In this unit of our course, you will conduct a small, informal experiment … on yourself. It asks you to adopt a functional approach to music and studying. How can you use music to help you study? Meanwhile, the “Big Idea” of the unit also asks you to reflect on the cultural dimensions of your listening and study habits. Whether music is instrumental or not might be a determining factor in how useful it is for studying— that is, vocals might be distracting in various ways, but “World Music” in unfamiliar languages may seem “instrumental” when you don’t understand the lyrics, especially if the vocal style is also unfamiliar. In both a practical and abstract sense, this unit encourages you to use music to reorient your sense of time. In the end, I hope this exercise helps you develop a healthier, more effective way to integrate music and studying in your life.
Explore the “A Study on Music for Studying” YouTube playlist (in Course Materials).
Skip around to gain an overall sense of the types of sounds in the playlist.
Choose one track a time to accompany your next study/work session while wearing headphones — that is, use headphones and the playlist to create a sonic environment that will help you be as focused and productive as possible while you study.
Sample Solution