And ever since these dull pieces of wisdom were first shared, I’m fairly sure most of us have been blatantly ignoring them. From the amount of Airpod Maxs you can spot in the Phil Rob on any given day, I’d say most of us find it easier to listen to a little bit of music whilst we study.
It always seemed, to me, far too optimistic to think I could ever have silence whilst revising. Whether it’s a group project in the library who think their own jokes are too funny, or your flatmate watching a movie on max volume next door, there always some distracting noise!
So, if there’s already going to be noise, why not make it noise you enjoy and listen to some music.
Psychological studies actually find that for many people music can actually increase focus and memorisation. That is, if it is kept low volume and lyric-free.
When most people hear that, their minds instantly go to a classical waltz, and they completely lose interest. However, I can attest that there is a HUGE range of instrumental music on offer across all genres, whether you’re more Ezra Collective or MIMIDEATH.
I’ve compiled the playlist below to show that there is gentle, instrumental(ish) music from most categories you can think of – from hyper-pop electro, to indie-pop, to the tried-and-true classical.
Whilst it might not be a coherent listen genre-wise, I hope that it can show some people that there is a way to mesh whatever their favourite sound is with the need for quiet this exam season.
Hopefully you can discover a new artist here that you want to hear more of on your own revision playlist.
Happy studying!