BY SERENA IMANI KORN
With the right kind of music, a homework session can prove very successful, but students are often divided on whether or not they like to study while listening to music. Some people need to listen to something—anything. Other people need specific types of music. Then there are people who can’t focus at all while listening to any kind of music. I’m one of those people who really need music to focus.
Background noise, and even silence, is too distracting. I need to plug into music to take me to a different place—a place where I can feel focused and powerful to accomplish work. Instrumental movie soundtracks, particularly original scores, often do the trick. Instrumental movie soundtracks, while often similar to classical music scores, have a story to tell. These soundtracks rise and fall with a storyline and create motivating emotions that I don’t get from typical classical music.
When I listen to the soundtrack to Frodo and Sam’s adventure to destroy the One Ring, I feel motivated to destroy my homework. The soft and warm score for “Lars and the Real Girl,” the haunting space adventure soundtrack for “Apollo 13,” and the sad and brave music for “Saving Private Ryan” all take me to a new place without distracting me and help focus my energy toward work. The soundtracks for “Amélie” and “About a Son” are sometimes slightly too energetic and distracting, so to listen to them, I need to be working on something that doesn’t involve a lot of reading.
Every once in a while, especially during “Lord of the Rings” or “Titanic,” I take a break to sing a song or air-conduct an imaginary orchestra. Tracks that feature typewriter noises, such as the “Frost/Nixon” soundtrack does, are particularly motivating when writing—the quick clacking noises of the typewriter make my fingers move across my modern keyboard with ferocity. By the end of “Forrest Gump,” “The Pianist,” or “Schindler’s List,” I notice tears welling up. Regardless of what emotions I feel while listening to these soundtracks, they always, without fail, help me stay motivated to finish my homework.
I encourage you to find the right soundtracks for you to succeed. Start here, browse Spotify or YouTube, ask around, and always give it a chance.
Top 15 instrumental movie soundtracks to do homework to, in very specific and descending order:
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Forrest Gump by Alan Silvestri
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Lars and the Real Girl by David Torn
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Lord of the Rings trilogy by Howard Shore
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Saving Private Ryan by John Williams
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Brokeback Mountain by Gustavo Santaolalla
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Apollo 13 by James Horner
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Batman Begins by Hans Zimmer
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Titanic by James Horner
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About a Son by Steve Fisk and Benjamin Gibbard
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Schindler’s List by John Williams
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The Pianist by Various Artists
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Cosmos (2014) by Alan Silvestri
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The Hours by Philip Glass
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Frost/Nixon by Hans Zimmer
- Amelie by Yann Tiersen
