The Perfect Study Playlist

Keep your focus with this list of great homework tunes!

Hitting the textbooks can be an ordeal, but is a universal necessity for students everywhere. One way to ease the dreaded task is by creating a playlist of songs that keep you motivated and focused. Ideally, you want background music that keeps you entertained, but doesn’t make you want to sing or dance along. Here’s a list to help get you started. 

1) Printemps: Cœur de Pirate

If you often find yourself distracted because you like to sing along with whatever you’re listening to, look into instrumental or foreign language songs for your study playlist. Invigorating and upbeat, Printemps is great study music. Not to mention, Cœur de Pirate’s adorable voice, which helps the homework go a bit quicker.

2) Lump Slum: Bon Iver

Haunting and mysteriously enchanting, Bon Iver has created a soft backdrop of sound for you to bounce your ideas off. It’s easy to focus and get in the creative mood when the melancholy echoes of Lump Slum are ringing in your headphones. Check out the rest of this CD, For Emma, Forever Ago, for more excellent brainstorming music and inspirational ballads.

3) White Winter Hymnal: Fleet Foxes

Equal to Bon Iver’s Lump Slum in its ability to be simultaneously chilling and gracefully upbeat, White Winter Hymnal is the kind of song you can put on repeat for hours (a whole day if you really love it) and not get tired of. The layered vocals and vibrant tambourine give the entire song an expansive feel that promises of a study break to come.

4) While We’re Young: Pegasus Bridge

While not The Beatles or The Who, this quartet is this generation’s contribution to England’s reputation for producing good bands. Incredibly catchy, While We’re Young is just one of the many addictive songs that Pegasus Bridge has released. Each individual instrument is orchestrated with such precision that the entire song blends with a cohesive flow and a driving energy that is sure to keep you working on that essay!

5) Burning Pile:
 Mother Mother
Opening with a slow and haunting beat, Burning Pile quickly builds up into an unbearably catchy number. Of course, no song is more perfectly suited to spending some quality time with a textbook than one that conjures the image of “all my troubles in a burning pile, all lit up and I start to smile."

6) The Cave: Mumford & Sons

The best music to study with is music that makes you so incredibly happy; it balances out the exhausting task of drudging through boring material. Mumford & Sons fits the bill, with its invigorating and charming banjo/accordion duo that somehow melds perfectly with the roaring brass and the playful strings.

7) Hate Crime: Austra

Electronic music that flirts with indie rock, Hate Crime is a good example of what musical strides can be achieved when musicians know what they are doing and are comfortable with their craft. It may be well-made, but all of Austra’s work is so agreeable that it won’t mind quietly waiting in the background while you prepare for your exams.

8) 15 Step: Radiohead

Radiohead has quickly become my personal favourite for homework music. Something about the meandering and experimental quality is nice to listen to without being overwhelmingly distracting. Thom Yorke’s poorly enunciated lyrics don’t take away from the song, but rather slur themselves into a seamless accompaniment for the orchestrated cadence that is 15 Step.

9) The Islander: Nightwish
Nothing says "hit the books" quite like symphonic metal. The Islander is an effortless blend of coastal rhythms with a splash of operatic vocals that keep the song pushing forward. If you’re not a fan of heavy metal, don’t worry – this song transcends any genre and favours sweeping violins and thudding bass drums over heavy electric guitar solos.

10) Love Her Madly: The Doors

This song is a prime example of what drove the Doors to fame in the ‘70s. From The Doors’ final record, L.A. Woman, this song is a timeless classic that will never stop being thoroughly enjoyable. The grooving piano/bass combo (and Jim Morrison’s gruff vocals) gives a little extra motivation when inspiration runs dry and you’re in need of an extra push.