Hospitality Sense of ~ Sound~

A wonderfully good Thursday to all of you.....today is a beautiful crisp "almost fall" day!! 

      The hospitality sense we will be covering today is the "Hearing" sense!!! How important is background music? 

Take a minute and think......what was your reaction when you went shopping at your favorite department store and suddenly your ears are invaded by someone screaming out lyrics that you don't understand and most likely don't need to?! If you are at all like me , I usually hurry up and get out or ask the clerk to change it! Music no matter how insignificant it may seem is very important.

   Here at the shop I play a soft ,almost classical touch ,of hymn music. I noticed from working at a variety of coffee shops, the difference in atmosphere when my co-workers played their hard rock and roll or rap, there were more dissatisfied customers, and the co-workers were often a little more edgy or ill-tempered. 

So I experimented by playing a softer christian station.As a result I had many of my customers tell me how much they appreciated the atmosphere and music that I played. 

Now I am not saying that playing "christian" music is a must for everyone all the time,but there is something to be said about easy listening music with or without lyrics.....much of the time the atmosphere you create has as much to do with the music you play as many of the other hospitality senses we have discussed. 

For example ,a tastefully decorated home that smells wonderful and spreads a gourmet meal , can easily be an absolute failure if the wrong kind of music is played,it will consume the atmosphere and completely ruin any other of the good impressions you were trying to display.  It is important to keep the background music low enough so as not to dominate or distract from  friendly conversation and the feel of hospitality.Another thing to keep in mind is the volume,find a happy medium that  fills in gaps of silence without giving your guests a headache and overwhelming the simple comfort you want to portray . 

Another thing to consider when playing music is the replay button. Most cd/casset players have one of these wonderful little gadgets, and its job is to keep the hostess from having to jump up and push the play button every time the CD reaches the end. So next time you have guests try a cd of Jim Brickman or "Instrumental Praise" by Don Marsh , choices like these will instantly give you a welcome atmosphere that will compliment all the other senses you want to be felt. Hope these little ideas have helped, and have a fantastic rest of the day!!!      And remember~ 

If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together. "
Richard M. Nixon"