How to Select Music for a Dinner Party

The warm sounds of cool jazz, the emotion found in a classical sonata, the rhythmic beats of a fusion of ethnic and popular music--all of these bring to mind different environments. Use music at your next dinner party to create a complete experience for your guests by selecting those pieces which most complement your menu and your theme.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Speaker
• MP3 player

Select Music for Your Next Dinner Party

1. Think of your music choices as individual courses. Just as you would design a menu around the concepts of expectation, revelation and satiation, you can select music to accompany the courses which deliver these emotional experiences.
2. Choose music with a mellow beat for your cocktail hour. This is the time when your guests will be mingling and getting to know each other so the music should be the backdrop, not the main event. You can select pieces with a more dramatic flair for the short time preceding the call to the table.
3. Keep the music you play during dinner simple and easy to digest. A classical selection is an excellent accompaniment to a gourmet meal, allowing your guests to share in conversation and praise over your well-prepared menu.
4. Choose a more upbeat collection of songs for dessert. This is a transitional time, when new acquaintances may be wrapping up their conversations and a song with a peppy beat will keep the dinner rolling along.
5. Wind down the evening with coffee and a sound similar to that of the beginning of the party. As you say farewell to your guests, they will think of this music and the thoughtfully created dinner they have just had.
6. Build your playlist on your MP3 player and have it playing as guests arrive. If you have an album or selection of albums on your MP3 player that you feel are particularly appropriate, you may also hit random or shuffle and let your MP3 player be the DJ for the evening.

Tips & Warnings

• Though most dinner parties are of a small enough scale not to require a large musical production, it is not uncommon for more formal events to enlist the musical talents of a live band or orchestra as entertainment for their guests. The kinds of music they play can easily be selected beforehand to instill the same kind of unity of experience that as prerecorded soundtrack can provide.

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