Turn Up the Volume & Get Ready to Study with Manhattan Prep
Music can do a lot for us, but the word is still out on whether it can enhance our ability to stay focused and sharpen our memories during long study sessions. On the one hand, we have a report from the University of Toronto suggesting that fast and loud background music can hinder our performance on reading comprehension. On the other, there’s the recent
research from the digital music service, Spotify, and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Emma Gray, which proclaims that pop hits from artists like Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus can actually enhance our cognitive abilities.
“Music has a positive effect on the mind, and listening to the right type of music can actually improve studying and learning,” says Dr. Gray. She even suggests that students who listen to music while studying can perform better than those who do not.
We also cannot leave out the so-called “Mozart Effect,” which alleges that listening to classical music provides short-term enhancement of mental tasks, like memorization. We’ve heard students swear by this tactic, while others say that silence is golden.
With so much conflicting information out there, it seems reasonable to conclude that listening to music—whether instrumental or with lyrics— while studying effects individuals differently. Assuming that this is the case, we have decided to put our own unique spin on this conversation—how about music to play that gets you ready, and dare we say excited, to study? After all, there are plenty of playlists out there to get us pumped up to party, to sleep, and even to eat.
We’ve asked our team of Manhattan Prep instructors to share some songs that motivate them to hit the books and that can hopefully do the same for you. If the upbeat melodies of the first half of our playlist don’t do the trick, we’ve also included some of the classical variety to ease you into study mode. Heck, even if this turns into a dance party for one, at least we’ve helped you relieve some stress—and that counts for something when it comes time to study!
//open.spotify.com/user/manhattanprep/playlist/7BziCU14P8hCLtRup9mNti