Cerys Matthews: music to help students through exams

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/23/cerys-matthews-music-for-taking-exams

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Dear Doctor, I have my GCSEs and I dread every exam. Any songs to help me through?

This time of year sees many students, head bowed, devouring a book (or tablet), riding the fast track to anxiety as the days of judgment draw closer. More than ever, tempting distractions blight their immediate proximity. For last-minute revision, a higher plane of consciousness is called upon to black out the white noise of the outside world: an aural firewall to ensure the maximum intake of digits and data.

The Blue Notebooks, by Max Richter, is a rare beast in that it can be listened to both as a distancing tool to foil the everyday intrusions of the world around us, and as an all-consuming, gripping aural experience. The Doctor often uses it when deadlines are closing in, the occasional voice of Tilda Swinton providing a reassuring, comforting presence.

Once the facts are in, so begin the worries about whether they will come out again. A good jump-starter on the long, slow walk to the examination room would be Bach’s Little Fugue In G Minor by Wendy Carlos. The neurons will bounce on hearing these bubbling synth tones. To wind yourself up for the rumble, play Ali Bombaye by Mandrill and Michael Masser, followed by the brooding Rumble by Link Wray – the perfect tracks to march you to the front.

Now the battle is upon us and as the fingers nervously fondle the pens, rulers and rubbers in the pocket, it’s time to thrust your arms into the air. The track can only be Survivor’s Eye Of The Tiger – listen for the tiger growls on the film soundtrack version. The exam-conquering hero has no fear. You can do this!

@cerysmatthews

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