Swept Away | Fiction - The xx (so soothing, omg)
Walking in the Air - Celtic Woman (this song is a beautiful blend of folk and epic movie soundtrack put together)
Grown Woman | Single Ladies | Run the World (Girls) - Beyonce (werk it, gurl)
Wings - Little Mix (spread those brain wings)
Hotel California -The Eagles (everyone knows Hotel California well enough to sing along their a few paragraphs of a textbook in melody with this classic)
Feeling Good - Michael Buble and Pussycat Dolls renditions (so, so good)
Sway | Quando, Quando, Quando ft. Nelly Furtado | etc- Michael Buble (I mean, come on, this guy is the new Sinatra of easy listening)
Everything from LANA DEL REY (Duh, she is most of my most-played list)
Money in the Bank - Swizz Beatz ("I ain't tryna save that girl" on repeat is quite helpful)
Royals | Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Lorde (these are pretty much the only two songs I like from her)
Dumb - Nirvana (I recommend Heart Shaped Box and Lithium too)
We Are the Champions | We Will Rock You - Queen (these usually make me want to cry in nationalistic fervor or something, but if Freddie Mercury’s voice isn't motivation, then what is)
Dream On - Aerosmith (Dream On is like We Are the Champions younger-not-quite-there-brother, but still pretty inspiring)
Can’t Rely On You (Live from the Kitchen) - Paloma Faith (yeah man, like, you can groove out life anywhere…including your unfinished [read: barely started] 2500 word essay on duty of care)
Image source: http://mrsmoothemt.com/