QUITE THE Songful study

by Grace Agnew ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Recent statistics state that 51% of high school students reported being told at least once a month that they appeared “burnt out” or stressed. I’m sure we’ve all been there, late nights studying trying to retain information or complete a teacher’s endless list of assignments. The question is, what can make these homework sessions more enjoyable, or maybe even more productive?

Music is my answer. After some research I discovered that music activates the left and right hemispheres of our brain, meaning that it can maximize our learning. For the weirdos who say “music distracts me,” I have a statistic for you from the New York Post. Turns out, 80% of people who listen to music while studying agree that it helps them concentrate or can even be therapeutic.

Here's the thing, what genre of music provides the most benefits for studying and productivity? To answer this question, I conducted my own little experiment. First, I had to conduct a hypothesis: Based on personal experience, I believe that the soul/neo-soul genre of music provides the most benefits for studying and productivity.

After school on some unassuming Tuesday night, I kicked my plan into action. With the dreaded AP exams approaching and the rest of my classes piling up content left and right, I had a good three and a half hours of homework in front of me for the night. That’s 210 minutes of homework in total. Yippee. To then give each music genre a fair amount of time, I determined that for every 42 minutes of studying, I would listen to a different genre.

I started off with rock music and right off the bat, it was a lost cause. The screaming and shouting, fast tempo, and heavy guitar set me up for failure when it came to those first 42 minutes of studying. Hip Hop was a party for 42 minutes, as usual. While it got me hype and ready to dive into my work, I was still more focused on rapping the lyrics than studying for my dates quiz the next day.

I feel like lo-fi is very hit or miss for a lot of people, and when it comes to studying I think I gotta say it’s a miss for me. Instead of wanting to dive into a poetry analysis essay, I was more inclined to dive into my covers and take a 42-minute nap. Pop, on the other hand was a mess, while I got a handful of my geometry work done, my parents probably didn't love my impromptu karaoke sessions at 10:00 at night. The last genre I listened to was neo-soul, and you could say I saved the best for last. I’m thankful for it too, as in those last 42 minutes I got more work done than I had the entire night, truly. So here’s my consensus : in an unbiased, perfect study, classical or lofi-music tends to be the best for studying as it helps your brain absorb new information more easily without the added distraction of lyrics. In my professional high schooler opinion, however, listen to whatever music you want. As I like to say, music is medicine, and any genre that helps you get in the zone is the best choice.

The DailY MIX