One of my favorite ways to be productive is to listen to my favorite composers and artists while I’m studying. I’ve been cultivating my tastes since middle school, so I have a LONG list of favorites. To add to this list, I’ve also asked some of my friends for their favorites. Hopefully, this helps you if you’re just starting to look for music, or if you want to find a new composer to obsess over.
Movie Scores
OK, so personally this is my favorite kind of music to study to. Maybe it’s because I love movies, and I love how crucial the score is in moving the story along. The music in a movie is instrumental in telling the audience how to feel with each plot twist (see what I did there?). So these are some of my favorite scores:
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by Patrick Doyle and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Part 2 by Alexandre Desplat. OK, so all of the HP soundtracks are worth listening to. But personally these two are my favorite. The score keeps the action moving, and I particularly love listening to these while studying in Cathy. What better way to pretend to be Hermione?
“Ratatouille” and “The Incredibles” by Michael Giacchino. These scores are both so fun and reflect the childlike wonder of the Pixar movies. Giacchino is a genius and I highly recommend both of these.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” by Hans Zimmer. This soundtrack is fantastic. If you’re a fan of the POTC movies, then you should definitely listen to the soundtrack. Every sword swing and funny moment by Jack Sparrow is caught up in the music. I always gravitate back to listening to these soundtracks to be productive.
“The Avengers” by Alan Silvestri. This is a fun one for all of the superhero fans out there. I like to listen to action movies when I’m feeling particularly tired because it helps to pep me up.
“The Princess Diaries” by John Debney. OK, so this has always been one of my all time favorites. Especially the song entitled “The Kiss.” It just brings back so many memories of watching this movie and I’m obsessed. Listen to this if you want to bring up your spirits.
Composers
So all of the composers that I mentioned in the movie scores section are excellent, and I would recommend any of their other movies. However, in an effort to include as many people as possible, here are some of my other favorite composers.
Thomas Newman: best known for “Finding Nemo,” “Skyfall,” and “Little Women.”
Rachel Portman: best known for “Belle,” “The Duchess,” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.”
Dario Marianelli: best known for “Pride and Prejudice,” “Atonement,” and “Anna Karenina.”
Ludovico Einaudi: best known for his albums “Eden Roc,” “Una Mattina,” and “I Giorni.” Einaudi is not a composer for movies, but he has some excellent instrumental music for studying. My favorite song by him is “Nuvole bianche.”
Classical Composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, & George Frederic Handel: I’m sure all of you know, these composers have countless famous works. I listen to them when I want to be inspired by the classics. Make sure to especially check out the “Brandenburg Concerto”s by Bach.
8tracks and Spotify Playlists
Finally, here’s a list of some 8tracks and Spotify playlists that I love for studying. These are great because you get a combination of a bunch of different artists and styles of music in one playlist. They’re also really fun to make, so I would recommend doing that if you’re as obsessed with music playlists as I am!
All Time Favorite Disney Instrumentals
The Top 100 Study Instrumentals
Hopefully this article helps relieve some of the stress associated with finals! Best of luck studying.