Make a winter playlist

A winter playlist takes about ten minutes to start and gets better all season. Winter songs tend to be slower and softer than the rest of the year: a quiet guitar on a cold morning, a piano when it’s dark by five. The point isn’t a perfect list. It’s one place where the season’s sound collects, so that by spring you can press play and be back in January.

Start with what you already have

Before you search for anything new, look through your saved songs. You probably own some winter songs without having thought of them that way. Ask of each one: does this sound like being warm indoors while it’s cold outside? If yes, add it.

Then add a few from outside your own library:

• Songs that mention winter, snow or cold. Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” and Bon Iver’s “Holocene” are two well-known ones, and “Snow (Hey Oh)” by Red Hot Chili Peppers is another.
• Instrumental music. Vivaldi’s “Winter”, from The Four Seasons, is a classic. Piano music such as Ludovico Einaudi’s “Nuvole Bianche” suits a quiet evening.
• Songs that just feel like winter. Slow tempos, acoustic guitar, soft vocals, strings, some space between the notes.

If you celebrate a holiday, add its songs too. They don’t have to be the whole list, because a playlist that runs from November to March needs more than a few weeks of them.

Sort by mood, not by title

Winter isn’t one feeling. Think of three or four moods and keep a few songs for each:

1. Cold morning. Something gentle to wake up to, with the heating just on and tea in your hands.
2. Early dark. Songs for the walk home at five, when the streetlights are already on.
3. Cozy indoors. Blankets, candles, a long evening. For most people this is the biggest group.
4. A bright day. A few warmer, faster songs for the clear, cold days when the sun is out.

You can keep one long playlist with these moods roughly in order, or make a short list for each. One list is easier to keep up.

Build it step by step

1. Make a new playlist in the music app you use and name it for the season.
2. Add 15 to 20 songs. That’s about an hour, enough to play while you cook or read.
3. Listen once, start to finish. Notice any song that sounds wrong, or any place where the mood changes too sharply. Move it or remove it.
4. Choose a cover photo. A photo you took yourself of frost, a window or a mug works better than a stock image.
5. Add one or two songs a week. When a song fits the season, add it that day, while you remember it.

A few ways to find more

• Ask a friend for the one song they play on cold days, and add it.
• Use your app’s radio or similar-songs feature from a song you’ve already added.
• Notice songs in the wild. When a song in a café or a film makes you think of cold weather, look it up and add it before you forget.
• Revisit older albums. A record you loved a few years ago may sound different, and better, in January.

What goes wrong

• Every song sounds the same. An hour of slow music can make you sleepy. Put in a few songs with a steadier beat.
• The list gets too long to play through. Past 50 songs or so, it turns into background noise. Move the older ones to a second playlist and keep the first for favourites.
• You can’t tell if a song fits. Play it on a cold evening. If it works then, keep it.
• Songs have vanished. Streaming apps sometimes remove tracks. Check once in a while and swap in another version.
• Shuffle ruins the mood. If the order matters to you, turn shuffle off.

Using it

A playlist only helps if you play it. Put it on while you do the dishes, walk to class or work, or while you make hot chocolate. Share it with a friend and ask for three songs from theirs in return. When winter ends, don’t delete it. Rename it with the year and start a new one next November.

Make it a winter evening

Choose a night when it gets dark early, turn a lamp on and add songs while the kettle boils. A list you started in ten minutes is one you can still be adding to in February.