I love listening to music when studying. Unfortunately, sometimes my music taste is too good, and I end up vibing with the song instead of doing my work. Because of this, I love listening to songs without lyrics so that I’m not tempted to sing along (because there are no lyrics to sing! — it’s a foolproof plan). All songs below can be found on Spotify:
- “Ms. Ho” by Onra
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Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Album: Chinoiseries pt 2
Description: His musical style is described as a “chopped up set of RnB laden beats and electronically produced experiments laced with influences spanning the entire globe”.1
Commentary: This song has a jazzy/blues feel towards it, and you can’t help but vibe with it (but it’s not distracting!).
- “when the party’s over” by Fiona Floyd
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Genre: Instrumental (originally alternative/indie)
Description: Soothing piano cover of Billie Eilish’s song from When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Commentary: The original version is also a good relaxing song for studying as Eilish’s voice is very soft and airy.
- “Havana” by Mary Lou Stephens
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Genre: Instrumental (originally latin pop)
Description: Slowed down/ stripped piano version of Camila Cabello’s song from Camila.
Commentary: Sometimes you find a really good song and the instrumental version ends up better; this is one of those times.
- “After 4AM” by Long Arm
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Genre: Down tempo, Hip-Hop, Nu-Jazz
Album: The Branches
Description: The song is about “It is time when magic of music stops to be an illusion. Time also stops and loses its sense. Sounds enter our world and spread over the ceiling steeping everything around with warm light.”2
Commentary: This song just washes over you and takes you to a different world.
- “A Thousand Years” by The Piano Guys
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Genre: Easy listening
Description: Instrumental cover of Christina Perri’s song from the album The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Commentary: This song is an oldie but a goldie. Released in 2011, the song became a sleeper hit and reminds us of the simpler times of whether we were #TeamEdward or #TeamJacob.
- “Clair de lune” by Claude Debussy, et al.
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Genre: Classical
Movement: Suite bergamasque, L. 75: III
Description: Calming classical piece; Also had a feature in the Twilight series.
Commentary: This song is soft and smooth, so it also makes for good music to fall asleep to.
- “Rey’s Theme” by John William
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Genre: Musical score
Album: Across the Stars
Description: From “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”; Led by string and woodwind instruments
Commentary: The iconic theme song to a series that changed the film industry
- “Flow On” by Jinsang
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Genre: R&B/Soul
Album: Confessions
Description: Led by brass instruments, some vocals (ex. “yeah”)
Commentary: Very class sounding, stays true to the title of “flow”
- “A Beautiful Day” by Too Ugly
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Genre: Jazz
Album: A Beautiful Day
Description: Piano heavy
Commentary: It seems like it would be a song a character in a movie/show would jam out to while walking down the sidewalk.
- “Both of Us” by Idealism
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Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Album: Chillhop Raw Cuts 2
Description: Piano heavy, similar to #9 but softer
Commentary: Could potentially fall asleep to this song (I actually did while writing this)
Enjoy some of my favorite songs to study too! There are many lowfi/study music playlists on Spotify, but here are some of my favorites that I recommend:
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“Calming Instrumental Covers” created by Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9j444F9NCBa?si=8oaB7CdaSvyZsD3aUQcYyQ
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“Instrumental Study”created by Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9sIqqvKsjG8?si=2rjc7GPiQ9CbImM45zVwaQ
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“low fi jazz/ low fi hiphop” created by helloandreas: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5VUtwhcRyx518dw1pv91JN?si=k_eydkUIS6WQTExOtY1zbQ
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“Intense Classical” created by Nick Berry Pagan: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DElA5sesEbWHBxIVBfyCR?si=29HRuPJcRuSWrJ9lg812_Q Thanks for listening!