Build Your Ultimate Shuffle & Shapes Playlist (Part 1)

Today I'll be answering a JUICY question(s) sent by one of YOU!

Shout out to Scott for a pearler that got my gears turning... so much so this will become a multi-part series... here's part 1 for now!

Can you give music recommendations - where do you find your music, what new music have you discovered this week/month, do you have spotify playlists etc.  

I'm super curious to know how you (or anyone for that matter) chooses music.

***Cracks knuckles*** Deep breath!

Ok SO! Part 1(a) is easy enough

Q. Where do I find music?

A: Literally everywhere music is played. Spotify-recommended lists, Spotify playlists by other shufflers, Instagram audio from watching reels, YouTube music, songs that get played at meet ups. Another good one is movies and tv shows! I will often use Shazam to capture and identify. If I hear a song I like I will often dig deeper into the artist as most of the time, their style is consistent and will have other songs I like. The artist Rezz is a good example of this - initially her song "Puzzle Box" was recommended to me as a good slow tempo song for practice then when I looked deeper I found over a dozen more songs that were similar and added them to my slow tempo playlist. Finally, SoundCloud is an app that tends to have more indie and emerging artists - honestly, I don't use it that much because I find enough from the above resources but its popular and a good one to check out.

Q. Do I have a Spotify playlists?

A: Yes. Many. Easy answer is to share my master shuffle songs list with you. The ones I've added most recently will be at the bottom of the list, 600ish songs later - happy scrolling!

Erin's Spotify Playlist Shuffle Songs

NOTE: I share this list with some hesitation.

For starters, I've been curating this list over the span of about 5 years so far. I've gone through phases, levelled up, been working on different things so over time it has become somewhat of a "bubble n squeak" or "fried rice" mish-mash of music if you will, with little rhyme or reason other than at one stage "I liked it".

Are these "good" shuffle songs? Honestly, I don't know. Because I don't know what's good for YOU. I don't know what you are working on in your shuffle craft right now. Or where you are at in your shuffle journey in terms of experience. I don't know what kind of day you're having or want to have. I don't know what your soul is craving to express in this given moment.

Which brings me to the "juicy" part...

Q. How do I (or anyone for that matter) choose music?

A: Easy answer - it makes me feel... FEELS. The most common indicator for me, is that I can start visualizing choreography in my head. I can see myself dancing to it (even if I can't physically replicate my imagined awesomeness in my body) the inspiration is there. The best way I've heard it described is that the music is an "energetic match" for you (credit Kento @kentomoriguchi_). There's just something about the composition (combination of genre, tempo, instruments, timing, lyrics, bridges, hooks, beat, bass and soul) of the song that lights you up.

I will happily listen to the majority of edm music with a respectful head nod or foot tap but much of it feels copy and paste. Every so often, one will pique my feels - these ones make it on my list.

For this reason, I highly recommend curating your own playlists instead of relying entirely on someone else’s. Flow and being “in the zone” are key to a great shuffle session. The songs that resonate with someone else might not align with your energy, potentially disrupting your vibe. By handpicking tracks that truly work for you, you can hit play with a better chance of maintaining the momentum of your shuffle practice.

Other than feels, there are also qualities I search for in music, depending on what my goal is - technical practice, freestyle practice, creating choreo, whether I'm working on Cutting Shapes or Melbourne style.

And this is where I'll leave it for today. If you've been with me a while, you'll be familiar with my propensity to write unintentional thesis..es? thesis..us? Thesi? Whatever - I get wordy. So #staytuned for a deeper dive into music selection in the coming weeks!