Music Classroom

Music in the Classroom

If you want to know what music is playing in the classroom at the moment, try this list:

Here are some older playlists:

Music is a really important part of all of our lessons .  We use music everyday and we love the atmosphere it brings to our classroom.  If you come to our lessons, get ready to party!

Many students ask us about the music we are listening to… and now you can hear what we’re listening to everyday!  This list is updated all the time.

DJ EXPERIENCE

Ian spent years working around the world as a DJ.  Having toured France, Germany, Holland, Australia and the UK, Ian has taken music to many different countries.  He has also worked with the international community during his time at Cambridge University where he played at weekly parties organised for foreign students.  Many people remember those crazy parties from the summer of 2004.  For years, Ian played at private and illegal parties around Brighton including some unforgettable events organised in incredible venues.

Music in the Classroom

It’s true that sometimes we dance in the classroom… but most of the time, the music is only there to help students to feel comfortable speaking.  When the classroom is very quiet, students often feel uneasy starting a conversation.  Music brings a relaxed atmosphere where everyone can quietly tap their feet, nod their heads and work at the same time.

When the music is quite loud, like in a cafe or nightclub, students are less nervous about talking.  If the classroom is too quiet, students feel like everyone is listening to what they say.  This can be stressful for people who are learning a language.  It’s easier to have greater confidence when our conversations feel private.

Sometimes, students feel extremely anxious about making mistakes, especially students from China and Japan.  Music helps to create a more friendly atmosphere.  It also helps to encourage students who tend to speak quietly.  The gentle throb of music in the background forces them to speak more loudly.  If their partners can’t hear them, they must ask them to repeat what they’re saying more frequently.  Eventually, everybody learns to speak with greater confidence.

Our playlist is always being updated to feature the music of the day.  If you want to hear what we’re listening to that day, simply play the playlist above.  If you want to get a taste of all the music we’ve used over the recent years, simply play using the random function.

Music in the Classroom - random playlist

Sound quality

One important factor to the experience of music in the classroom is the quality of the loudspeakers.  If you are listening to music with just some tinny sounding computer speakers, the effect can be quite unpleasant.  If you want music in the classroom to be a positive experience, you need to have good quality amplification and Globalised English uses the best that money can buy.

Music in the classroom – pronunciation

As well as helping students to speak more confidently and more clearly, music can also be a great way of helping students to practice pronunciation through singing.  The vocabulary that comes from looking at the lyrics of a song can be a great way to introduce common language and slang (or street language).  Once students are familiar with the words to their favourite songs they can practice the pronunciation while they are singing in the shower.  This can really help students whose native languages are more monotone, especially in the way that songs emphasise the pronunciation of vowel sounds.

ONLINE CONVERSATIONs

There’s no better way to feel more confident about speaking than to practice regularly… and the students who participate in our online conversation lessons have often started out in our real -life classrooms face-to-face, growing with confidence as music plays in the background.