To enjoy music listening in different forms, students and teachers spend time making playlists meaningful to them.
These playlists vary in length, genre and mood.
It’s not uncommon for someone to have playlists for different reasons.
Whether it’s exercise, doing chores, going to sleep, or just driving around, playlists can be made for all purposes.
“I like to make playlists before running and exercising,” choral music teacher Jon Timmons said.
Using playlists while exercising can allow the listener to be able to have a hands free listening experience. “It’s nice when I’m doing something like cleaning my house or going for a short run to be able to find songs from those playlists and it will already be done,” Timmons said.
Playlists can also be made to fit certain environments and themes. “I have numerous playlists, personal ones and work one’s for school,” French teacher Sally Cushmore said.
“I have playlists like the one with all my music, French playlists, instrumental playlists, sleep playlists.”
Having different playlists allows the listener to match how they feel and what they are doing.
Senior Clara Conolly said that she makes music for what mood she is feeling and additionally what current music she is listening to.
“I have a sad playlist, a driving playlist, and a normal playlist. The one right now is my end of senior year playlist, which is songs that I’ve been listening to since eighth grade,” Conolly said.
By creating diverse playlists people are able to also expand their music taste. “Spotify does the “discover weekly” playlist,” Timmons said. “I listen to that every week and then pull songs that I like from that.”
This allows for the listener to get a taste of new music, while also fitting the same genre and feel of their loved music.
Playlists will also vary in length.
Cushmore said that she has both long and short playlists for certain listening.
Others may make longer ones.
“My playlists are normally longer because I don’t like to hear the same songs over and over again,” Connolly said.
Playlists can also be made from certain themes for events or time periods.
“Sometimes I’ll pick from a time period,” Timmons said. “I went through and found the top songs from when I was in high school and put them into a playlist,”
Making personal playlists can allow someone to express who they are and feel what the playlist makes them feel.
Timmons said that some playlists make him feel “nostalgic” whereas others are more “moody”.
Playlists also help others connect with friends and family. “When I’m with friends I play different stuff, because not all people like the same genres so I switch it up,” senior Sean Healy said.
Healy said that he has different playlists of genres that he listens to with different people to match the situation.
Timmons agrees and said that in certain situations, he plays music that is family- friendly, and makes sure that listeners will approve when traveling on road trips with others.