Coronavirus: how to choose your lockdown playlist

Do Louis Armstrong, Cerys Matthews, Shakira, Katrina and the Waves or Ed Sheeran make your list of calming tracks?

Happy, sad or poignant? Pop or classical?

Is there a perfect combination of music to ease the stress, fear and boredom bearing down on many people during the coronavirus lockdown?

"I don't think there's a recipe, but I think there are some broad things we can look at to help," said Elizabeth Coombes, a music therapist who has previously created her own playlist to ease anxiety.

So, what should go on your lockdown playlist?

The potential mental health implications of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown have been well-documented, with some warning of damaging long-term effects.

But Ms Coombes believes music can "really help" by providing mental "refreshment". So what are the the sounds to try?

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"One of the most important things [to think about] is 'what do I need right now in terms of my own well-being?'

"We instinctively use music to change our emotions and probably just don't think about it overtly," the University of South Wales senior lecturer said.

"So, we might use energetic music if we want to do something energetic, like the housework or a work-out.

"I think maybe now is the time to actually think about it more consciously."

Elizabeth Coombes worked on a study using music to support parents with premature babies

Ms Coombes said some parents of premature babies had told her during one study that Ed Sheeran's timbre helped them to relax - but added that picking songs and artists was largely subjective.

For example, when she posted Adele's Someone like You on a list of potentially relaxing songs many people agreed, but one replied to say "I'd rather fill my ears with molten lead than listen to it".

"In practice, it can be really difficult to generalise about things like that. I think there is something about what you could call your own significant referential music - songs you have a special relationship with.

"It's quite deep and complex."

Louis Armstrong, or "Satchmo", first recorded What a Wonderful World in 1967

Elizabeth Coombes' lockdown playlist

• First Impressions, composed by Edgar Meyer

• Ready for the Good Times, Shakira

• Calon Lân, Cerys Matthews

• The Gymnopédies, composed by Erik Satie

• What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong

Emma Lewis has been taking part in the 30-day song challenge on Instagram

You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers topped a recent chart of classic songs, enjoying renewed popularity amid the coronavirus crisis.

And Emma Lewis, 24, would certainly want classic hits on her playlist, including September by Earth, Wind & Fire and Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours by Stevie Wonder.

Ms Lewis, who works in admissions at Cardiff University, has been swapping playlists with her family and friends, and compiling a collaborative playlist remotely with colleagues as a "nice way to be connected".

"I think it's definitely a way we that we can feel together when we're not," she said.

"It's a way we can universally share something. I think everyone can understand that."

She has also been taking part in the popular 30-day song challenge on Instagram, which involves people sharing their favourite songs in response to specific questions.

And music has brought her closer to some people in ways she could not have imagined before lockdown.

"I live in an apartment block here and our neighbours never really spoke, but on Saturday night all of us went out on the balconies and about 15 balconies were singing Delilah by Tom Jones.

"It was a really nice moment we would never have if this wasn't currently happening."

Should you make more than one playlist during lockdown?

Huw Stephens co-founded the Welsh Music Prize

BBC Radio 1 presenter Huw Stephens said music had always been an art form which can "soothe and save us".

He said: "This current lockdown has been interesting, because statistics show that people have turned to radio stations more than they have the streaming sites.

"When it comes to creating playlists, I'm always a fan of tuning in to a DJ you trust."

Stephens advised that when making a playlist for yourself at the moment "be kind to yourself".

"You can make as many playlists as you like, with each one serving a different purpose. Some nostalgia is always a good thing; the songs that make you feel good no matter how famous or not they are."

And he said going on a "musical journey online" was always fun, "starting with a video for a song you love and seeing where it takes you next".