I like soundtracks and Loreena McKennitt. My favorites are Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean.
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I have difficulty tuning out music with lyrics, because my mind focuses on the lyrics and I can't pay attention to words I'm trying to read/write.

I like instrumental music, or classical. Mozart is always a great choice (Bach is too busy, and tends to overload the senses). Movie soundtracks (the score, not the songs) are great--Braveheart's bagpipes are very good background noise.
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When I write I usually listen to requiem by Mozart or some other type of classical type music. I listen to classical while writing because its so deep and dark and it doesn't have words to distract me from whatever I'm writing be it a poem, story or essay.
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Please listen to the intstrumental album, Fahrenheit Fair Enough by Telefon Tel Aviv. This is, perhaps, my favorite album ever. They recently released an album that is perhaps too progressive for writing (I find it difficult to write when listening to any music with English lyrics), but, unfortunately, one of the members recently died.
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I follow most of the advice already mentioned when I am writing.

I try to find music with either no lyrics or with lyrics in another language so that I don't get overly distracted or accidentally write down a word that I keep hearing.

I don't listen to most of my classical music collection while writing because most of the "songs" fall apart if listened to on their own and I don't want to listen to an entire sonata when writing because I would get bored too easily. One exception to this would be The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

What I find myself doing most often is making a smart playlist in itunes. I set up rules to exclude songs longer than 8 minutes (to kick out lectures, audiobooks, and the like), and include songs I have rated highly and have listened to in the past year.

I also agree that movie scores are a good writing companion. I have both the soundtrack to The Rock and The Lord of the Rings and enjoy them both. My final advice would be to keep track of what songs you like to listen to when writing. If you use itunes give your "writing songs" an automatic 2 star rating (for example) as you listen and write and then you will be able to make a playlist with all of your favorite writing songs. It might slow you down a bit initially, but after a few long writing sessions you will cull what works best for you.
Source(s):
Former English major, current law school student = lots of writing!

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