Stress, anger, and sadness, all emotions that everyone has gone through at one point or another. How we deal with being able to relax all depends on the person. The best way, I have found, to get through harder times is by turning on music. But how exactly does someone choose the right relaxing music? From personal experience, these are my top 10 most relaxing genres of music.

1. Classical/String Music

I want to put country as the #1, but Classical/String music is better. Something about the way the music is played as a band or group just helps me to relax and focus when I'm working on a paper or homework. Unlike any other music that involves lyrics, you can let your imagination wander with whatever you feel with whichever song is playing.

2. Country Music

One thing I notice about country music, that I haven't noticed about any other music, is that I can listen to it for hours on end and never get tired of it. There's also the fact that there are so many ways to interpret country. There's classic country, country rock, country pop and many others. My grandpa who has dementia, and can't remember a lot, still gets happy when country music comes on.

3. Classic Rock

When it comes to rock, you can never go wrong with the classics. Especially when it comes to people like Aerosmith, AC/DC, Journey, Guns N Roses and so many more. Plus if my mood will improve from more upbeat stuff, other than country, then classic rock is the way to go.

4. Cover Bands

This may not exactly be a genre, but people like Anthem Lights and Pentatonix have to be categorized somewhere. Not to mention its nice to hear a different version of some of your favorite songs.

5. Oldies

Like I said with classic rock, you can never go wrong with the classics. It's all the originals that started it all, so it's nice to be able to listen to some of the stuff our parents and grandparents used to or still listen to. Who doesn't love The Beach Boys?

6. Pop

Even though some of it can get kind of repetitive, it's still nice to be able to hear newer stuff and beats.

7. Musicals/Broadway Sound Track

Some musicals and plays seem to drag on forever but have you paid attention to some of the soundtracks? The soundtrack to the Broadway version of The Lion King is amazing. Not to mention there's Wicked, Les Miserables and so many other great ones.

8. Parodies

This might be another one that might not exactly fall as a genre but still is pretty good. If you find the right ones some of them can be pretty funny and quite accurate. My two favorites are thecomputernerd01 and the few parodies Matthias has made.

9. Jazz

Everyone, or at least almost everyone, knows the reference from The Bee Movie. But if you actually listen to it, it's actually quite fun and relaxing to listen to sometimes.

10. Opera

Similar to musicals, opera can be pretty relaxing. Not to mention the talent the singers actually have to be able to have to sing in that way. Plus there's normally a pretty impact full message behind most opera music as well.

So no matter how stressed, sad or down you may be... there's always this list to give you a guide to calming music. Use music as a sort of "help" when you're feeling down, and hopefully this will help!