Music for Writing: 5 Styles for the Best Performance

🇺🇦 Side-Line stands with Ukraine - Show your Support

Over 7,000 languages exist on earth today, but one language connects us all — music. This art form is all around us and influences our daily lifestyle, from commercials to radio playlists. The passion and creativity behind each song or musical piece are unparalleled. As you listen to the notes, rhythms, and melodies, you feel a range of emotions.

Musical renditions boost creativity, which is helpful if you experience writer’s block or want to set a mood for your writing project. However, they don’t all inspire the same way. So, depending on the literary genre, picking the perfect writing music piece is imperative.

Literature-Friendly Music Genres to Consider

Not all days feel like summer in the middle of the Mojave desert. Some days you feel bummed out. No matter how hard you try, the ideas and words won’t flow. You might even question your skills. But then, the right track hits the speakers and suddenly, everything clicks and a masterpiece emerges. We’ve all been there and still experience it occasionally.

If you’re looking for the ideal essay writing music to jog your memory or set the ambience, you’ll find the genres in this guide helpful.

Novel Writing

When it comes to writing love stories, nothing ignites creativity and passion like listening to R&B or slow jams. Picture Adele, Beyonce, Donna Lewis, Lionel Richie, Samm Henshaw, Enrique Iglesias, Whitney Houston or Marc Anthony singing their hearts out in the background, while you construct your characters or describe a romantic scene.

You can’t help but create a perfect environment for those steamy kisses and heartfelt speeches. Your heart might skip a beat or two. Songs like “I Will Always Love You,” “Our Love,” “Endless Love,” and “Hero” evoke nostalgia. Your mind drifts to that once-beautiful relationship that faded into obscurity or a current lover or crush that leaves you on cloud nine.

I remember listening to “Pavane” by J.S. Bach while writing my first novel (a romance genre). Without a doubt, it was the right music to write to then. Your taste might differ from mine, which is fine. Take songs like “Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi)” or “Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson).” They inspire an action-packed story.

Rihanna’s “Disturbia” or Britney Spears’ “Toxic” provide the right energy for a drama series. In contrast, medieval battle scenes call for cinematic tracks like “Guns and Roses,” “Two Steps from Hell” or Nirvana’s “In Bloom.”

Blog Writing

Writing a blog is not much different from writing a book. Blogs require tons of research, which means more reading. So when your mind starts to go blank, I recommend putting on a playlist of your favourite songs. Songs in the folk, indie, acoustic, and Americana genres may inspire your creative writing.

For instance, the soft tunes and soothing instrumentals from folk artists like Gillian Welch, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Woodie Guthrie may be just what you need to develop a new blog topic. Their lyrics are beautifully poetic. Other genres do the trick too. Top music choices include:

Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan
Hurt by Johnny Cash
Amelia by Joni Mitchell
Hard Travelin’ by Woody Guthrie
Blackbird by The Beatles

Folk music often has a heavy lyrical emphasis, which can be distracting to some writers. Thus, non-lyrical songs work better.

Essay Writing

Most essays contain complex information that requires detailed explanation. The trick is to simplify the information while maintaining the integrity of the subject. Another issue is wordiness, which gets in the way of clarity. For this, you need Essaypro.com.

You also need words to spark your imagination and kick-start your prose. That’s where music comes in. Classical or jazz instrumentals create a calming atmosphere. They reduce cognitive load, which in turn improves focus and stimulates learning. Top picks in this genre are:

Take Five (Dave Brubeck)
So What (Miles Davis)
At Last (Etta James)
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
Fur Elise (Ludwig Van Beethoven)
Dance of Life (Peder B. Helland)
Clair de Lune (Claud Debussy)

Howbeit, you don’t have to necessarily travel back in time to enjoy some good jazz or classic music. Artists like 2cellos, The Piano Guys, and Justin Guarini have amazing instrumental covers of contemporary and classic tunes that are definitely worth the vibe.

Movie and video game soundtracks are spot-on for fiction essays. Their mind-blowing scores accompany your story, with each scene being vividly projected on the front burner of your mind. They include tracks from:

Interstellar
The Lord of the Rings
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Elder Scrolls V
Doom
Pirates of the Caribbean

These soundtracks set the mood for adventure, excitement, and intrigue. It’s easy to get caught up in your story with their powerful beats. Let me chip in: Not everyone gets a hang of essay writing, even with the right music. As such, hiring a writing service is a great start. Consider the following providers listed on GlobeNewswire.

Freelance Journalism

I recommend listening to white noise or ambient sounds whenever you write articles for news outlets or opinion websites as they improve concentration. For once, you’re not engulfed by the trills of a piano, the riffs of an electric guitar, or the soothing voice of the singer.

Slap on a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones and shut out background clutters, from car horns to rants and ruffles from colleagues. Natural sounds, like rainfall, chirping birds, whooshing wind and ocean waves add a sense of tranquillity. Often, I listen to ambient songs like:

Java by Ulf Lohmann
An Ending by Brian Eno
Polynya I by Thomas Koner

Not all writers share my thoughts though. Some find solace in hot dance or electronic songs, thanks to their versatility. Since many of them sport distorted or edited vocals, you have no trouble focusing on your project. Notable examples are:

Thievery Corporation
STS9
Mother Earth’s Plantasia
One (Your Name) by Swedish House Mafia.

I also discovered that songs in foreign languages are ideal. Their lyrics are incomprehensible, implying less distraction. The likes of Bordeaux, Zaz, and Unheilig are noteworthy picks for interested writers.

Conclusion

When selecting the best music for writing, you need something that stimulates your thoughts and feelings. If the music is too upbeat, You’ll find it difficult to concentrate. Too slow and it will lull you into a state of apathy. Your choice of music should inspire but not disrupt your writing. You should also enjoy listening to it without getting bored. Improve your writing skills via the examples in this guide. Start with one or two tracks and then explore more afterwards.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff Chief editor

Bernard Van Isacker is the Chief Editor of Side-Line Magazine. With a career spanning more than two decades, Van Isacker has established himself as a respected figure in the darkwave scene.

See Full Bio

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.