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.
Multiverse – Cesium Swimsuit
6 March 2019
Sometimes you just need some Cesium Swimsuit to take you to where you need to be…
Voices In The Rain – Charles Szczepanek
26 February 2019
Repetition.
It’s the key to pretty much everything. Whether you’re learning how to throw a basketball or developing a writing habit (hey – even a meth habit for that matter,) the more you do it – the more likely you are to do it and the easier it becomes.
The Lake – Kevin Kerrigan
19 February 2019
I don’t know about you but after the “insanity” that was valentine’s day – I need a rest! And while we’ve spent the last few weeks grooving on beats or counterpoint induced grooves – it’s time to get back to home base with a delicately chilled solo pano track which is – to quote the composer – “nice to write to…”
A Spirit’s Freedom – To Life
13 February 2019
Counterpoint!
Not the literary refutation – what we’re writing about today is the musical construct – the one where you have loads of different melodies all working together yet independently to create something bigger than the sum of its individual parts…
Small Little Green Cubes – Solar Fields
7 February 2019
Damn we use the word “Flow” a lot on this website!
I was looking for an entry into this track write up and was thinking of the whole Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi concept (here’s the wiki page if you’re unfamiliar,) out of interest I searched musicto.com for entries using the word Flow and – well – just check it out – I gave up counting after the first 100 entries…
Drifting Down – Little Sailboat
15 January 2019
It’s raining here in Los Angeles – it does tend to do that at this time of year – the grey months of January and February where the desert forgets that it’s supposed to be dry and warm. And while I love the rain and am happy for the aquifer – damn if I’d forgotten how cold it can make everything!…
Fireflies – Marley Carroll
9 January 2019
Can you feel it?
No? Not Yet?
Oh but you will – and soon – Finals – they’re coming…
Venus – HOUNDTRACK, Too Much
12 December 2018
I’m laughing ‘cos I’m going back through the tracks over the last few weeks and the energy level has been rising slowly but surely – I guess a reflection of just how much external input I need to keep going. Oh – not that it’s that dramatic – it’s just that as we slide into the end of the year I find that I’m pretty knackered and need more energetic music to keep me in the zone…
Two Moons Under – George FitzGerald
5 December 2018
I do – I sometimes feel like a song stealer – I sit here every week and listen to the tracks sent in by all the musicto curators – I’m exposed to all genres and types of music and – if there’s a track that I think works for one of my lists – I steal it – that’s right – I steal it – I steal it for you…
Snow – Miskeyz
26 November 2018
Sometimes you just need an energy boost – something to sit under your flagging mind and raise you up to a base level of competency – at least – that’s what you’re hoping for! ;-)…
Friday Morning – Khruangbin
20 November 2018
I have the best job in the world! 😉 Not only do I get to curate two amazing lists – this essay writing list and Music to Grieve to, but if you didn’t know – I get to listen to every track published on musicto.com each week. Yes – it’s a tough gig – listening to sometimes over 30 hand selected tracks and reading their accompanying write ups…
Papillon. Oiseau – Brique a Braq
13 November 2018
This is the third track from multi-instrumentalist Derek Mount’s Brique a Braq project that has made it onto a Music to Playlist. The first two tracks: Raplapla and Le 4 Novembre were both featured on the Music to Love Piano list and if you dig this piece, I highly recommend you check them out…
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.