5 Ways to Use and Enjoy Music
Music and dance have grown in importance in life over the years. It wasn't a huge part of early life, except for family outings to live bands and BBC Radio 1 in my teens and uni years.
When I started first as a junior programmer it became more important. I needed find a way to concentrate. A pair of headphones and some cds to cycle through and office conversation was blocked out. Leaving uni was also the catalyst to dance, as I started partner dancing to meet some new people. And it became another large part of life.
With Covid everything has changed again.
So here are 5 ways most people can use music and dance in our lives
[Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash]
Have Playlists for Influence Your Moods
Music has been shown to influence our moods, and particular songs can trigger particular memories or feelings.
Use this by compiling playlists (or using existing ones others made), favourite albums and artists/groups with a particular vibe. Match them to mood such as happy, energetic, chilled,
Try putting them on particular playlist when you need to
Dance to A Song in the Morning
Try putting on a song in the morning. Either a favourite or something new. Try dancing to it in your room, kitchen or anywhere else you feel comfortable. It can be a chair dance, dodgy moves from the nineties or a moving round experimenting dance.
The quality of the dance doesn't matter. It's not for fitness or appearance or to improve skills. It's to get you started, improve your mood and give an easy win for the day.
It's been a constant habit for me since Covid Winter, my mood always changed for the positive.
Use Playlists (or Radio) to Discover New Music
Try finding some new music you like. Either tracks by new artists or latest song by someone you like.
Listen to some new playlists or a new radio station, maybe for half an hour or so if you don't like trying new songs much. If you have access to Deezer, Spotify or similar try some playlists under terms like "Dance music", "90's funk", "skrillex" or "Scandinavian metal". You'll know your tastes better than I.
At the start of every year I've been hunting though the most popular albums of the UK, Portugal, Spain and Poland for inspiration.
Use Music to Setup an Atmosphere
A simple trick is using music to setup a mood. Used in computer games, films and other media.
You can use appropriate music in to get a party started, create energy for sport or exercise and setup a tense scene of a roleplaying game
Moments of Stillness
In modern lives of constant business, sometimes we forget that doing nothing is an option. Keeping still, switching off music and other distractions in a quiet space is valuable.
Try just doing nothing for 5 minutes. Not intentionally meditating or having a subject. Take in the sights, sounds and smells around and enjoy an absense of music and movement.
The alternative is to simply sit and listen to a song, with no other distractions.
Finishing Up
Having 17 months without partner dancing was hard, and now I'm not sure how it will feature in the future...
How has your relationship with dance or music changed in the last couple of years?