Music Thinking Workshop for communication experts

In May we did one-day music thinking workshop for a very energised team of about 22 communication experts in a great venue in the black forest of Germany.

We started the day with some Music In You exercise by letting the participants write down and cluster their favourite songs + artists. These songs are also put together in a Spotify Playlist.

After a short introduction to Music Thinking and the Music Thinking Framework, we continued with an individual Serendipity Lab exercise with the Jam Cards.

The findings from the results were first discussed in duos. Then as a next step, the discussion was brought further and iterated upon in quartets. Each quartet was based around one of the six cues of Music Thinking.

After the lunch break, we did a Paper Creativity Session to introduce the participants to the concept of leadership and followership. They practised the basics of creativity interaction: listen, guide and support.

We used A4 paper as an instrument to make the interaction inclusive. Did you ever play on an A4?

Eventually it was time to get back to the quartets and to REMIX all the gained knowledge. We closed the day with 1 minute performances by each quartet.

A lot of smiling faces and an energised team afterwards: What a great energetic Music Thinking workshop in a beautiful environment!

Find the right approach for bridging service design with branding, agile, service design and organisational change

We offer you a custom-made programme designed around your particular objectives. We will guide you through service design and the music thinking framework. We can advise you how to bridge silos in your organisation and combine service design with branding, agile and organisational change.

From Serendipity Lab to Idea Rap

In April we did half-day music thinking workshop for an international think tank that stands for ‘brands with a conscience’. The idea was to generate new ideas for the celebration of their 20th anniversary in 2020. The approach was ‘from serendipity lab to idea rap’. First, get inspired by the jam cards and the six triggers that are on each card. At the end the participants made a rap version of their idea pitch.

The main materials we used was the Jam Cards and the overall music thinking framework.

Medinge Think Tank doing a Serendipity Lab in a music thinking workshop

First, they diverged using the Serendipity Lab approach. After that, they worked in duos’ and quartets to create a long list of ideas. Then, instead of just presenting the ideas, the members acted like a music group and wrote the lyrics in co-creation and then performed a short Rap to give the ideas more spontaneity and emotions.

Medinge Think Tank doing a Serendipity Lab in a music thinking workshop. Working in duos.

Medinge Think Tank doing a Serendipity Lab in a music thinking workshop. Writing the lyrics for the idea rap.

Here is a short video that shows the whole process from serendipity lab to idea rap.

For more information on the Medine Group and Brands with a Conscience: http://medinge.org/

How to scan Spotify codes and use the sonic triggers on the Jam Cards

How to scan Spotify codes? Spotify Codes offer a brand new way for users to share and discover the amazing content on Spotify. It’s as easy as taking a picture.

As you might have noticed, one of the triggers of the Jam Cards has such a Spotify code on the bottom left corner. With a short click, you are transferred to Spotify and the song will play right away. Great for workshops and other interactions.

How to play the sonic trigger of a Music Thinking Jam Card:

Open the Spotify app on your phone or tablet
Go to ‘search’.
Click on the ‘camera icon’ on the right side of the ‘search field’ at the top of the screen.
Scan the code.
Listen and enjoy.
Tip: Close your eyes and use headphones.

Give it a try it even works from the screen. Here is a picture with a Spotify code to try with your phone.

Like what you have read above?

This is only one of the 44 cards. Get your own card set and use them in workshops or creative interactions. With the multiple triggers and many ways to combine the cards, there are inspirations for all kinds of usage.

Buy the Jam Cards via your local bookstore (worldwide) and have a nice chat with the people there and try the cards right away. Yes, or just buy them at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, BIS Publishers, Bol.com and all the other online stores.

more info on the Music Thinking Jam Cards
more info on About Music Thinking

Hello World, this is the Music Thinking Blog!

Now is the time for a blog about music thinking. Since the new music thinking website went online, there is a lot to share, and so we decided to start a blog about everything music thinking. We will share updates about workshops, programmes, new templates, tips and tricks and you can read all the 38 stories from ‘Behind the Cards’ – the background thoughts about every inspiration card of the Music Thinking Jam Cards.

October 20th

From 20 October we will (hopefully) post every week a ‘behind the cards story’. A story about the thoughts and inspirations we had while designing the cards; some background information, chit-chat or just exciting information about the inspirational quotes (mostly from musicians), the picture on the front of the cards we call visual trigger and the sound example, we call sonic trigger.

Why 20 October? Well, this will be the release date of the Music Thinking Jam Cards, they will be available from this day on and I just checked Wikipedia who else is born on this day and there are some excellent musicians that share the date: Composer Charles Ives, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, Estonian bagpipe player Aleksander Maaker, American singer-songwriter and banjo player Grandpa Jones, saxophonist Eddy Harris, guitarist Wanda Jackson, Croatian soprano Dunja Vejzović, Japanese singer Michie Tomizawa and rapper Snoop Dog.
O.k., it is also the day that Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed, and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines died in the crash. But hey, let’s be positive because Elizabeth II also opened the Sydney Opera House after 14 years of construction (the opera house, not the queen).

So hopefully you are excited as we about sharing and if you have some ideas, inspirations or requests (which card should be first) please let us know.