As students work on projects, I find it beneficial to play some instrumental background music. With the right music selections, it tends to set a relaxing mood and helps them stay on task. In this post, I thought I would comment on what kinds of music I have found to work well.
Film scores are usually a safe choice. Not to be confused with movie soundtracks, film scores are the instrumental, typically orchestral, music one hears in a movie. Still, the occasional track may need to be removed from your playlist. A recognizable action movie theme erupting in your class like the Raiders of the Lost Ark March, would likely be to opposite of calming. I currently have several scores by Thomas Newman and also Howard Shore in my playlist.
Smooth Jazz is appropriate when it is in an entirely instrumental presentation. Be advised, it’s not uncommon for an album classified as instrumental smooth jazz to feature an unexpected vocal track. Give it a close listen first, nothing gets a class off-task like “making sweet love all night” lyrics. I have had to reject more than one smooth jazz track that featured, in the middle of a song, what I will simply describe as “heavy breathing”. In my currently playlist, Fourplay, Jim Brickman, and the Relaxing Instrumental Jazz Ensemble.
Instrumental Tribute Music is probably my favorite genre for this type of use. It is plentiful and usually on the less expensive side. One might get 30 songs for the same price paid for a typical album with 10 songs. It also tends to feature contemporary songs that the students actually recognize. There are choices of many different instruments such as strings, guitar, and piano. I have a good sized collection featuring the Vitamin String Quartet, Vitamin Piano Series, and the Guitar Tribute Players.
I often switch to Instrumental Holiday Music after Thanksgiving.
Currenty, I play my muzak by way of a 1st generation ipod touch. Of course, any mp3 player would be fine but it helps if the player features the ability to create and edit the playlist on the device. This way, when a distraction from a certain track is observed, it can be easily removed from circulation. I have over a hundred tracks in my playlist. That many isn’t necessary but it surprising how quickly the repetition will be annoyingly apparent if the track list is too small. My ipod feeds into a TV display which I use to video camera demonstrations. The camera only needs the video input so the audio inputs are available for muzak.
When I had satellite radio service and I brought an older receiver to play in class for a while. For the most part, I stayed tuned to the XM station “Watercolors”. I don’t use satellite radio anymore but It worked great while I had it. It should be noted that there were at the time and I assume still are, policies and regulations about “broadcasting” your satellite radio service. There are separate (more expensive) accounts designed for customers who intend to play satellite radio in their business. I never looked too far into how this would apply to a public school classroom.