Have a large group of new participants that need to break the ice and get to know one another? Question Mingle puts a musical twist on a classic icebreaker and uses your participants’ love of music as the common denominator to bring them together. Print and cut the following questions onto strips of paper, put them in a hat, let participants follow the prompts and sit back and watch how music breaks down barriers!
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How to…
Print/cut questions into strips and put them in a hat. Use the examples below and/or think of your own!
Each participant chooses one question out of the basket.
Each participant finds a partner whom they’ve never met or haven’t talked to yet.
Both partners follow the discussion prompts on their papers.
Then all participants put their papers back into the basket, choose a new one, and find a new partner.
Continue this process until everyone has had a chance to talk to each other, or until time runs out!
Additional Resources (to print and cut into strips):
Find someone who plays in more than one band/group. Ask questions to learn more about each band/group.
Find someone who plays the same instrument as you. Talk about your influences and when/how each of you got started.
Find a partner. Talk about the last live concert each of you attended. Where was it? Who did you see? How was the show?
Find a partner. Talk about your first musical influences.
Find a partner. Each of you name your top 3 favorite artists/songs right now and why you like them.
Find a partner. Talk about a music teacher who inspired you and why.
Find a partner. Ask about a recent time they (or their band) performed live. Find out where it was, what it was like, and how it went.
Find a person who will be performing later tonight. Ask them how they’re feeling about it.
Find someone who writes original songs. Ask how they get ideas and about their songwriting process.
Find a person who plays in a band/group. Ask them to tell you about one of their band’s/group’s songs. Find out how the song was written and what the lyrics are about.
Find a partner. Talk about your earliest memories of enjoying music.
Find a partner. Each of you name your top 3 musical artists of all time.
Find someone who plays in a band. Ask the story of how their band got together.
Find a partner. Find an artist/song on each other’s phones that you’ve never heard of. Swap and listen.
Find a partner. Each of you name your top 3 vocalists of all time.
Find a partner. Imagine you are planning a party together. You can invite any 10 musical artists, living or dead. Who would you invite?
Find a partner. Talk about a musical artist, living or dead, who you would most like to see in concert.
Find a partner. Talk about the instruments each of you play and how you got started.
Find someone who writes song lyrics. Ask them to tell you their favorite lyrics from a song they wrote and what the lyrics mean.
Find a partner. Talk about how often, when, and where each of you gets together to practice or play music with your band or other people.
