Using Playlists for Mood Setting
Think of a song ….. or a favourite piece of music …… and notice how you feel!
Isn’t it amazing how emotive music can be?
The simple introduction to a song on the radio can bring back a memory, maybe with a smile or tears, as if the past event was happening all over again. It is simple to observe that we can all ‘feel’ through music, even if we can’t explain the reasons behind it.
And yet how often I hear the comment “I’m not at all musical!” Surely if we can feel and respond to the music we hear then that is a level of musicality with which we are all blessed, whether or not we have the more ‘quantifiable’ skill of ‘reading music’ or playing a musical instrument?
Since my last blog I have been sorting through some of my old teaching resources, and rediscovered a compilation tape (young readers may never have even heard of such things!!) that I used with my first class in 1995. It had ‘Music for Good Moods’ on one side and ‘Music for Calm Moods’ on the other and was, at the time, one of my favourite resources. I would play it in the classroom to create the atmosphere I wanted, and needless to say the children responded – I recall one of the best examples would be when we had to tidy away at the end of a session, and our ‘Good Mood’ tracks spurred us into a flurry of activity.
The world we live in today is a different place when it comes to technology. Instead of ‘compilation tapes’ we now have ‘Playlists’. And we all carry far more music with us than I would have ever thought possible in my youth.
So I’ve decided to start the new summer term with a new mission at home. I’ve asked my children to come up with their own ‘Good Mood’ soundtrack – full of songs and music that puts us in a good mood, with happy memories and associations. We are going to use it in the mornings to spur us into completing the usual morning preparations for the school run. It has to be better than the sound of my voice issuing instructions! And we’ll see if the ‘Music and Moods’ we create can help us on a more regular basis …..
I’ll let you know!!
