Cheer Music and More

Fresh Ideas for Song Generation in Cheerleading Routine Music

Greetings cheer music mix masters in training! I came to deliver you all a valuable lesson on the importance of song selection… A rule of thumb to always keep in the back of your mind is “Just because the music is not original in itself does not mean it cannot be made to be original.” What are top selling billboard musical artists thinking of when they create a completely different rendition otherwise known as a “cover” of an already popularly played song? As a cheer music mixing engineer and arranger, you must ask yourself the exact same thing!

Remember to change it up! If you plan to make a business out of conducting cheer/dance music routines, you must be able to adapt to a wide array of demands from choreographers. Every elemental facet of the routine is a work of art to the creationist, so respect the process. Some coaches choreograph their routines to Rock, Pop, New Wave, R&B, or a combination of all genres, so to say that a cheer music mixer should have a wide variety in musical taste is an understatement. Another final general point is to never, ever use songs that aren’t released on mainstream radio as singles! No matter what the genre is, the songs should still be primarily popular in nature.

Here is an old school list of song considerations for your cheer mix to get the creative juices flowing:
1. Katy Perry – “Hot N Cold”
2. Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
3. Simple Minds – “Don’t You Forget About Me”
4. Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”
5. Queen – “We Will Rock You”
6. Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
7. Britney Spears – “…Baby One More Time”
8. Hanson – “MMMBop”
9. Van Halen – “Jump”
10. Bow Wow Wow – “I Want Candy”
11. Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
12. MGMT – “Kids”
13. Aerosmith – “Dude Looks Like a Lady”

As you can easily tell the other might be a little biased. Use these ideas to take you out of your element of preconceived notions. Like coaches should strive to advise; “You can do anything, if you set your mind to it!”