Most music that students listen to has around 140 beats per minute. This particular rhythm interferes with the process of memory creation. If you listen to this type of music while studying, even though you are convinced it is not affecting you, it will take 3-4 times longer to learn the information. The only music that helps is much slower, a regular 60 beats per minute, no words or lyrics, which is mostly baroque classical music, this actually speeds up the process of memory creation and is actually even better than silence. So ideally, baroque music playing softly in the background would be ideal whenever you are doing work for school ... but as not everyone loves this type of music, perhaps a compromise? Here’s the guidelines I suggest you follow. If you are doing easy homework that does not require a lot of mental effort, you can have normal music on if you really want, it will help you feel relaxed, make you feel like the time is going quicker etc. But whenever you are studying for a test or doing something difficult or that requires concentration, switch the normal music off (and even better put classical baroque on!) as otherwise it will take longer to learn and your performance will drop when you get in the exam.