Tip: Spotify Playlists are your best friend
Playlists are one of the easiest ways to organize the media that you use in your teaching and make accessing them a snap. They can easily be shared with students for home access as well. Make playlists your best friend and I guarantee you’ll thank me. You can read my previous post on YouTube playlists as well.
I love playlists. The music service that I create playlists on more than any others is Spotify. The reason that I love playlists so much is that I often forget which specific audio files I use when teaching specific topics. I know that I’m getting older, but I don’t think that has anything to do with it. How many times have you watched an amazing video or heard an amazing song and then tried to find it again to play for someone else. Happens to me all the time - usually within an hour or two of when I originally found it! Playlists are easy and FREE to create, as long as you have an account with the service you use. You can create playlists with almost every media service online, as well as using bookmarks and the favorites function.
As an example, I always teach a class on music technologies for special learners. In preparation for the class, I used to go to YouTube and search for all of the different devices that I feature during my class. This exercise often took an hour or two, time that I don’t really have. About 10 years ago I created a specific playlist for that class session, and now I can pull it up anytime. I also ADD videos and remove videos over time to keep it current. We also have a wonderful collection of playlists on our MusicFirst YouTube channel - something that I strongly recommend doing for any teacher who uses software with their students. So how do you create playlists on Spotify? Here you go…
Whether you are using the online or desktop app, you will find the Create Playlist button on the left hand side. When you click it, you’ll be able to give your Playlist a title, add an image, and then search for and add songs that you’d like to be included. Once your Playlist has been created, you can add ANY song that you find to it by clicking on the 3 white dots on the right, then click Add to Playlist, and then select the Playlist that you would like to add it to. That’s it! You can then SHARE that Playlist by click again on the 3 white dots and then Share > Copy Link to Playlist.
Teaching with Playlists
Here are a few ideas for how you can use Spotify playlists with your students:
Create a playlists of all of the pieces that your ensemble will be performing on your upcoming concert. Believe it or not, MANY of the pieces you are playing are already on Spotify!
Create playlists for any topic that you are teaching. For example, if you are teaching music from a specific culture, say Balinese gamelan - find representative musical examples, add them to a playlist, use them during your teaching, and share with students.
Create playlists for specific holidays and celebrations. For example, you can create a playlist for Jazz History Month for students (and their parents) to enjoy.
Create playlists of appropriate podcasts that focus on a specific musical concept.
Create playlists for every instrument and voice type to share with students so they know how they are supposed to sound.
Create playlists that focus on UIL musical compositions or other audition pieces for festivals such as the NYSSMA Adjudication Festival.
Create composer playlists that represent their master works.
Create genre playlists that provide students with examples of music from that genre.
Have students create playlists of their favorite songs (radio clean versions if you’re planning on listening in class).
Before you dig in and start creating your own playlists, you should definitely search for playlists that others have created - you might just be surprised with the results. For example, if you are looking for a playlist for Black History Month, just use the Search function, and select Playlists from the category menu. You’ll find a TON of great content - curated by both individual users, as well as lots of organizations and Spotify staff that are assigned to curate relevant and appropriate content. It’s a pretty impressive feature.
In terms of non-teaching uses of playlists - the uses are endless. Create playlists of your favorite bands, ensembles, or composers. Create playlists for parties that you’re hosting and play them throughout. Podcast playlists, are also awesome. I strongly urge you to find creative ways to use playlists on your own - I’m sure that you’ll come up with amazing ideas on your own.
As you can see, there are TONS of ways to use playlists in your music instruction. For me, the main reason remains that I can easily and quickly access music that I need to use to help illustrate a musical concept that I am trying to teach. I love when simple and free functions make my teaching day easier, and I’m sure you will too.