Musical Suggestions for Workshops:

Compiled by Lew Miller. Send comments and suggestions to lew.miller@cr.k12.de.us

An excellent resource for songs on specific topics is The Green Book of Songs.

Openersand Break Times

When people are arriving at your workshop site you want them to feel that this is going to be a special occasion. You can create that special atmosphere with music. I like to start with pleasant, often vaguely familiar, moderate tempo, background instrumental music then use Williams' .The Olympic Spirit. as the lead up to the start of the workshop. Begin your .hello and welcome. as soon as the last note ends. (This is where having a CD player with a remote comes in handy.) If I have a small audience .The Olympic Spirit. is overkill and I begin smaller. It creates a pleasant atmosphere to also play instrumental music during the breaks.

.The Olympic Spirit. John Williams

Familiar classical selections Handel, Bach, Vivaldi

Instrumental versions of popular songs (i.e., piano or guitar versions of Beatles, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, show tunes, movie themes, etc.)

Kenny G

New Age instrumentals

Classical

Classical music can be used to create a .classy. tone to your workshop atmosphere as people arrive. Usually the allegro from Baroque composers works best. The selections listed below are all very familiar warhorses of classical music. Most people have heard them even if they don't know their names. You can also use the orchestral versions of movie scores for the same effect.

Brandenburg Concertos, #2 and #3 (the allegro) Bach

WaterMusic Handel

The Fireworks

Eine Kleine NachtMusic Mozart

.Spring. from The Four Seasons Vivaldi

.Fall. from The Four Seasons

Energizers and Call Back Songs

These songs are useful when you want to put some energy in the room, get people moving for a minute or so, and for the .call back. to signal the end of a break and ensure that you restart with some pump in the air. The ideal song for this category is about three minutes in length with the following qualities: It has a strong, heavy beat, starts at full speed from the first downbeat, and ends all at once (no fade out so you can resume your session right away on the energy level of the last note). Motown songs (think Aretha Franklin) often fulfill all three characteristics and they are familiar to most audiences. A song doesn't have to meet all these criteria to be effective and some of those below do not, but I have used them all at one time or another successfully. The ones with a star I have found to be particularly effective (or maybe I just like them myself). Where I could find it, I put the approximate year the song was in heavy air play. It helps if you can coordinate the song with the youthful years of the audience. A heavily Boomer audience usually likes 60's and 70's songs but may not relate to 90's music (and vice-versa).

.La Bamba. .58 Richie Havens*

.The Twist. .62 Chubby Checker

.Da Do Run Run. .63 The Crystals

.Do Wah Diddy Diddy. .64 Manfred Mann

.Wooly Bully. .65 Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs*

.Shotgun. .65 Junior Walker and the All Stars

.Sweet Soul Music. .67 Arthur Conley*

.(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)Higher and Higher. .67 Jackie Wilson*

.Born to Be Wild. .67 Steppenwolf

.You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. .74 Bachman-Turner Overdrive

.Joy to the World. Three Dog Night

.Celebration. Kool & The Gang

.I'm So Excited. .82 The Pointer Sisters*

.Bang the Drum All Day. .82 Todd Rungren*

.New Attitude. .84 Patti LaBelle*

.(I Wanna) Be Like Mike. Teknoe

.Centerfield. John Fogarty*

.Pretty Woman. .68? Roy Orbison

.The Twilight Zone. .92 2Unlimited

.Get Ready for This. .95 2Unlimited

.Macarena. .96 Los Del Mar

Closers

You want your audience to leave with a good feeling and music can be used to send them on their way humming a tune. Here you may want to choose a song that becomes your signature closer, one you use every time. Or you may want to have several choices available and use the one that best fits the audience and situation at that time.

.Teach Your Children Well. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

.Wonderful World. Louis Armstrong

.Here Comes the Sun. The Beatles

.The Best. Tina Turner

.Good Riddance (I hope you had a good time). Green Day

.Better Days. Bruce Springsteen

.Someday We'll Be Together. Diana Ross and The Supremes

.I Can See Clearly Now. Johnny Nash

Caveats

If you plan to use music in your training, and I hope you do, be aware of the following points:

| Don't play music while you are talking to your audience. People can either listen to you or the music but not both at the same time.

| Except for call backs and closers, stick to instrumental music.

| A few people are sensitive to music and may tell you it is too loud. Adjust the sound level sightly and suggest that if they prefer they may want to sit farther away from the source of the music.

| Unless you already have a considerable investment in cassette tapes a CD player (with remote!) works best. You can cue to the exact spot you want very easily and start and stop play instantly with the remote from wherever you are in the room. You don't have to be tied to the spot where the player is located.

| If you are nervous about using music, start slowly. Try playing music at the beginning as people arrive, during breaks and at the end as they leave. When you are comfortable move on to using it during the training.