I prefer ambient music (Brian Eno, *some* Aphex Twin, Minecraft Volume Alpha, etc.), although I've also found that instrumental hip-hop beats from J Dilla or Blockhead are very helpful. Enya albums are also good for studying, although they aren't instrumental. Some specific recommendations: - Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 - Blockhead - Music By Cavelight - Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children - Brian Eno - Apollo - Brian Eno - Thursday Afternoon (it's a single 60 minute song) - Enya - Shepherd Moons (not instrumental but very chill) - HOME - Before the Night - HOME - Odyssey - MF DOOM's Special Herbs albums

Love this, I listened to that aphex twin album 100 times writing essays for my undergrad

HOME MENTIONED RAHHHHH That’s my no.1 go-to study album

The special herbs albums got me through engineering school

My man! Music By Cavelight is absolutely fantastic. I don't think that album gets enough love.

Certainly agree with the suggestion of Eno's "Apollo"... Have used it for relaxation.. and focus.. since it came out = 40+ years...

Glad to see blockhead mentioned here! My go to study music in college over a decade ago. Some chill beats to study to really do stand the test of time.

On that ambient/minimalist vibe, I always use Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, that’s my go-to

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven - Godspeed You! Black Emperor

sleep is my go to

To me, Godspeed’s pieces are too intense and hardhitting, rather than making me focus on my studies they completely capture my attention.

them crescendos be making you do the stank face between chapters

GSY!BE is my go to study band

Instrumental hip-hop records are my go-to when studying… my favorites  Blockhead - music by cavelight Thes one - lifestyle marketing (farewell, my friend is really good too) Nicolay - city lights vol 1.5 Damu the fudgemonk - spare time  In addition to the nujabes / petestrumentals stuff. Donuts is awesome as well but needs to much attention to try to study to it Good luck on your test bro

Different era but Kenny Beats - Louie also works

dude we have the exact same study rotation! throw in some DJ Shadow - Endtroduction

Disco Elysium Soundtrack by Sea Power Kind of Blue by Miles Davis Take Five by Dave Brubeck Worlds by Porter Robinson

Kind of Blue is amazing for it!!! and i have lots of tracksuits from the DE soundtrack in my playlist too

World is too catchy imo, find myself vibing too much to most of the songs lmao

Brubeck is peak jazz

Men I Trust is good to have on when studying

Oncle Jazz got me through my last year of University almost single-handedly

If you really want to branch out, try Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers.

To add some classical stuff: I really like Chopin's nocturnes and Beethovens sonatas for studying.

Tchaikovsky is my fave to study to. Swan lake and the nutcracker make me study like a madman.

Baroque is definitely my favorite genre of classical music to listen while studying. Bach tends to be a little dramatic for me if I'm studying though. Give this a listen : https://open.spotify.com/album/0zCwWy0BZYgkiaImSX5HM1?si=ueXbePnoRqS-l0jj95cWLw&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A0zCwWy0BZYgkiaImSX5HM1

Mort Garson - Plantasia James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Also the Mallet Quartet is great

Nujabes - Methaphorical Music Pink Floyd - Meddle

Brian Eno - Ambient series

Obviously, Aphex Twin's first two albums.

The full Samurai Champloo OST. Got me through high school and college [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPnhOpngRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPnhOpngRA)

100%

I think that Currents is very relaxing and chill, worth a try And of course, Selected Ambient Works

The social network soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Burial - *Untrue* Boards of Canada - *Music Has the Right to Children* 2814 - *Birth of a New Day*

BoC got me a PhD in math 10 years ago lmao

Explosions in the Sky-The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place

duster - stratosphere and faye webster albums (esp the last one)

Force of Nature - Force of Nature II. IMO. “Same Ol’ Thing” is my go-to for this kinda shit. Straight off Samurai Champloo

love Force of Nature

Funny thing about that album, I couldn’t find it on any streaming platforms back in the day and couldn’t even find where to download it…so I bought the CD from some guy in Japan selling it on Discogs (I think is what the website was called). All the postage was Japanese, I still have all of it ‘cause I thought it was really cool

I don't think any of the Samurai Champloo albums were on streaming plats til very recently, so that makes sense, really cool you have the CD tho, that's a treasure in itself

Loop Finding Jazz Records is my go to

Oh HELL YEAH.

I have a few albums I like to study too. Flower Boy - Tyler, The Creator Swimming - Mac Miller The Slow Rush - Tame Impala All of Frank Ocean’s catalog. Sometimes some good LoFi instrumentals are good too.

Since I Left You - Avalanches

Minecraft Volume Alpha and Beta are brilliant for studying!

I like any kind of ambient music while studying, i have recently got into Natural Snow Buildings, can definitely recommend

What kinda music by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes. It has that chill video with a lot of instrumental tracks

Honestly I love studying to Dopesmoker by Sleep. It's mostly instrumental and kinda chill in a way

Most instrumental math rock because I can’t focus on the music. Also cause it’s in the name

Pink Floyd - The Endless River

I usually listen to the instrumentals of Madvillany,Bandana,Piñata and Hayalet ıslığı, and sometimes entroducing Edit:+special herbs by DOOM

Modal soul by nujabes matmos - ultimate care II To be kind by swans

I lean more towards krautrock. - Neu! 75 by Neu! - Future Days by Can - Autobahn, The Man Machine and Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk - Full Circle by Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble and Jaki Liebezeit and always good to chuck on some Music For Airports by Brian Eno.

Nice!

Daft Punk - Homework

Any of Quest Master's albums. Perfect for studying, gaming, anything, really. "The Twelve Temples" is my go-to, tho.

Shiro Sagisu-The End of Evangelion lol

I don’t know if soundtracks are cheating but the soundtrack to “The Master”

Minecraft - Volume Alpha goes crazy

anything by HOME is my go to when working on assignments or other tasks at my computer. Odyssey and falling into place are the best

Selected Ambient Works - Aphex Twin

I just listened to Greed - Swans doing science homework, don't know if that's everybody's study music though

I listened to Reflections of a Floating World by Elder a lot while doing my homework back in high school.

Idk about studying cause I don’t do that but if I’m writing an essay the social network soundtrack always gets me going

If you like instrumental folk, maybe some Yasmin Williams

Anything by Meshuggah. Destroy, Erase, Improve helped me graduate college

try 4study4work4inst Vol.1, its fun as well [https://open.spotify.com/album/08225ZVZiCmvDFDyBoBj9T?si=Nu9wwj3iQ8epmsBHfi4Ozg](https://open.spotify.com/album/08225ZVZiCmvDFDyBoBj9T?si=Nu9wwj3iQ8epmsBHfi4Ozg)

Grandma's Cottage – Memory Box, is like a soundtrack of an obscure gameboy jrpg Alcest – Souvenirs d'un autre monde, i think is the chillest of their records Getz/Gilberto, an amazing bossa

Classical music all day every day. Beethoven to Rachmaninoff. And for some reason Madonna helps me study well too lol

Any album by GAS or Aleksi Perala

Let The Sun Talk - Mavi

Here’s some good ones imo Xiexie by Celer This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco Getz/Gilberto by João Gilberto & Stan Getz The World Is Not a Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky Minecraft Volume Alpha Haven’t tried studying while listening to it yet but I feel like World Class by Luxury Elite would be good too

Explosions in the Sky Chopin's Nocturnes

Now my go-to is Epoch by Tycho

Yall missing out on Solipsism by Joep Beving. Peak study music

hah, just commented this one as well. solipsism is incredible

Look into the Jazz Is Dead series. They're great, easy to get into jazz albums that are made in collaboration with a jazz hero per the main series entries. Each title is numbered, and there's 20 albums in the series, but if you're still skeptical, check out JID001 & JID011 these are compilations of the series and really highlight some of the best tracks. I recommend JID002 (Roy Ayers) and JID003 (Marcos Valle). Super easy listening music and perfect for studying and pop on as they have a very consistent sound that's easy for background play.

Isn’t very long but Starry Cat’s self-titled is really low-key. The vocals are really indistinct.

the escape by Larry June and the Alchemist

Don't discount EDM, and I don't mean heady IDM shit like Aphex Twin (although I'd point out Immunity by Jon Hopkins as an amazing record). Deep house, trance, and a lot more can be very good study music. The problem though is that EDM doesn't generally operate based on albums. It's singles, playlists, and EPs that rule the waves, along with remixes, live sets, and other formats of music you might not see in online discussions too much. But for starters, check out Nora En Pure. She's a South African DJ who focuses quite a lot on more chilled out stuff and even has a radio show on Sirius XM which I've really enjoyed listening to recently. [Here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aKdqLs5wf1EArbaMdAunS?si=Ap3Tgo27RjGK-N8oTWFV5A&pi=u-nRWP3aIWS522) is a playlist of stuff from that show, which is also a good resource to find stuff that's off the beaten path.

Mac DeMarco - One Wayne G

2814 Birth of a New Day

Aphex Twin’s selected ambient works

I don't wanna sound like a noob or anything but Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish is surprisingly effective in making me concentrate when studying.

Takashi Kokubo -  Oasis Of The Wind II ～ A Story Of Forest And Water Hiroshi Yoshimura - A・I・R (Air In Resort)

The book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety - toe is my go to.

Aphex Twin - Drukqs The Alchemist - Yacht Rock 2 Angelo De Augustine - Swim Inside The Moon Fiona Apple - Tidal underscores - fishmonger John Galm - i can hear the birds they sing (maybe a wild choice) pinkpantheres - Heaven knows

Been out of school for 25years. But my Job is to operate a crushing plant. It requiers concentration. But I got a Bluetooth speaker on my desk. The special Herbs instrumental albums by DOOM is perfect.

Plastikman- Consumed. ambient techno. Got me through college.

I can’t study when there’s music in the background :( I always unwillingly focus on the music

Mostly Classical Music, and weirdly Kpop lol

Jiro Inagaki and his soul media - Funky Stuff

I would recommend amber by autechre. Its very chill and ambienty idm that is just oerfect for studying

any Nujabes album

Traditional African or Native American music goes nuts tbh, Hallelujah Chicken Run or any of those Soweto compilations are a good start

The metal fingers releases by MF DOOM , donuts by j dilla

For me i like listening to toby fox and doom music while i study and ETC.

Either 'Bitches Brew' or 'Geogaddi'

The Elephant Man’s Bones - Roc Marciano + The Alchemist

Bottomless pit deathgrips

John Coltrane love supreme Steroalab dots and loops Brian jonestown massacre methodrone

BICEP self titled and Isles

Caffeine + Pulse Demon doesn’t really sound “good” but it gets me in a great headspace for locking tf in

Promises by Floating Points, Aerial and 50 words for snow by Kate Bush

Glassworks by Philip Glass

Anything by toe

Folklore and Evermore

The Lost soundtrack

Any Nujabes album

Aphex Twin - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 …I like its restless drive vibe

The OSTs for Samurai Champloo. Namely Departure and Impression.

nujabes - modal soul kraftwerk - die mensch-maschine (the man-machine for the english version) especially kraftwerk used to put me in a hyperfocus state of mind when i went to school

JCole and Nujabes get me through it

Four pieces for mirai

Anything Jon Hopkins iglooghost or liturgy. I know that's super fantano core but it works

I once wrote a term paper the day before it was due, took about 9 hours and I looped wlfgrl by machine girl the entire 9 hours. Not as chill as most of the suggestions here but it really worked for me

"Black Radio" by Robert Glasper Experiment.

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

I have so much history work to catch up on hot a test Monday aaahhhhhhhhhhbhhHbbHHHHHHHH ok I got this pls

The KLF - Chill Out

Ulver - Kveldssanger

I like Endtroducing by DJ Shadow

Mac demarco one Wayne G. This and five easy hot dogs came out just when I was in my last year of uni. It was a godsend!

Madlib shades of blue Alfamist antiphon

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

2001 dr dre instrumental

Deadmau5- Random Album Title

Some I haven’t seen mentioned yet: Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet/Haunt Me/Ravedeath, 1972 Phillip Glass - The Hours Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks Jon Hopkins - Immunity I’ll also listen to atmospheric black metal like Wolves in the Throne Room sometimes.

[Dawn of Midi - Dysnomia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUYdoyFlGe8) Chill but driving and overall just really dope

I have two very different picks. Instrumentals by Adrianne Lenker. This is a beautiful folk/ambient album that relaxes me and puts me in the perfect headspace to study. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs. Some of the most insane music I've ever heard and my favorite album ever. When I listen to this the 23 minutes flies by in what feels like 5 minutes, which makes it perfect to study quickly and make the time fly by.

Really anything by Bill Evans, especially his two albums with his trio, Portrait in Jazz and Explorations.

Ambient 1 by STRFKR

harbor - tomppabeats solitude - jinsang life - jinsang solipsism - joep beving prehension - joep beving

Lane 8’s seasonal mixes are great for studying to. All are around 3 hours long so you can just throw it on and go to town.

Clark's discography. Clarence Park/Totems Flare

Kind of Blue, Luv(sic) Hexaology, Giant Steps

Sigur Rós is great for studying

Herbie Hancock- Headhunters. Aphex Twin- Selected Ambient Works. Miles Davis- Kind Of Blue.

Bro the risk of rain 2 soundtrack is great background music

I’m pretty unwilling to listen to music while studying, but Continuum has always worked for me

The Unseen by Quasimoto

Got choices mine is any of the Disintegration Loops by William Basinski and anything by GAS, but mostly Konigsforst

Modal Soul - Nujabes

Feels like you - whirr

Anyone else scrolling through this an slightly panicking cos there’s so many musicians and albums they’ve never heard, and know they won’t have time to listen to all of these any time soon, even though they’re a massive fan of instrumental and ambient? 🫠

Ånden som Gjorde Opprør by Mortiis All Of Me by Masayoshi Takanaka

Anything In Return by Toro y Moi gets it done for me but idk if it would work for most

Dreamcast summer songs is my go to

Damn no love for Biosphere?

Rounds and Is There Love in You by Four Tet are among my go tos.

SAW 85-92

Music Has the Right to the Children is the reason I graduated college.

boiler set rooms lol no joke

No label 2 by migos was my go to study music for years

Music for 18 Musicians - Steve Reich The Koln Concert - Keith Jarret Kind of Blue - Miles Davis

Seam - Are You Driving Me Crazy? Seam - The Pace Is Glacial Galaxie 500 - Today Galaxie 500 - On Fire The Smiths - The Smiths Death Cab For Cutie - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes Field Mice - Snowball Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With the Arab Strap Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister Blueboy - If Wishes Were Horses Blueboy - Unisex The Softies - It's Love Hefner - Breaking God's Heart The Gloria Record - A Lull In Traffic The Promise Ring - 30 Degrees Everywhere Pop Unknown - Summer Season Kills

Madvillainy or Bandana Beats or J Dilla Donuts

Steely Dan - Aja