Music to Write An Essay To
the perfect writing music – get an “a” with andrew
featuring artists like:
Fiona Joy Hawkins, Cesium Swimsuit, ODESZA, Flow, DJ Food, music2work2, Cliff Martinez, Moby, Aphex Twin
YouTube was the first place where essay writing music really kicked off. Long form instrumental tracks created the perfect balance of blocking external noise without distracting cognitive centers with words or lyrics. Often falling into the “New Age” category, it wasn’t the sexiest of genres and would never appear on radio but there was a huge and hungry audience.
Many of the tracks on this playlist have millions of streams and views and are very much people’s go to writing music, others are brand new compositions but are great at setting the optimal environment for getting the words out.
Here’s the thing though – there’s no way that every track on this list is going to work for you – it’s likely that you’ll experience some tracks as jarring or too disruptive or even too boring and soporific. The point of this playlist is less about stringing tracks together in a sequence and more about finding tracks that you can put on repeat and get into a state of creative flow – it’s why we generally prefer longer form submissions.
While we cover pretty much all genres and intensities, typically the tracks are ambient in nature, mid tempo and are instrumental. There are some tracks with the odd word or two but there is no lyrical story telling to distract the writer when they’re trying to get their own words out.
The Proposition #1 – Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
14 March 2017
Oh yeah – I remember this one – it’s a totally killer, visual, “set the scene” kind of track.
The instrumentation is awesome.
What Music to Listen to when Studying for or Taking a Test?
10 March 2017
If you’re reading this chances are you’re probably in school of some kind and looking for help! If you’re in the library or some common area like a coffee shop, have a look around and see how many people are wearing headphones…
Tubular Bells – Pt. I – Mike Oldfield
8 March 2017
While many people associate the music with the Exorcist and Halloween soundtracks, I associate it with lying on my back in Singapore, looking up at the sky and playing along with every instrument as the mad Master of Ceremonies Vivian Stanshall announced them.
Summer Fog – The Album Leaf
7 March 2017
I’ve received a lot of e-mails asking me how I write. The simple answer is, I write late at night, with my headphones on, listening to music. These are some songs I really like, especially for writing. They frequently find a place on my midnight playlist. I hope you like them, too.
Purity – Konzentration Akademie
24 February 2017
I don’t know about you but I’m super suspicious of all the Massage / New Age / plinky plunky “Spa” music that’s out there – I tend to find most of it blandly put together samples with the odd bit of nature sound thrown in for fun. This track isn’t like that.
Lily’s Theme – Alexandre Desplat
22 February 2017
I love writing to film scores – to me they’re the quintessential essay writing music – music that was composed to help tell a story! We know that familiar music is good for this purpose as it occupies less cognitive space and you can’t get much bigger than the Harry Potter movies.
Battle Mountain – Ben Flocks
21 February 2017
I was listening to the amazing In A Silent Way from Miles Davis (which will be featured on this playlist soon) and was thinking about the whole instrumental horn, jazz, blues, thing and then Battle Mountain appeared in my Inbox.
02 Ghosts I – Nine Inch Nails
19 February 2017
The first time I really listened to Trent Reznor was the soundtrack of The Social Network – oh sure I was aware of him – I had studied his marketing methods but had never really listened to his music.
Sun Will Set – Zoë Keating
17 February 2017
Zöe Keating isn’t just a killer musician, she’s also a pretty cool human being – which is why she came to mind when seeding this playlist. A consummate musician sure – but she’s carved her own way – with a cello – which when you consider the lack of sharp edges on those things – is pretty impressive!
Your Hand In Mine – Explosions In The Sky
16 February 2017
You can’t have an essay writing playlist without an Explosions In The Sky track somewhere on there. Often time writing music can be soft and low energy but every now and then you want some driving, loud, energetic piece of music that builds and grows and picks you up with it’s movement so your hands are dancing and fingers flying on the keyboard…at least – that’s what the track did for me while I was writing this!
Don’t Get Any Closer – Eluvium
15 February 2017
I don’t remember how I came across this track but it’s such an easy one to fall in love with.
Obviously instrumental but it has this drone effect in the background – which is really essential for essay writing music as it creates this consistent aural environment that – in my pop psych world anyway – enables you to safely shut out the world and focus in on what you are writing.
Genedigaeth koring-bato – Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita
27 January 2017
I had never heard of Catrin Finch or Seckou Keita before but I was following a thread inside Spotify that was supposed to be an essay writing playlist and yet most of the music was just – meh! I bounced off one artist into a different playlist, started going down that and the opening bars of this track just grabbed me by the ears.
The first visual memory I have is that of the white upright piano in Singapore, Hell and the Dark Forces lived at the bottom, Heaven and the Angels at the top, they would play battles through my fingers and I was hooked.
As a psychology graduate I studied how sound affects human performance.
As a musician I compose instrumental music that stimulates your brain but doesn't mess with your language centers, leaving you free to be creative and brilliant without distraction.
As a curator I research how music can improve your life and create flow - I can tell you what music to listen to when studying for a test and why listening to sad music can make you feel better.
As a creator / contributor at musicto I’m part of a global creator community that collaborates through music. You can learn more about our community here.