You’re sitting immobile, at your desk. You’re willing your fingers to spew brilliance, you’re willing your brain to come up with something, hold something in, or release something. Yet all you have is silence, and frozen fingers.

That’s where music can help. It can help an idea germinate, it can act as a time-check and it can give you something to listen to. But the right study music has to have a specific set of qualities, all varying by individual taste.

In general, the best study music has three main components: Study music should be on the mellow side. Study music should be background music. Putting on your favourite song will just distract you. Either you’ll close your eyes in bliss, or you’ll open your mouth, to sing along. But put in the second bests, the also-rans, and you’ll find yourself a happier studier.

The best choice for listening to music is a compact disc. You can programme a genre into your MP-3 but gadgets are distracting, especially if you’re in that brain-dead study space that amplifies distractions.

These are just a few suggestions that might work while studying -Bach Brandenburg Concertos: These blend well into the background, but have that ‘classical music makes you feel smart’ vibe.

Louis Armstrong’s All-Time Greatest Hits: Just as you get to feeling mellow, the trumpet comes in to keep you on-task. — Agencies