Chapter 8:Playing Music

Running head: CHAPTER EIGHT “THEY SNOOZE YOU LOSE”



Chapter Eight “They Snooze You Lose”
April Canales-Perez
EDTC 6340.66 Applications of Technologies
Linda Newell




Running head: CHAPTER EIGHT “THEY SNOOZE YOU LOSE”
Playing Music


Chapter 8 focuses on the use of music in our presentations to grab and hold on to the audiences’ attention and emotion. All popular television shows use theme songs so people can remember the show without even watching it. The author’s dream is to have a theme song of her own so people can think of her even if she wasn’t giving one of her presentations or even being in the same room where the song is being heard. You wouldn’t think that movies would also need to have music during scenes of dialogue, action, or suspense, but this was obvious during the silent film era. During silent films, it wasn’t the actors that kept audiences on the edge of their seats. It was the music that allowed the audience to react to the movie even though there was no sound to hear what the dialogue was about. Norman Weinberger, University of California research professor said, “the audience needed the music to engage its appropriate emotional reactions and involvement” (141).

I would agree that music plays a big roll in how we react to a dialogue in a movie, show, or even in a presentation. In my opinion movies wouldn’t be what they are if it wasn’t for the music. Yes you can have the greatest actor in the world saying their lines to other actors but the affect wouldn’t be the same without music. I especially like the music played during action, thriller, and horror movies. The music in action movies is very fast paced, which gets the hearts of audience members beating fast. Slow eerie music in horror and thriller movies lets the audience assume that something bad is going to happen. We as audience members know something or someone is going to pop out of know, but even though we expect it we still jump out of our seats.

Just as music is important in movies and shows, it is also important in our presentations in the classroom. An easy and effective way to use music in the classroom to teach content is make a song out of it. I found a video online of a song created using the divisibility rules that was so catchy. Not only was the guitar and sound great, but also the singer. It was a fun and easy way to get my students to remember their divisibility to rules without having to bore themselves to death just memorizing the rules over and over. Music can be a great tool if used appropriately in classrooms and presentations. Music should complement the presentation not over power. Also just like words, music can be just as boring or annoying kind of like elevator music. Choosing the right music takes time and a lot of thought.


Burmark, L. (2011). They snooze you lose: The educator’s guide to successful presentations.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass