1. In advance, create a specific music playlist of songs featuring short snippets of popular and not-so-common songs and tunes.
2. Once assembled, challenge each person in your group (or small teams) to accurately guess the song title and/or artist of every song as you play them, one after another.
3. Each correct answer will earn the person or team one point.
4. The first person or team to earn 10 points (or the highest number of points) wins.

This activity is a solid group favourite. It has probably featured in programs I have led since I was a teenager.

Admittedly, the hardest part is preparing all of the songs in advance, but it doesn’t have to take too long, and you can, of course, use this playlist with many different groups.

If you have an Apple Music or Spotify account, or still keep CDs on your shelf, take the time to record a snippet of some of the most popular, not-so-popular, and obscure songs you know of.

Thirty to forty songs should be ample, but it’s completely up to you. Assessing time, interest, and energy levels will help you decide.

Once you’ve compiled your playlist, test that it all works on your speakers / sound equipment and you are good to go.

Gather your group and announce that this is a quick, competitive (or cooperative) activity to identify who knows the most number of songs from your chosen playlist.

Explain that for every first and correct answer given, one point will be awarded. You may choose to invite each person to compete against all others in the group or form small teams of 2 to 4 people.

Points may be earned for correctly identifying the song title or the name of the artist/band.

Either look for the first hand to shoot up in the air or determine some other method to identify who gets to answer, eg standing up straight, squeaking a rubber toy, or pressing a buzzer.

After exhausting your playlist or otherwise declaring a winner, consider taking a moment to discuss cultural awareness with your group. This will squeeze more value from the game than just a bit of fun.

For example, this is a great chance to talk about peoples’ favourite genres and how they were first exposed to those musical experiences. Use this as a chance to build relationships or even dive deeper into cultural diversity.

Keep the prompts moving pretty quickly to keep engagement high. If your group is enjoying a particular tune, feel free to listen until the chorus plays and then move on.

Sometimes it is hard to determine how much of a song to record (or play) before it becomes too easy to identify. If you are unsure, record more than you think and stop playing the song as soon as a hand shoots up.

If the song plays for more than 15-20 seconds without an answer, feel free to move on to the next track.

You could integrate Name That Tune as part of a well-designed SEL program to promote and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse people.

Specifically, this activity offers opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Identifying Personal, Cultural & Linguistic Assets
• Recognising Strengths, Prejudices & Biases

Self-Management

• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation
• Taking Initiative

Social Awareness

• Appreciating Diversity
• Recognising Strengths In Others
• Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Build Positive Relationships
• Demonstrate Cultural Competency
• Work Collaboratively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

There is no specific health & wellness perspective to this activity other than promoting the benefits to one’s well-being of enjoying a good laugh and some friendly competition.

In a small way, you could argue that the focus required to engage and compete with others in a positive, healthy manner may speak to behavioural norms of your group (or lack thereof,) but this would be considered a minor attribute belonging to this particular game.

If you can think of more explicit ways in which Name That Tune could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

• Elimination Style: When competing in small groups, introduce the rule that if an answer from someone is wrong, no one else in their group is entitled to offer a further guess. Once that song has been identified (by another group,) participation is reset.
• Pick Your Genre: Choose to play a wide selection of songs from a particular genre. Some examples are Disney music, pop music, music by decade, current top songs, international, instrumental, etc.
• Title & Artist: Challenge your group to name both the song title and the name of the artist/band to earn full points, ie no fractions awarded for one or the other.
• Name That Anthem: Record a long list of (well-known and not so-well-known) national anthems for your group to identify.
• Famous Speeches: Record snippets of some of the most famous speeches given worldwide. Award points for the name of the speaker, the year in which it was given, where it was given, or any combination thereof.
• Open the Virtual Adaptation tab to learn how to present this activity online.

• Check that your favourite video conferencing software will play music from your computer (so that the songs can be heard by your online audience.)
• When ready, ask everyone to open the chat facility.
• Play the music and award one point to the first correct answer as it appears in the chat room.

Have you ever been listening to a song, and the song title or artist was on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t remember them? Well then, you are all set for this next exercise…

It’s time for everyone’s favourite fast-paced music-guessing activity, where you, the participants, get to name the tunes. That’s right, welcome to Name That Tune…

You could not possibly know every song that has even been played on the radio, but you probably know more than you think. Let’s find out…

Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this wonderful fun game:

• What did you enjoy about this game? Was it the music or something else?
• Did you know more songs or artists than you imagined?
• What is your favourite genre(s) of music? Why? How were you first introduced to this music?
• What do your musical choices say about the communities or cultures you belong to?