Do The Talking: Background music when reading

Hi!

Finally, another edition of Do The Talking.
I had three attempts on writing this post. I miserably failed. I’m a damn emotional potato!

Of course, with a crown on my head made of books I’ve yet to read so its weight could remind me of my never ending TBR pile hahahahaha

But nope, I will still talk about Background music when reading, because this topic is pretty close to me, and I think I have rights to share my thoughts on that.

There are two types of readers: those who prefer read in silence, and those who’d like to have some music playing while they’re immersed into the world of a book they’re currently reading.

I personally like having some music playing when I read, because when it’s fully silent, my thoughts have a seriously amazing skill to crawl into my mind and distract me from focusing on a book for a good while. So putting some music is a way for me to concentrate on my reading process.

But of course, not every kind of music fits well with reading, as well as not every kind of music that helps me with reading will help others with the same task. Human mind is a complicated thing.

I try to find the music that matches the genre I’m currently reading. For instance, when I was reading A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas, I put on some epic fantasy instrumental playlist.
But I also have my ultimate music solution for reading, so whenever I’m unable to find a fitting BGM for the book, I turn that playlist, and it seriously helps me with going through a book.

Yiruma, my forever source of healing music.

That doesn’t mean that you only have to choose instrumental music. Especially when you feel very sleepy whenever you hear instrumentals (happens to me from time to time). Sometimes I read while having my forever K-pop jams playing, and I have a good skill of not being ultimately carried away with singing along to them. But I recommend you, if you think that lyric-less music is not your type of BGM, that you better choose songs you are very familiar with, to the point you don’t even notice that this song is currently playing. I know, sounds confusing, but it really helps, because otherwise you’ll be focused on listening to the relatively new song rather than reading words.

What music should I choose?

This is only my personal suggestions, and you all can try them in order to find the one that works perfectly for you! If none helps, keep looking for a solution! Or don’t use any BGM at all. That is also fine.

• Instrumental music. Best kinds: piano/violin/guitar solo playlists; anime OSTs, video games OSTs (oh, they usually work very good), movie/TV show OSTs; epic music collections. Classics can also work, but it can be distracting if you’re not familiar with it. I’d rather recommend neo-classics and classical crossovers.
• Favorite songs playlist. Main point: your ears and your mind must be completely familiar with songs, a.k.a. knowing the melody, knowing the lyrics, knowing the beat. It should completely blend with your reading process, otherwise you’d be focusing on hearing out the lyrics.
• Sounds of nature. Could be anything: rain sound, forest sound, sea sound, etc. It’s really soothing and helps you relax your mind so it can be completely immersed in reading. I actually also like a mix of instrumental music and nature sounds, it makes you think that you’re not in your room but somewhere else, isolated from the rest of the world, and that there’s only you and your book.

If you get easily distracted by any sound, then I think you better not put any music on. It’s completely okay. Every person has different taste, and there’s no law that says you have to follow other people’s preferences 🙂 Right?

So pick your option, and get back to reading!

Meow.

Hahaha, really meaningful ending to my post lol

Do you prefer having BGM or you’re fond of complete silence? What other music you can recommend for those liking some sounds playing when they read (including me)?

Read more, ppl!

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