# Do you listen to music while you study? Does it affect your learning ability?



## Remmie (Mar 30, 2012)

When I study I don't listen to music because I find I have a hard time focusing when listening to music. I end up paying way more attention to the music than what I am suppose to be studying. :frustrating:


----------



## TrailMix (Apr 27, 2011)

It helps me focus. I'm very picky. I prefer loud, electronic, or more of... I dunno, beat-oriented music while studying. And I dont like headphones, I like it loud. Thank goodness I'll have my own room next year haha


----------



## The Unseen (Oct 26, 2010)

I voted "other" because it all depends on if I'm tired. If I'm tired, I'm already having a hard time concentrating on my work, and music just further distracts me. If I'm rested though, it doesn't bother me, and it's on.


----------



## The Nth Doctor (May 18, 2012)

I listen do music for math problems where I'm just going through and doing them, but for learning a new concept I need quiet.

Do math problems count as studying? Probably not, so nevermind one of the 'other's.


----------



## Mutatio NOmenis (Jun 22, 2009)

I work better with hard rock in the background. I therefore always listen to it while studying.


----------



## The Performance (Apr 12, 2012)

Yes I love music, I cant focus without it.


----------



## ghenwa (Apr 10, 2012)

Music is good for everything except speech-writing. I need to be able to hear it in my head...


----------



## Tess (May 14, 2012)

I can listen to music and study but sometimes when its something i really have to focus on then i prefer to have silence.


----------



## grmpf (Mar 18, 2010)

Studying while listening to one specific track, dozens of times in a row, works fine with me. I becomes some sort of a mantra that blocks out all possible other distractions.


----------



## Inky (Dec 2, 2008)

There's actually a study on this that suggests extraverts focus better when listening to music and vice versa for introverts.



> Background music can help extroverts focus, but tends to torment introverts.


Your Music, Your Personality | Psychology Today

For me it depends on my mood. I suppose I'm quite ambiverted.


----------



## cades (Apr 25, 2012)

I was really hoping there was a "I don't study" answer.


----------



## CaféZeitgeist (May 29, 2012)

I listen to music, but it affects my learning ability in a _positive _way. You worded the choice in the poll in such a way that it seemed as if music had a negative effect on my learning ability. 
I find I concentrate better with music on in the background. It gives my mind something to tune out. If I did not have this background noise to force my concentration on the task at hand, then I would get lost in my own thoughts, and probably never get anything accomplished.


----------



## Alediran (Aug 31, 2011)

I need music to distract the random wanderings of my mind, both when I study (haven't in a long time, what I've read since 2005 has all been for pleasure) and when I work.


----------



## SnowFairy (Nov 21, 2011)

I voted other because.....

The type of work I'm doing determines whether or not I can listen to music, and the specific subject determines what type I can listen to.

When I'm doing math, I can listen to just about anything.
When I'm writing, I can only listen to pretty music like classical, Celtic, and acoustic. I can't listen to music with words when I write. It pulls my attention away from the words I'm trying conjure up in my own head.

When I'm either reading or doing really intense problem solving (such as chemical equations, logic problems, and other things), I cannot listen to music. It gives me a headache.


----------



## misstheground (Mar 11, 2012)

I listen to music until I get really into the studying, kind of stimulating my brain into hyperfocusing. 
It's very much an ADHD coping tactic, and it works nicely.


----------



## themartyparade (Nov 7, 2010)

^ I have ADHD and I can't listen to music while studying.

Either I listen to the music or I pay close attention to whatever it is I'm writing/reading. Music distracts me and I find myself paying more attention to the lyrics and what the artist is trying to portray rather than focusing on whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing. I guess it's 'cause it can't be background music for me. If it's music I really like (which is ultimately what I listen to it), I'll get so wrapped up in it that I have to re-read the same sentence 10 times to actually understand it. I just get too into whatever it is I'm doing and doing two equally as important tasks doesn't sit very well with me.

I can listen to music and for example do chores around the house and sometimes I can listen to music while on the computer but more often than not I find myself really _listening_ and I somehow forget to do whatever it is I was doing.


----------



## Annietopia (Aug 16, 2011)

Music while studying makes me think of other things I could be doing or makes me want to get up and do something else xD so music does affect my attention span whilst studying x)


----------



## gh0st (Jun 11, 2012)

I find that music actually _helps_​ me study. O_O


----------



## PtiDop (May 27, 2012)

I want to say " i listen to music, AND it affects my learning ability in the good way " !


----------



## fiertelann (Jun 17, 2012)

Some music really helps me focus. Classical music never distracts me; neither does trance music. I can listen to instrumental movie scores as long as they're not LOTR - because I automatically associate each moment of LOTR music with its corresponding scene, and I end up re-playing the movie in my head. It definitely gets me off task.

I cannot listen to anything with vocals while working. I'm not a multitasker, so I end up just paying attention to the lyrics, as they are always infinitely more interesting than homework, and then my grades go waaaaaay down.


----------



## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

I need instrumental music to concentrate. Otherwise, I am focused on all of the ambient noises and I can't concentrate at all.


----------



## Adversary (Dec 5, 2012)

I could only maybe listen to ambient music. Anything else would be too distracting.


----------



## Aslynn (Jun 2, 2012)

I usually listen to music if I'm doing mindless studying - busywork or typing. If I really need to concentrate, I do best with a lot of white noise but no interupptions. Otherwise, music gets me either too hyped up or I begin to concentrate on the song instead of my work.


----------



## NuthatchXi (Jul 18, 2012)

It really depends on the type of music, the subject, and my mood. For certain types of studying, it can be really helpful. I just tune it out most of the time, but it adds just enough enjoyment to keep me from getting bored. Sometimes, though, it makes me completely unable to focus.


----------



## Tonimiko (Oct 16, 2011)

Instrumental/Classic? Yes.
Lyrical/Bass-filled? No.


----------



## DMack (Aug 16, 2011)

I listen to music when I study. It affects me positively. It helps me focus. Might be a Ne thing.


----------



## elentari (Aug 7, 2011)

I am horrible at multitasking. The only thing I can study while listening to music is pure mathematics, containing only numbers, symbols and equations. If I have to study or even carefully read anything beyond that (ex. Read a sentence), I have to stop the music.


----------



## puppies454 (Nov 14, 2012)

I wouldn't be able to do the ambient music either... it makes me a little paranoid for some weird reason, and even more than that, it just becomes unnecessary haha.


----------



## Dane (Dec 12, 2012)

I'm very sensitive to audio information...listening to music distracts me so much from reading texts.


----------



## LQ9 (Jul 24, 2010)

I often listen to music when I study, probably because I am a product of the internet generation and cannot focus without multiple types of stimulation :bored:

It sometimes helps and sometimes distracts me--gotta find the right kind of music for my mood and the type of assignment.


----------



## Typologist (Dec 11, 2012)

I just hate it when it's totally quiet.


----------



## Tater Tot (May 28, 2012)

Most of the time, if I have the opportunity, I'll listen to music while I'm working. It doesn't really make much of a difference :laughing: But I can't stand just sitting there silent. Listening to music makes me feel more productive while I'm doing something.


----------



## Fern (Sep 2, 2012)

When I listen to music, I usually find it enhances my study time somehow. I think it allows the more creative side of my brain engage with math, mechanics, science, psychology, etc.
But if I'm studying for something a bit unfamiliar to me at the time (i.e. IPA for Voice & Diction, Latin vocab, economics, first week of any intro class) I need to devote my full attention in a quiet setting.


----------



## Dashing (Sep 19, 2011)

Yeah I've always got music on, which also means I don't know whether or not it affects me.


----------



## MissBlossom (Dec 22, 2010)

I believe that listening to music negatively affects learning ability. 

Listening to instrumental music is different. Gentle instrumental music will not have a negative effect.

I think I read that introverts do better without the noise and extroverts do better with a background noise.


----------



## Raichu (Aug 24, 2012)

I can't do anything, especially studying/homework, without music. I'll drive myself crazy trying. I need some kind of other distraction. It has to be music I'm very familiar with, though, or else I'll pay too much attention to it. When it's songs I've already heard a thousand times, it can become background noise. Also, it has to be music I like, or else I'll be thinking about disliking it. I don't know if that's type related, though. That might just be my ADHD.


----------



## nakkinaama (Jun 20, 2012)

I never study


----------



## hailfire (Dec 16, 2012)

I voted "other." I couldn't study even if my life and/or well-being depended on it. I tried.


----------



## OverthoughtAndUnderstated (Aug 13, 2012)

I don't study, but when I am writing, I listen to this:

SimplyNoise - The Best Free White Noise Generator on the Internet.


----------



## furby959 (Jan 5, 2013)

i cant concentrate with music on like when im reading all this personality stuff but i don't really study


----------

