Bebop. Loud, explosive, energetic jazz from the fifties and sixties. John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker. There's nothing better for writing. The energy keeps me up and going, it occupies my floating attention (a big deal if you have ADD) and there are no lyrics to derail my train of thought. I would recommend it, but no one's ever willing to try it. My favorite though is an album called Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus by Charles Mingus. Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis is also great, as is Giant Steps by John Coltrane, though that one's a lot to handle for some people. A mellow alternative is Time Out by Dave Brubeck. That one might work for someone who's not into hard bop. What a classic record. Most of the rest of the music I listen to is terrible for writing. I can't listen to indie or classic rock and write for a second. Though certain things set a good mood for brainstorming. I outlined a really dark story listening to nineties industrial and trip hop the whole time. That actually turned out quite well. Rereading and editing subsequent drafts is a different story altogether. I seem to do better in silence. Apparently I need calm. I would try classical, but the classical I like is much like bebop. It's energetic and dramatic, like Chopin's or Rachmaninoff's faster stuff. So silence it is.
I love jazz, even though I don't listen to it as much as I should; but sometimes you need a stiff shot of jazz. 'Trane is a little hard to get into but he was such a genius. I love Mingus and Miles Davis pretty much speaks for himself. Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio is one of my favorite records. I love Bird and Diz as well: 20 minutes of straight ahead bebop. My favorite jazzy music is fusion--Alan Holdsworth, Guthrie Govan for a little more rock, Steely Dan, Chick Corea, Snarky Puppy...love it.
I have a couple of Playlists on the go. One for when I am typing and one for when I am imagining. The one for Imagining has anything that generates a picture in my head, songs I like, and songs that inspire me. I listen to lots of rock and Metal I CAN NOT work to this playlist. If a song has lyrics and a good melody I would want to sing along. (or want to rock out.) In my typing playlist, I put songs that have the right atmosphere but next to no lyrics. (instrumentals and Lo-Fi) The only vocals on this playlist are in a different language, (europian folk) so I can't really sing along. that is how I manage
It usually listen to music at first, because I don't like sitting in silence, and then when I get really into the writing, I turn it off and my writing improves. I've only just started doing this though, and I'm not sure if it's good for me. My writing seemed better when I wrote in complete and utter silence. And sometimes, I struggle to get into the writing and the music never gets turned off. I'm not sure if that's to do with the music, or if it's just me. But I do think my writing was better before.
I have a number of playlists on YouTube with music that I use for writing. Two Epic Steps -- featuring music from Two Steps From Hell and similar groups Zimmer and Jablonsky -- with soundtracks from Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky Amethystium -- with music from Amethystium, Mythos, and David Arkenstone Battle Music -- with music I play as I write battle sequences Dragon Music -- music to accompany my Dragon stories Rehatching Climax -- music to accompany the epic climax of my last novel Final Frontier Novel -- unofficial soundtrack that I'm compiling for my current project Also on Youtube, I often listen to independents like Ivan Torrent, Mortifer, Peter Crowley, BrunuhVille, R. Armando Morabito. I also have a large CD collection that I still sometimes listen to when I write. Mostly instrumental soundtracks (ex: Christopher Franke's Babylon 5, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, John Williams, Howard Shore) and New Age (ex: Christopher Franke, Secret Garden, Amethystium, Vangelis).
I don't think I've actually tried writing while music was playing (I probably should), but I often do listen to music to generate or develop ideas. In fact so many of my ideas arise first as vague feelings I get from music. For me the best music for this purpose allows my mind to paint a picture or tell a story, to set into a particular mood, without distraction. So most pop, rock, and rap music is unsuitable for me. I get a lot of inspiration from European renaissance and baroque music (not so much from later classical music), and also certain folk musics from around the world (eg Georgian, Palestinian). Some movie soundtracks work well. Some particularly moody jazz, like Charles Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, or Cecil Taylor's Conquistador. Some electronic and industrial music like Delerium works wonders sometimes. Black metal also gives me lots of ideas, particularly the more primitive, repetitive recordings like early Darkthrone and Burzum; also the Tolkien-infused black metal-industrial music of Summoning.
I usually write to music, but it does run the risk of the music influencing the writing. I'm usually intentional about it however; either listen to music that's more or less background noise, or music that is fitting to the tone and mood I've already decided on. It can be useful for settings too. As somebody else mentioned above, my mind loves to wander and daydream when I listen to music, so that's where and when I get a lot of my ideas. The ideas do take on a life of their own though.
I like to choose music fitting the theme and atmosphere of the scene or the plot in general. It helps me focus. Alhough I almost never (with few exceptions) listen to songs while writing, only film music or ambiences, otherwise I'd get distracted very easily.