November 21, 2018, by Alina

My Favourite Instrumental Music to Study to

If you’re like me and prefer to study cooped up in the library then you’ll understand the problems of accidentally sitting next to either a hungry student devouring endless packets of monster munch, a group of aggressively loud whisperers talking about their c-razy night out last night, or simply a stressed final year who is incapable of reading without sighing heavily every few minutes. Hence why I find myself listening to music to try to zone out from the irritating sounds around me (they really don’t help when you’re trying to re-read an article for the 345345th time because you’re yet to understand it).

However,  as much as I love my discover weekly on Spotify, I feel like I am incapable of studying to music with lyrics in because I end up typing out the lyrics and foot-tapping rather than being productive at all… That’s why I have compiled some suggestions for my favourite instrumental music for studying – let me know if you have any similar artists I could listen to, I’m always on the search for more!

Hans Zimmer

If you’re looking for something that is at times relatively upbeat, and at other times mellowed out then try out a compilation of Hans Zimmer. Most well known for movie soundtracks for Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, and the Batman films, Hans can provide you with the ‘superhero’ motivation you need to power through the rest of your essay. I tend to listen to him when I know I have a long library day ahead of me as the variety of his work means that I don’t get bored of hearing the same type of melody over and over again and can knuckle down with work without having to worry about changing what I’m listening to.

God is an Astronaut

God is an Astronaut are labelled as a ‘post-rock’ band but produce mellow electronic music with some intense build ups. I prefer listening to them if I’m working late as they help me focus on whatever I’m writing but they remain ‘exciting’ enough to keep me awake!

Yann Tiersen

If you’ve seen the French film Amelie then you probably know just how beautiful the soundtrack is – and a lot of it comes down to the genius that is Yann Tiersen. I tend to listen to the Amelie playlist when I’m doing my French work (it’s a more subtle way of getting me into the French mood than wearing a beret in the library), as the mixture of an accordion and a piano is something I think that I’ll never get bored of! My favourite album by Yann is ‘EUSA’ as it has many calming piano tracks that really help me zone out of the library surroundings, however, I have to be in a good study mood before I listen to him otherwise I feel that I can get bored of both his piano music and my work a lot quicker.

Bonobo

If you’re feeling groovy, then I would really really recommend listening to Bonobo – known as a DJ who mixes electrical sounds with world music and jazz influences, his songs flow into eachother seamlessly meaning that you can get a good few hours of some upbeat songs to keep you motivated. You can find his full albums on YouTube and choose which one best fits your mood (some are more chilled out, whilst others focus on funkadelic beats). I find that listening to him when I’ve hit a ‘slump’ in my work really helps me get going again!

 

Posted in Alina