Thanks to John, and his great mid-week surprise release for us to use in the beginning of our classes, the pressure is off me. However, we still need a great Friday Favorite, so here is something a little different to try for a quick and dirty climb at 63 rpm’s. I have been interjecting this as a change from fast intense climbing at 72-76 rpm’s, as a bit of a “break”. This American alternative rock duo is due to release a new album next month and I am looking forward to it. In the meantime, this 3:33 tune from Helio Sequence has their trademark ethereal sound with a nice strong beat. Enjoy “Can’t Say No” from the Keep Your Eyes Ahead album and keep your eyes open for their new album, out September 11, 2012.
“I'm trained as an Instructor. I've earned multiple certifications, spent thousands of dollars and invested hundreds of hours, all with the purpose of delivering a great class to you today.”
“But many of you will probably judge me by my skills as a DJ… the one part of this class for which I have no formal education.”
It had to be the funniest thing I've ever heard said by another Instructor… well I thought it was funny, and I laughed out-loud when she said it during her opening of class. What made this humorous was a combination of her deadpan delivery and the unexpected honesty of her statement.
Could anything be more true about teaching an Indoor Cycling class?
To paraphrase the memorable line from a TV and radio commercial from Verbal Advantage; People judge you by the music you play…
In past surveys I've done, Instructors have said that they spend more time on music than any other aspect of their classes. I'm not sure this dependency on a great playlist, as the foundation of you class, is entirely healthy. But I can understand how it can become the focus of your class preparations.
So what's my suggestion for ensuring your class will enjoy your music selections?
Steal music ideas from others 😉
Here are a few places you can start:
Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs of all Time. Especially if you have an older demographic, you can't go wrong with these past favorites. Most are so memorable that you could start a sing-a-long. Here's a link to the list and there's a partial list (385) you can find in Spotify.
Grab our list of the Top 404 Indoor Cycling Songs. These have been hand picked by other instructors and a class playlist created from them is a nearly guaranteed hit.
Subscribe to ICI/PRO where we have over 50 class playlists, created by experienced Instructors. Each playlist is tied to an easy to follow class profile that explains exactly how to teach the class; cues, timing – everything 🙂
Get the Shazam app for your iPhone or Droid and bring it to a popular Instructor's class. Shazam each song they play and the app will keep a list for you to “appropriate” into your playlist. Don't be surprised to catch an Instructor in your class doing this if you've followed suggestion #3
Consider a mixed class music service like indoorcyclingmusic.com A good DJ doesn't have gaps between songs – it wrecks the mood you want to create. If you don't have the hours to spend with MixMeister, this could really simplify your life 🙂
If you have had the privilege of working with Barbara Hoots you understand there's no “half-way” with anything she does. Barbara is only interested in perfection and lives by the adage: Go big or Go Home. So the new Top Indoor Cycling Songs from 2011 list is approaching 400 tracks!
We will be sending the new list (complete with iTunes links) to everyone on our email lists. Not a subscriber to our weekly email newsletter? Join for free here.
ICI/PRO members will get exclusive access to the complete Spotify playlist.
Even if you don't use Spotify to deliver you class music, I strongly suggest getting a free Spotify subscription. You simply can't beat Spotify for sampling and discovering new tracks + unlike iTunes, Spotify let's you play the entire song so you can fully understand if each track is exactly what you need for that perfect playlist 🙂
* Complete as in every song on the list that is also available in Spotify.
Honestly, pretty much anything that came across my headphones today would be enjoyable because it is 50 degrees and sunny here in Minneapolis on St. Patrick’s Day. But, I love this Italian American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with multiple Grammy Award nominations. Tom Scotto and Gene Nacey from Cycling Fusion like to use an instrumental track in the warm up. I think this is a great idea. It gives us an opportunity to coach through the necessary introductory information without having to compete with lyrics. Joe Satriani ‘s, “Is There Love In Space?” CD, released in 2004, has 10 not only usable, but really great songs on it. “Up In Flames”, with a cadence of 90 will get your class in the mood to kick some butt if you have anaerobic threshold intervals planned for them. “Is There Love In Space?” is a bit more mellow, but still has a cadence of 90 and I use it to start one of my aerobic base building classes. “Just Look Up”, cadence 88 is a nice last flat. It is nice and mellow. “Searching” is 10 minutes long and has a cadence of 80. I love it for load building. I have my class really focus on holding their cadence and add a bit of load each minute and watch their heart rate climb from mid zone two up to threshold by the time the song ends. Check out this video of Joe live in Tokyo doing “Searching”
“I Like The Rain” cadence 64, has some funky vocals in it. “Souls of Distortion”, cadence 64, “If I Could Fly”, cadence 68, “Lifestyle”, cadence 68, “Hands In The Air”, cadence 80 and “Gnaahh”, cadence 64 are all good, with different flavors for different approaches to climbing. Watch the vocals on “Ghaahh” though. A bit racy… Enjoy!
IDEA contributer & Editor Alexandra Williams MA from funandfit.org has done substantial research on the subject of music licensing and the changes that are occuring in different areas around the world. After reading her very comprehensive article; Music Licensing Mayhem: How will fees affect you? in the latest IDEA Fitness Journal, I invited Alexandra to respond to questions from readers, along with a few of my own in this episode of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast.
