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Revision music: the ultimate classical studying playlist
Classical music and revising for exams are perfect bedfellows, but which pieces should you listen to to get the most out of your studying? Find out with our guide to the very best music for revising.
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1. Johann Pachelbel - Canon in D
An easy one to start with. The way it gradually builds on that one, circulating chord progression make it ideal for continued concentration.
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2. Johannes Brahms - Academic Festival Overture
It's time to pick the pace up a little. Your brain's warmed up, you've managed to get your notes in order - it's time to make some decent headway on that stack of revision cards! Brahms is the perfect pace-quickener - there's a gentle intro, but once this one kicks off with blistering brass fanfare, you'll be off.
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3. Johann Sebastian Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier
And now that you're off the ground, it's important to keep the momentum going. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is a masterpiece of academic precision - logical tunes crafted with love and dedication, and all designed to improve one's keyboard technique.
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4. James Horner - A Beautiful Mind
The ultimate maths-nerd movie, the incredible story of John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) has several scenes of study overload, so this might be the music to get you in the mood for learning.
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5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 23
The Mozart Effect is a complex issue, but the signs seem to point towards Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 as a beacon of educational merit. Something about how relaxing, how beautifully balanced and constructed it is will guide you into the right mindset.
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6. Claude Debussy - Clair De Lune
By now, you'll have been going full tilt at your stack of revision notes, so it's probably time to calm things down a bit. There's no better way than with Debussy's Clair De Lune. So put your pen down for a moment and just give this some time.
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7. Frederic Chopin - Etudes
You can't just sit back and stare at the wall for too long though - it's time to get back to it! Chopin's music plays a huge part in a pianist's training, and there's no reason why it shouldn't have the same effect for revision. His Etudes (or Studies, appropriately) are exquisitely composed and designed to bring the best out of a pianist's technique - see if it works for your revision.
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8. Alessandro Scarlatti - 30 Exercises for Harpsichord
Scarlatti was a prolific opera composer in the late 1600s and early 1700s. His music marks an important transition between the Italian Baroque vocal techniques used by earlier composers, and the music of the early Classical period.
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9. Claude Debussy - Etudes
More Debussy for your revision! With this collection, Debussy's idea was that each of these petite exercises would focus on a different area of technique. The perfect way to approach cramming for exams.
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10. Philip Glass - The Hours
That's enough exercising - let's go back to something a little more relaxing. Philip Glass has arguably turned the piano into the world's most intimate instrument - and with his soundtrack to The Hours, in particular, he finds that sweet-spot between machine-like minimalism and gorgeous harmonic changes. Blissfully relaxing, and perfect for those moments when it feels like the revision is never going to end…
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11. Ludovico Einaudi - I Giorni
A favourite for revisers everywhere. Gentle, emotional and hypnotic, it's ideal for when you feel like there's just too much work to do.
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12. Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No. 1
Another relaxing piano piece, this time from the considered hand of Erik Satie. If it's all gotten a bit too much with your revision schedule, just clear it and put this on.
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13. Michael Nyman - The Draughtsman's Contract
However, there comes a time when you've got to face the music, stop relaxing and get back to the books. Michael Nyman's stately theme to The Draughtman's Contract is just the job to get you in the right frame of mind again.
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14. Johann Sebastian Bach - The Goldberg Variations
If you're in it for the long haul. then you can't do better than the Goldberg Variations. They are epic in scale, and so mathematically and artistically precise that you can't fail but be inspired by them. It just shows that all it takes is one theme to set off a whole composition, just as it only takes a little bit of concentration to kick off a whole revision session.
