For some, listening to music while studying or doing homework is simply distracting. My sister, for example, needs complete silence in order to concentrate. For others, listening to music provides the motivation and mental engagement needed to complete tasks with concentration and accuracy. There is plenty of research that connects listening to baroque classical music with increased concentration, but if Vivaldi or Mozart do not it for you, there are also studies that suggest that non-classical music is still effective as long as you stay away from music with complex and distracting lyrics. Personally, I believe that songs with a somewhat steady beat that provide ambient noise are the most conducive to concentrating.

Here are some of my favorite songs/soundtracks to study to: (while some of these songs do have lyrics, they are either in a different language or somewhat difficult to understand, so the brain power used to process them should be negligible).

Sigur Ros:

Bon Iver:

James Vincent McMorrow:

Max Richter:

Hans Zimmer:

Rodrigo y Gabriela:

Peter Gregson:

Philip Glass:

Spiegel Im Spiegel: