Give your Thanksgiving a soundtrack

November 02, 2009 Written by: Dave Ullmann

Need a few ideas to keep the peace during your Thanksgiving meal? Forgo the cornucopia and create your own horn of plenty - hook up your iPod to speakers or an iHome and place it in the middle of the table as a centerpiece. Decorate it with fake leaves or paper turkeys and treat your guests to an interactive center piece.

Instruct everyone to come prepared with a Thanksgiving playlist. Mellow music will sooth any nerves and keep everyone calm at the dinner table, but if you feel the energy start to lag, throw on some upbeat tunes so that no one passes out before the pumpkin pie.

Stick to music that almost everyone will like. People-pleasing playlists could include Michael Jackson hits, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis or classical numbers like Debussy's Clair de lune.

If there are any tweens in attendance, keep them in mind and put on a few of Taylor Swift's hits, like Love Story. Let the adults rock out ironically to Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA.

To keep everyone relaxed, soothing Belle and Sebastian and Jack Johnson might be perfect. Any hipsters in the crowd are guaranteed to appreciate a few Passion Pit and Cat Power tracks.