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🎭 Culture & Society❓ Question

What do you actually listen to while studying? I need a playlist that doesn't wreck my focus

Aarav Kulkarni11th Sample

1 Sept 2026 · 2 min read

Okay so this is a very important, very serious question for a class 11 NEET student: what music should I put on while I study?

My current situation: I like having something in the background because total silence makes me hear everything. Fan. Neighbour's TV. A scooter. My own brain. But I've now tried four different options and none works properly.

What I've tried:

  1. Lo-fi playlists. Nice for 20 minutes, and then I'm sleepy and start staring at the wall.
  2. Hindi songs I love. Terrible idea. I started singing along to the second song and wrote the lyrics in my Biology notes. I only noticed when I got to the chapter's end.
  3. Instrumental film music. Better. But a dramatic part comes up randomly and my brain thinks it's a movie. I once felt like I was about to defeat a villain while reading about enzymes.
  4. No music at all. Hear everything. Can't focus for more than 15 minutes.

I also made a list (of course): time of day, subject, type of task, what music was playing, how focused I felt on a scale of 1 to 5. The data is a mess but there's a pattern: reading new theory with music is bad, doing MCQs or writing notes is okay.

So what do you listen to? Is there a type of music, or a sound, or a rule that actually works for you? And does the language of the lyrics matter? Please give your honest answers, even if the answer is "just study in silence, Aarav".

Thanks!

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12 answers & replies

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  • [+]Diya Menon11thSample· 1mo ago

    ahh I'm a lo-fi person but the trick is: only for 'easy' work like making notes or revising diagrams. For new theory I do silence with a fan running. Also the piano covers of film songs (no lyrics!) are lovely, you get the vibe without singing.

    • [+]Aarav Kulkarni11thSample· 1mo agoAuthor

      Diya, wait, so you switch by task? That's the thing from my data. Making notes = music OK. New theory = silence. Okay.

  • [+]Rohan Sharma11thSample· 1mo ago

    I put on a 10-hour rain sound video and it's so boring that my brain gives up trying to listen. Best focus of my life. Not music but it works. Also my neighbour thinks I'm a monk.

  • [+]Kabir Joshi11thSample· 1mo ago

    Video game soundtracks. They're literally designed to sit in the background so you can concentrate while still feeling like something's happening. No lyrics, loops nicely, and it's the same kind of energy as coding. Pick the ones from slow, exploration-type games, not the boss-fight ones (learned that the hard way).

  • [+]Yash Tiwari11thSample· 1mo ago

    Bhai mere liye purane gaane, kishore kumar wale, ek hi playlist repeat pe. Pehle 3-4 din sab gaane gaata tha, ab itna suna hua hai ki dimaag ne ignore karna seekh liya. Basically same 15 songs for 2 weeks and now they're wallpaper. Not for new theory though, you're right on that.

  • [+]Meera Patel11thSample· 1mo ago

    I prefer silence, honestly, or very quiet instrumental music at low volume, like a single piano. If I need to block noise, I use earplugs, not music. Music with a beat tends to take a piece of my attention, even when I think it's not.

    One point though: I read somewhere that listening to Mozart makes you smarter and I tried it for a week. I'm not sure it did anything.

    • [+]Zoya Khan12thSample· 1mo ago

      Meera, that "Mozart effect" claim is a bit of a myth. The original finding was a very small and short-lived effect on one kind of spatial task, and it didn't mean music makes you smarter. What helps is more ordinary: if a piece of music puts you in a calm, alert mood, you might concentrate better. So pick what calms you, not what's famous.

      Aarav, my advice: lyrics in a language you understand compete with reading words, so go instrumental or a language you don't speak. And keep the volume low. If you can sing along, it's too loud or too familiar.

      • [+]Meera Patel11thSample· 1mo ago

        Thank you for the correction, Zoya. I should not have repeated it without checking. A mood effect makes much more sense.

  • [+]Pooja Iyer12thSample· 1mo ago

    I do Carnatic instrumental, veena or violin, on very low. Drama-free, rhythmic, and honestly it feels like background incense. My mum thinks I'm being fancy. I'm not, it's just that anything with words makes me start singing and then it's a concert.

  • [+]Siddharth RaoDropperSample· 1mo ago

    Big-brother answer. Same album on repeat for months worked for me in the drop year. When you know every note you stop hearing it, and the sound just says "this is study time" to your brain. But I use headphones only for practice papers and memorisation. For first-time theory I need the room quiet. Your data matches that.

    One rule: when the music starts annoying you, change the playlist. Don't push through.

    • [+]Aarav Kulkarni11thSample· 1mo agoAuthor

      This is so helpful. My new plan (written down): new theory = silence or rain sound, MCQs and notes = instrumental at low volume, same playlist for two weeks. I'll report my data in a month. Thank you all! Rohan, I'm trying the rain one tonight.

      • [+]Rohan Sharma11thSample· 1mo ago

        rain sound gang rise up. we're a quiet people

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