What are binaural beats?
Since law schools love latin, let’s start there. “Binaural” means “to hear with both ears.” In the context of Binaural Beats, this does not simply mean that both ears are functioning. Rather, the term “Binaural” is used to indicate that each ear is receiving separate stimuli.
You wear headphones and sounds are presented distinctly to the left ear or the right ear.
If the left ear hears a tone with a frequency of 1000 Hz and the right ear hears a tone with a frequency of 970 Hz, the brain will perceive a third tone of 30 Hz—the difference between the two tones presented.
Brainwaves have been shown to synchronize with—or entrain to—the frequency of this perceived third tone.

Why are you telling me this?
If I’m making your brain hurt, I apologize. I know you are very likely an exhausted law student or bar examinee, whose brain is seeking relief. Not to worry. Relief is near.
Brainwaves’ frequencies have been found to correlate with mental and emotional states.

For example, let’s pretend you’re studying, and you would like to feel more focused and alert. You might want to synchronize your brain with Gamma Brainwaves—a frequency somewhere between 30 Hz and 100 Hz.
There are many different Binaural Beats configurations.
Some are great for studying.
Some are great for brain breaks.
For Studying:
Binaural Beats designed for mental and emotional states that could aid your studies include: “focused and alert,” “critical thinking,” “concentration,” “memory boost,” and “problem solving."
For Brain Breaks:
Binaural Beats designed for mental and emotional states that could aid your brain breaks include: “creativity boost,” “positive mood boost,” “confidence boost,” “deep relaxation,” “meditation,” “stress reduction,” and even “deep sleep.”
Have you used Binaural Beats?
Yep. I used Binaural Beats pretty heavily during bar prep. Of course, without a concurrently operating EEG, I can’t tell you for certain if my brainwaves actually entrained to any frequencies perceived.
Here is what I can tell you...
First:
In my personal experience, I do not believe it is simply a placebo effect.
I’ll share a little experience I had, for whatever this anecdotal evidence is worth.
One of the first times I tried Binaural Beats, I was taking a break from studying. I popped on my headphones, laid down, and I scrolled to the Binaural Beats setting labeled, “Positive Mood Boost.” I also chose a background ambience labeled, “Forest.” I wasn’t really expecting anything.
After a bit, I found myself giggling at the bird sounds.
"Silly little birds."
I wasn’t in a particularly poor mood before I started the Binaural Beats. I was just so exhausted that I didn’t think I could just suddenly giggle to myself about birds.
Second:
Personally, I don't much care if it is simply a placebo effect.
Let's pretend that you are suddenly more alert simply because you told yourself you would be more alert. Do you really care if it was the beats or the power of your own brainwashing made more believable by adding an external stimulus rather than simply stating, "I will be more focused and alert. Alakazam!"?
Personally, all I care about is whether I'm more focused and alert.
The science on this is relatively new and evolving. So, I can’t make any promises. All I can say is that I found it to be something definitely worth trying.
How can I get these beats?
There are many apps out on the market now for binaural beats. All you need to do is pick one out, pop on your favorite pair of headphones, and give it a whirl!
Many of the apps are free.
If you search “Binaural Beats” in your app store of choice (iTunes, Google Play, etc.), a bunch of free and paid apps pop up! Some include more binaural settings than others. Some include background sounds. Some include visuals!
Which app do you use?
I use an app called, “Brainwave: 32 Binaural Programs.”
I am NOT affiliated with "Brainwave." If I ever become affiliated with "Brainwave" in the future I will let you know (and hopefully get you a discount if that’s the case). However, a discount really isn’t all that necessary because—last I checked—the app only costs $4.99.
Fair Warning:
As of this posting...
This app is only available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
However—even if you do not have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch—skimming through this section can give you great ideas regarding features you might look for in other apps!
What do you like about it?
First and foremost, it provides a far greater selection of Binaural Beats.
Second, it is informative. It tells you which waves are used, how many stages there are, and suggests a minimum amount of time.

Third, it offers background ambience sounds.
 
Fourth, from within the app, you can also play iTunes music in the background. You can actually choose to play both background ambience sounds and your iTunes playlist. You can also choose to silence all backgrounds and just focus on the beats.

Fifth, you can set the timer to any amount of time you’d prefer. You can set it based on duration, or you can set it to end at a specific time.

Sixth, you can select an alarm for when the timer has ended (helpful if you used the beats to take a nap).

Seventh, you can start the Binaural Beats in the app, leave the app, start another audio program, and the Binaural Beats will continue to play in the background.
 
For example, you could start the Binaural Beats in “Brainwave,” and then you could go into another app to listen to a lecture for law school or the bar exam (i.e. Barbri, Themis, Barmax, etc.).
 
There are so many other apps!
 
There are some really cool apps for binaural beats! I've tried a few of them, and I plan to try more in the future. I've even listened to some podcasts that claim to have binaural beats in the background!
 
I would love to hear about any other binaural beats apps you've tried. If you decide to try the "Brainwave" app, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, as well!
 
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments to this post on Instagram!
 
 
Congratulations!
You just took a brain break!
Even if you don’t end up using this particular brain break idea, just reading this light little post gave your brain brief relief from dense legal texts and lectures.
Yay!
If your brain is ready to get back to work, great! Get after it!
If your brain is not ready to go back to work, that’s okay, too.
You could take a couple minutes to find and actually try a binaural beats app. You could also take a look at some of the other brain break ideas.
No matter what,
feel free to congratulate yourself!
You took a brief brain break, and you explored ways to help optimize your brain, your study habits, and—ultimately—your performance!