by John | Nov 8, 2016 | Instructor Training, KEEPING IT FUN, Music
Wait, what's an “earworm”? That was my thought, when I first read the term in some long forgotten article. Turns out that it's an affliction that many of us have experienced…
An earworm, sometimes known as a brainworm, sticky music, or stuck song syndrome, is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing. Phrases used to describe an earworm include “musical imagery repetition”, “involuntary musical imagery”, and “stuck song syndrome”.
My frequent Earworms are; The Oscar Mayer hotdog theme, We're off to see the Wizard and the Bowie song Prettiest Star – which I used to sing to my two girls when they were too young to know how badly I butchered it. I'm not sure what that says about me… what are yours?
In the past, ad agencies loved to write catchy jingles with the implicit desire to implanted them as Earworms in customers.
Nowadays, companies with large TV/radio advertising budgets purchase the rights to use popular songs in their commercials – with the intent to connect a product/service/brand with an existing, popular earworm track. The best example that I'm aware of was Apple's use of the U2 track Vertigo in their 2004 iPod + iTunes “Silhouette” commercials. I still can't help thinking of iTunes whenever I hear this song!
https://youtu.be/54vgFVhOAF0
Creating your own earworm
Back in 2012 I wrote; You're a celebrity… act like it!
If you promise me that you won’t get a big head, I’d like you to go look in the mirror and repeat after me;
“I’m a celebrity and it’s about time that I started acting like one.”
Now I’m not suggesting that you should start arriving for your next class in a chauffeur driven limousine, nor am I recommending that you follow these seven steps to becoming a celebrity. But I am suggesting that you consider acting in a way that will cause others to be interested in you… which is really no different than the people you are interested in and what drives some of our attraction to other celebrities.
The dictionary lists ce·leb·ri·ty [suh-leb-ri-tee] as a noun meaning 1. a famous or well-known person. If you’ve been teaching for a while, I’m going to guess that within your little world, you are well known = you are a celebrity 🙂
So if the thought of you as a celebrity is intriguing, here are a few things you can work on…
I went on the list a number of actions you could take, including…
Consider a Theme Song
Where would Gilligan’s Island be today without … five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. Admit it, you could hear the song as your read the words 🙂
What would be wrong with having a consistent song for your class intro? A song that your students begin to associate with your class?
Starting to see how using a popular song (making it part of your brand) could create an earworm that connects participants to your class?
by Christine Hawthorne | Nov 4, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music
I stumbled across this when checking out today's new music, and I'm so happy that I did. This is a debut album for this French producer/DJ Kungs. The entire album is worth checking out-you'll find lot's of great beats to cycle to. If you are an iTunes user, you'll be able to find the entire album, which came out today. On Spotify you will find You Remain and I Feel So Bad. Check out these two tunes below and click on the iTunes link to listen to the entire album. Also be sure to check out This Girl and Don't You Know.
iTunes album link Kungs Layers
by Christine Hawthorne | Oct 28, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music
Little Mix‘s recent release Shout Out to My Ex has made a strong appearance on my playlists this week. It's the first single released from their upcoming album Glory Days. It's around 64 rpm and I've been using it for jumps on the chorus.
Apparently, since it's release, many fans have pointed out the similiarities between the song and G.R.L' s Ugly Heart (around the same rpm and a song I've also used for jumps on the chorus). Hmmm…. they do sound similar. Either way, they are both fun, upbeat (well, maybe except for the lyrics) songs that will work great in your next cycling class! Take a listen and decide for yourself.
Shout Out to My Ex iTunes Link
Ugly Heart iTunes Link
by Christine Hawthorne | Oct 21, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music
It doesn't get any better than when you find a song with just the motivational lyrics you are looking for. I like to use the song Work This Body by Walk The Moon and it always seems to get my classes working just a little harder. Here is another one that I've just started using by Sia called Move Your Body. Check out the original version and the remix. Both work great for a climb at around 64 rpm.
Move Your Body iTunes Link
Move Your Body remix iTunes link
Work This Body iTunes Link
by John | Oct 19, 2016 | Instructor Tips and Tricks, Instructor Training, KEEP IT FUN, Music
This is cool
I saw this online tool, after following a link posted by Kor180 studio owner Maja Kermath on Facebook. After trying a few tracks that came to mind, it worked so well that I felt I should share it with you. https://songbpm.com
The songbpm.com tool searches the Spotify database and returns all the posibilities found. It's interesting to me how the various versions of Ziggy Stardust are all at a different BPM.
79BPM or 148BPM… what's the difference?
The live version of the song above is listed at 148BPM, while all the others are around 80BPM. Obviously the live version isn't played twice as fast. Rather if you know the original song you'll hear that the live version is a bit slower @ 74BPM – 1/2 of 148BPM. The software is counting this track differently, which is why I prefer using….
Tap-To-The-Beat Music Counting Tools
Following and riding to the beat of the music, does require you be able to hear the rhythm and then match your movement to it. That's why I've always recommended Instructors actually listen to each track and then tap out the beat using one of the simple tap-to-the-beat counters listed below.
The Windows version Tap-To-The-Beat counter isn’t pretty, but I’ve used it for years — download it here. It will show as an .exe file in your downloads folder. Double click to open it and start tapping the Enter key in time with the beat that you hear 🙂
This online Tap to the Beat counter works well.
There are a bunch of free iPhone Apps like this one you can use.
Android Users can download this free App.
by Christine Hawthorne | Oct 14, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music
Have you heard? Spotify has come out with a new feature called Daily Mix. This is great if you're like me, and feel like you can't wait for your Discover Weekly playlist to update, because you get a new mix of tracks every single day based on your listening habits! It's a great way to hear more of the music you love and find new tracks that you might like too. If you find something you love, make sure you save it to your favorites. Here is a basic overview of the new feature as well as some of your frequently asked questions answered—> Spotify Daily Mix
Here's a great one I found while checking out my latest mix. It works well if you need a longer song with a strong beat and no lyrics:
Leave a comment and let me know what you think about the new Daily Mix feature, or share one of your new discoveries!
