Music you can focus on while studying. Music that helps your study progress.
There are many situations where you have to study—school tests, entrance exams, professional qualifications, and more.
In those times, are you the type who studies while listening to music?
You might hear that “studying while doing something else” isn’t good, but many people feel they can focus better than in complete silence.
So in this article, we’ll introduce plenty of music that can accompany your study sessions.
We’ll cover a wide range, from classics like classical, jazz, and ambient—instrumental tracks without vocals—to soothing J-pop singers said to feature 1/f fluctuations.
Now, let’s find the perfect soundtrack for your studying.
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Music you can focus on while studying. Study-boosting tracks (21–30)
Violin Sonata No. 9 “Kreutzer”Ludwig van Beethoven
A passionate piece by Ludwig van Beethoven in which the piano and violin spar as if striking sparks.
Composed during the period when Beethoven’s style was shifting into his so-called “heroic” middle phase, it is distinguished by an energy that powerfully stirs the listener’s soul.
Its overwhelming drama inspired the great writer Tolstoy and is known for having given rise to a novel of the same name.
Since its score was published in 1805, numerous recordings have been made, including the album “Beethoven Violin Concerto & Violin Sonata No.
9 ‘Kreutzer.’” When you want to push your concentration to the limit or need a catalyst for creative work, there may be no piece more fitting than this.
P.D.Ajizue
Instrumental bands really are perfect for studying, aren’t they? Without lyrics getting in the way, it’s easier to focus.
How about the Kyoto-based instrumental band jizue? Their performances and technique are top-notch, of course, but I feel many of their tracks don’t interfere with concentration.
They’re the kind of band that gives you the focus to immerse yourself in studying while keeping a subtle rhythm going.
Songs to help you focus on studying. Music that boosts your study productivity (31–40)
Name of Life from Spirited AwayHisaishi Joe
Many listeners have surely been captivated by the crystalline piano tones and faintly nostalgic melody.
The theme song of Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece Spirited Away evokes a bittersweet yet warm story of searching for lost memories and one’s true self.
Its message—recalling something precious and finding one’s place—reaches us with quiet emotion.
Released in July 2001 as a single performed by Yumi Kimura, the song deepened the film’s impact.
The piece originally began as an instrumental track on the soundtrack.
Its calm, dreamlike phrasing is perfect for times when you want to focus on work or study.
Letting yourself drift on its gentle waves of sound may calm your heart and clear your mind.
A Town with an Ocean View (from “Kiki’s Delivery Service”)Hisaishi Joe
This is a piece by Joe Hisaishi with a memorable, hope-filled melody that makes you feel as if a beautiful seaside town is unfolding before your eyes.
The emotions that arise at the moment of taking a new step—expectation mingled with a touch of anxiety—are brilliantly rendered through light, sparkling piano tones.
The piece accompanies the moving scene in the July 1989 film Kiki’s Delivery Service where the protagonist soars over a new town, and it is included on the classic album Kiki’s Delivery Service: Music Collection released the same year.
Its nostalgic yet liberating atmosphere is sure to refresh you when you feel stuck with work or study.
Why not spend a focused, enriching time wrapped in its gentle, forward-looking melody?
Sometimes, a tale from long ago — from Porco RossoKatō Tokiko
This is a work written and composed by Tokiko Kato herself, whose warm yet faintly bittersweet worldview evokes a deep nostalgia for days of youth gone by.
As it searches for an unseen future, it conjures scenes of passionate conversations with friends—memories many listeners will find echoing their own.
The song was included on the album “MY STORY / Toki ni wa Mukashi no Hanashi wo,” released in February 1987, and is also known as the ending theme of the 1992 film Porco Rosso.
The piano arrangement used in the film, with its striking timbre, gently lets you linger in the afterglow of the story.
With its calm melody, it’s also great to play as background music when you want to focus on work.
sleeping pillpinoko
Rapper Pinoko, who has been exposed to instruments like piano, wadaiko, and shinobue since childhood, began performing street shows at 15.
“Suiminyaku,” a track from her first mini-album Hotel, lays funky guitar chops over a piano-based ensemble for a groovy feel.
The lyrics evoke sleepless nights and might just wake you up before you study.
It’s an emotional number marked by a distinctive sense of weightlessness and her cute, memorable rap.
T69 CollapseAphex Twin
Do you know Aphex Twin? He’s a DJ and composer, and one of the musicians who greatly energized the world of techno music.
His electronic performances span a wide range of niche genres, and this track falls under what’s called “acid house.” Its intensely stimulating developments hit the ears hard, and if you play it while studying, it might take you to a new frontier… maybe!