Excitement - Any popular song has a natural appeal to it, that's why it becomes a hit. Hit songs have peaks, valleys, and plateaus built in to them. Choreography that corresponds with all of those elements will have excitement.
Imagine the perfect CD; 13 of your favorite hit songs on one disc. How exciting would it be to teach a class to your perfect CD? Choreography that matches with the individual song elements adds excitement to each song. As a whole, sharing music that moves you with your class adds the element of excitement to the class.
Fluidity - Your class will feel more natural to participants. Workouts outside of the aerobics room are more often structured with starts and stops than in one continuous 45 minute block. Think about your first workout - usually that was sports practice. These are formatted in to short drills.
The exception would be endurance training, but we are not training marathoners here. So it's not important to step or jog for 45 straight minutes - the heart rate will stay elevated during a 10 - 30 second break between songs. The break actually adds to the workout, when the students get a break between songs and activities they approach the work with a new freshness and better attitude.
Simplicity - Excitement and motivation can be built through challenge. Challenge can sometimes mean making basic movements complicated. We ?up the ante' on the choreography by implementing ?tapless' combinations in step class, or we ask the participants to move two steps to the right when they squat in strength class. But challenge can sometimes mean making basic movements complicated. When we make our basic movements complicated for the sake of challenge we increase the risk of injury, and we alienate our beginners, men, and others who are not inclined to dance or step.
Routines that are choreographed to correspond with popular music are intuitive to the participant. Participants have probably heard the song in their car, at work, etc, so they are already familiar with the song. Choreograph to follow the natural ups and downs in the music using simple movements that change with the song elements. The whole thing becomes user friendly to the participant. We, as instructors, can think less about choreography and are freed, then, to do our job - lead an effective class with no injuries!
Variety with Predictability - Music is constantly changing. That's why Billboard comes out with a new Top 10 list every week. Stay current with music that's up to the minute. If you love a song on the radio today, you can use it in class tonight.
But, participants want to know what to expect from your class. Think of your class as a product. If you contracted to build a single story house, but wer built a 2 story house, you wouldn't go to closing on that house. Participants are investing time in to your class. They must be confident that they are going to be participating in the work out they thought they were getting. They won't come to your class if they don't know what to expect.
How do we vary the workout while keeping a standard? You combine your new ?burn your own music' skill with an outline. Let's look at that house building scenario. If you are the architect, the outline is your ?blueprint'. The blueprint shows you how to build the perfect house, but you will vary the décor each time you build a house from that blueprint. Make up an outline for each class format that you teach. Each song in your outline achieves one objective. Since most songs are 4 minutes long you will need 12 to 13 songs. With a couple of breaks between your most intense songs, a break to check heart rates, and a break to set up for floor work, the class should be 52 - 56 minutes long.
So - if it's a step class, write an outline that uses each song to achieve one objective. The first song is the warm up, the second song works over the top, the third song works split lunges, etc. Then look for music that goes with each objective and burn your CD. Use the CD 7 - 10 times before changing it. When you are ready, change some or all of the music while sticking to the outline. Every time you change the music to one song in your outline the choreography will change naturally to match the new song. The ability to change music, while keeping the same basic outline can help to reduce burn out, too. It's the opportunity to vary the routine without having to invest hours in to planning a whole new class.
If you keep your music fun and exciting, your class will always be fresh.
