Picking Songs For A Bar Mitzvah Montage Video

What makes great music for a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah montage video, and how do you pick songs?

There are two main ingredients to finding the right Bar Mitzvah montage songs:

1. What songs will you pick for your montage video, and
2. What order will you put the songs in?

Picking Songs for YOUR montage video

This article isn’t about telling you which song to pick (although we have a page dedicated to some great Bar Mitzvah montage song ideas). What I want to discuss here is what makes a great song selection for your Bat or Bar Mitzvah montage video.

Note that I wrote “your” montage video, because the bottom line is that each video is a very personal creation and should be meaningful to you, your daughter or son and your family.

Sure, I can help find songs for you and there are plenty of lists online about the best montage songs, but the best ones are songs that have some kind of special meaning.

Montage Songs With Meaning

This meaning doesn’t have to be from the song itself though, but maybe in what the song is about. For example, you many never heard of the song My Little Love by the Weepies, but once you listen to it, you might find that it hits on your relationship with your child.

Songs That Mean Something To You

Songs that mean something to you might be a song that you listened to with your son or daughter as a baby or a song that reminds you of their childhood

For example, we listened to a lot of Jack Johnson music when my daughter was a baby. so his music always brings back memories when my wife and I hear it.

Songs That Have Meaning

So unlike the fist category of songs that bring back memories, this second category of music are songs that when you hear them they remind you of your child’s early years.

Songs that as you listen to them you have memories of your own baby. For me, it was the Weepies song mentioned above.

Order Of Songs In Your Montage Video

Once you’ve picked out music, how to you decide what order to put it in?

When you’re working with a top montage producer, (like The Montage Maker!) there is a lot of thought into song placement.

Tell A Story In Your Montage

A Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah montage is a story about your child. It’s not just a random stack of pictures dropped in to music that you like.

The order of the songs helps tell this story and should be part of the decision-making process.

Since every video montage video is different the approach to this story varies too.

Some montages have a story arc that begins with the Bar or Bar Mitzvah as a newborn and follow them to the bimah. It’s a chronological story and the music helps bring out the love and emotion.

Other montages may have series of short stories about the Bar/Bar Mitzvah child. One “mini” story might be about family travels while another one might be about family. All of these are brought together by the songs you pick.

Building To A Great Montage Ending

When we are deciding which songs to use one of the key ingredients is the beat and tempo of each song.

Regardless of the way you tell your story, you want to build to a fantastic ending. For Bat and Bat Mitzvah montages, we usually end with s song about friends to a very fast and full of energy song. This way the video ends and everyone is fired up and ready to hit the dance floor!

Start Slow And Pick Up Pace

Although certainly not a hard rule, many of our videos start with a “slower” song. For example, Bruno Mars Count on Me (89 BPM) or Life Is Better With You by Michael Franti (97 BPM).

We never run two slow songs back to back, but we might go (1) Slow, (2) faster, (3) slower and (4) fastest. For example, 85 BPM, then 100 BPM, followed by 90 BPM and finishing up with 120 BPM.

The method above builds the story to a strong finish.

A Great Montage Isn’t Easy!

That’s why you can work with us, we’ll guide you through the process and create a Bar Mitzvah Video Montage that tells a great story and your guests and family will remember.

The montage is a story told by pictures and music, and all great stories need so preparation and thought before the work begins.