How to Choose Music for Performance

Christina Chitwood and Mark Hanretty performing to “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” from The Swing Kids at the 2009 European Championships. (Photo by Liz Chastney)

Christina Chitwood and Mark Hanretty performing to “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” from The Swing Kids at the 2009 European Championships. (Photo by Liz Chastney)

Most of us listen to music every day. However, if we were asked what would be good music to perform to, would it be easy to answer? Maybe or maybe not.

Whether you’re choosing music for a show performance or for a competition program, here are some tips for choosing music, especially in figure skating.

1. Start with finding a notebook and pen.

2. Write down any pieces of music you really like and make you feel like moving.

3. Listen to these pieces of music while standing up (if you have the pieces of music – or you can search for and listen to them on the Internet). See how the songs make you feel, if you naturally begin moving to them, and if you can imagine skating to the music.

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November 30, 2012

Skating to the Music

Musicality is a challenging yet important part of skating. You often see skaters running a program by going through the various jumps and spins with great focus but completely ignoring their music.

Skaters need to develop the skill of skating to their music. When you watch the top performers in skating, you see how they bring the crowd into their music.

To work on musicality, skaters can practice their routine without any jumps so they can focus strictly on the music and presentation. Also, developing a habit of listening for certain points in the music for an arm move or step can make a definite improvement in presentation.

Here is a video of 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Yuna Kim performing in South Korea last spring. Watch how she gets the crowd excited through her musicality and presentation.

September 10, 2011