the music

The music in a cycle class is everything. It will be the base for the entire workout as well as how you want them to feel physically and emotionally after class. The beat of the song is the speed. Never play a song that you aren’t loving, but just because you are loving a song does not mean it belongs in a playlist. You will spend countless hours playlisting. You will want to make playlist that you would want to ride to and that you want to share with people. Music is also a great way to connect with your riders.

Your playlist will provide the journey that you want riders to be on. Playlists should be cohesive while also not allowing every song to sound the same. Use a range of genres, tempos, and energies to keep riders engaged. This will also make the ride flow and go by quickly. When designing a class always start with your music.

RHYTHM

The rhythm of a song will provide the base of your workout . To find the rhythm of a song , download a free bpm finding up. Tapping the screen every time you would be down in a pedal stroke.

Tempo is measured in beats per minute, it can be fast or slow. Rhythm is the distance between the beats, a pattern of music in time. If you're tapping along to the beat in a song, then how fast you are tapping is the tempo of that song. The tempo of a song measures beats per minute (BPM) so a song with 100 BPM would mean there are 100 beats being played in one minute

In CYCLE, the BPMs translate to RPMs (rotations per minute) of the flywheel. Your lead foot would strike down on the downbeat (first and strongest beat, and the non-lead leg would be down on the upbeat (weakest note) make one rotation.

The bpms will translate to a feeling on the bike as far as exertion.

SEQUENCE

A common song structure, such as ABAB or ABCB. In these structures, the song cycles through two or three main sections:

• ABAB

  The song cycles between an A section, which includes the intro, breakdown, and build up, and a B section, which is the drop.

• ABCB

  Similar to ABAB, but with a third section, C, that differs from the intro. This section could be an extended breakdown or a new section altogether. 

• Most EDM songs are in 4/4 time, meaning there are four beats in each bar. 

• Breakdown: A breakdown is a momentary pause that resets the energy level of the track after a drop section. Breakdowns often remove the bass and cut back the percussion. 

SOUNDCLOUD

We use Soundcloud as the music platform for classes. If there is a mainstream song that you like, look up the name of the song followed by remix. There are several remixes of the same song at different tempos.

Make playlists on Soundcloud not just for playlists for class but to house all of your songs in specific bpm ranges so that you can easily go back into those categories to plug songs into your playlist.

There is no crossfade on Soundcloud like there is on Spotify so there will be a certain amount of dead space between songs. Use this dead space to your advantage as a time to connect with your riders.

Every Monday, Soundcloud will make a Weekly playlist for you with new songs and remixes, use that weekly to expand your library and even find songs you forgot about.

It is free to make an account. The free version does play advertisements so you will be logged into the studios account for class so make sure your playlists are marked public so you can access them at class time.

SPOTIFY

Spotify is a great platform to find music especially new music releases. Follow playlists that Spotify recommends for you, as well as new releases. Add all of your cycle songs into a playlist. Through the website http://sortyourmusic.playlistmachinery.com/ you will be able to see the bpms of all of your playlisted songs. You can use this to a start of finding remixes through Soundcloud. All songs that are on Spotify can be found on Soundcloud.