How I build an event playlist
I’ve been reflecting today about my “how” before I start to build the playlist for an upcoming event. It’s always daunting, to relinquish some of the responsibility to other instructors by asking for songs. I start with a firm request, that any ideas submitted are diverse in every way -- rhythms, artists, song lengths, year of release, speeds and feel. Inevitably, one instructor tends songs that sound similar, not considering them the same rhythm and only cousins within a genre, and another instructor sends the exact opposite they are asked. For instance, if I lead with “please don’t send soca, salsa or cha-cha,” then those are the three exact rhythms they send me. None of this is malicious, and at this point in my career, it’s all reason to laugh.
The best gift I give myself in this process is warning the volunteer instructors how picky I am in creating a balanced and representational playlist. In any given class, the adventure through song is like an adventure around the world, so when an event comes along it is our duty to make that same trip. Every instructor is so different as they teach but the heart of every playlist for any instructor is the same -- merengue, salsa, reggaeton and cumbia make up the building blocks of what makes Zumba ® Fitness, Zumba ® Fitness. And I love that! I love knowing that almost anywhere I go, the playlist will at least have four feelings, not just rhythms or moves, to be felt altogether.
Hosting a larger event, either master class or fundraiser, holds potential for an even more diverse playlist because the class is naturally longer. The trip we can take is bigger, more scenic and more unique based on the songs we can share and the feel of the music. This is also due to having more than one instructor, one passion, one light to shine; because each of us is so different, the contributions we make to the playlist and the adventure around the world is different, as well.
After I ask for variety, I ask that people be flexible, because inevitably, trying to make the most diverse “trip around the world” leads to getting lost. And it’s important to be willing to look back to the plan and right ourselves if we are headed in the wrong direction. Often times at events I hear six salsas in two hours, six stops at the same restaurant in the same favorite city. Yes, leaving our home counts as a trip, and a trip to another country counts as an adventure, but only leaving home to go where we are comfortable is not the intent of this trip!
Next, I write all song choices and their instructor’s name on an index card, and color code the deck of cards by color, with colorful lines across the top. Brazilian songs are always blue, red is always salsa, merengue is usually yellow and cumbia is green like a cool cucumber. All the other rhythms each have their own color, even if I have to group them in a “cousin group” like all kinds of pop or hip hop, which tend to be pink.
And last, I shuffle the deck and place the cards by color in each “half” of the two hour event, in two tall lines on the floor. This means there is a pink, a yellow, a green, etc. in each half. Then I shuffle within each half so that all instructors are featured in both half and that they have at least 3 songs between each of what they lead, so they have natural breaks for having fun and catching their breath! It’s easy to get sucked into solid fun and forget to take breaks on adventures like this.
Once the colors, instructors, and cards all play out, I stack them back up and type the songs in order into a spreadsheet. That sheet then prints out as the song list for the event. I’ve learned that by the time I build the playlist that my instructors have already started wondering if they should change songs, or might need to bow out of the event, so I pray to the playlist for forgiveness, that somehow it knows it will need to change before the weekend. (It always forgives me... it somehow knows the changes are for the better.) Then the songs from the spreadsheet get made into a ZIN Play list on my phone to blend for the event, and an iTunes playlist and a Spotify playlist as back up.
And that’s it, that’s how I take a short trip around the world, representing at least four continents and five languages, and two solid hours of adventure. Hopefully the trip is a fun one where all are welcome!
