Best Songs for a Funeral Slideshow or Tribute Video
Why music matters in a funeral slideshow or tribute video
The music you choose for a funeral slideshow or tribute video quietly sets the tone for the whole piece. It shapes how the photographs feel, how the story unfolds, and how easy it is for people to sit with their memories while they watch.
For some families, the right song is obvious – a favourite band, an ABBA track they always sang along to in the car, or a piece of classical music they loved at concerts. For others, the choice is much harder, especially when different generations, cultures and faiths are in the same room. This guide is designed to help you narrow things down calmly, whether you are planning a simple funeral slideshow, a full memorial tribute video, or a funeral video to share privately afterwards.
Start with the person, not the playlist
Before you open any music list, it can help to step back and think about the person you are remembering. Rather than asking “What are the best songs for a funeral slideshow?”, a gentler starting point is: “What music feels like them?”
You might think about:
What they actually listened to – favourite artists, albums, radio stations, concerts or playlists.
Music that connects to their story – songs from a particular decade, country, language or faith tradition.
The mood you want the tribute to have – quietly reflective, warm and reassuring, or more like a celebration of life.
Sometimes the right choice is not a “typical” funeral song at all. It might be a lively soul track, a football anthem, or, as in one recent funeral slideshow I was asked to create, a much‑loved ABBA song mixed between English and Spanish so it reflected both the person’s background and the family’s languages. The key is that it feels honest and recognisable, not that it ticks a box on a list of popular funeral music.
Matching the music to the type of tribute
The best song for a funeral slideshow or tribute video also depends on how the visuals and audio will work together. A simple visual tribute with photos only needs something different from a full funeral tribute film with recorded messages and readings.
Broadly, there are three common setups:
Simple slideshow with music only – photos fade in and out with one or two songs playing all the way through. This suits many memorial slideshows shown during the service or played on a loop at a wake.
Slideshow shown as part of a wider service – the slideshow itself has music only, but live readings, eulogies and prayers happen before or after. Here, the music needs to sit comfortably within the wider order of service.
Tribute video with spoken voice – a more detailed funeral video or memorial tribute with recorded messages from family and friends, perhaps combined with audio from the service. This almost always works best with instrumental music underneath.
If there is spoken voice over the pictures – whether live in the chapel or pre‑recorded in the edit – music with lyrics will usually clash. In those cases, an instrumental version, a piano or string piece, or a gentle classical track is far kinder on the ear. The words have room to breathe, and people are not forced to choose between listening to the speech and listening to the song.
Choosing between lyrics and instrumentals
A simple rule of thumb is:
If you are simply showing images set to music, with no spoken words at all, you can use either instrumental pieces or songs with lyrics, as long as the music genuinely fits the person and the images.
If you have any spoken voice over the photos – whether that’s a live eulogy or a pre‑recorded message – it is best to use instrumental music only, kept fairly low in the background, because songs with lyrics will usually clash with the spoken words.
Instrumental pieces are especially helpful when:
The images already carry a lot of emotion – for example, photos around the coffin or very personal family moments.
You want the tribute to feel calm and spacious, without too many words or ideas competing for attention.
You are combining live or recorded speech with a visual memorial video and need every word of the speech to be clearly heard.
Songs with lyrics can be beautiful if they truly match the situation. They work especially well in simple funeral slideshows where the images and song together are the whole experience, or in a celebration of life video where the music is meant to feel more like “their” playlist than a formal hymn.
How many songs do you actually need?
The number of songs you need will always depend on how many images you include and how long the slideshow or funeral tribute video is meant to run. If you are still deciding how many photos to use, our separate guide – How many photos for a funeral slideshow? – walks through typical numbers, timings and examples in more detail.
For most UK funerals and celebrations of life, a good starting point is:
Around 3–7 minutes for a slideshow during the service.
Longer is possible for a wake or reception, where people can come and go more freely.
If you are using one main song for a service‑based slideshow, that song will usually be enough on its own. For longer memorial videos or funeral tribute films, it often feels better to use two or three tracks that flow naturally into each other rather than one very long piece.
In practice, most families I work with tend to fall into one of three situations:
Slideshow during the funeral or celebration of life
This is usually one main song set to around 35–40 images, running for roughly 3–7 minutes. If you have up to about 60 photos, the track can be extended or a second song added carefully, but the aim is still for the piece to feel calm and contained within the service.Tribute piece with spoken words and messages
Here the structure is more like a short programme: a mixture of 2–3 instrumental pieces, often in the 5–10 minute range, with recorded tributes or live speech over the top. Music is there to support the voices, not to dominate, so instrumentals at a gentle level work best.Personal tribute film to keep
Occasionally a family will ask for a much larger memorial video as a keepsake. The largest tribute film I have created so far combined just under 600 images with 12 songs, and ran for about 49 minutes. This is not something you would usually play in full during a funeral service, but it can be a very meaningful way for close family to revisit memories together at home.
These examples are not rules, but they give a sense of how songs, images and length can be matched so the tribute feels complete without overwhelming the service or the people watching.
Types of songs families often choose
Every family is different, but over time certain patterns do appear. Many tribute videos and funeral slideshows end up drawing from one or more of these groups:
Gentle and reflective songs – quieter modern songs or ballads that feel calming rather than heavy. These can sit well during a slideshow in the middle of a service.
Instrumental or classical pieces – piano, strings or light orchestral works, especially when there is speech, readings or prayers as part of the funeral video or memorial tribute.
Warm and uplifting songs – pieces that acknowledge sadness but lean towards gratitude, love and remembering a full life. These are often chosen for celebration of life videos and receptions.
Faith‑based music and hymns – traditional hymns, worship songs or devotional pieces that match the person’s beliefs and the tone of the service.
Personal favourites – anything from ABBA to film soundtracks to country, reggae or highlife, if that is what the person genuinely loved and the family feels it reflects them well.
Rather than trying to force the music into a “funeral song” category, it usually works best to pick something that would make friends and family say, “Yes, that feels like them,” even if it would not appear on a generic list of popular funeral music.
If you would find it helpful to see how different songs and styles can change the feel of a tribute, our guide to funeral slideshow examples – 5 beautiful memorial tributes shows how music, photos and pacing come together in real families’ slideshows and tribute films.
When one song isn’t enough
There are many ways to combine music in a tribute video or funeral slideshow without it feeling bitty or disjointed. For example:
Use one main song for the slideshow during the service, then a different track in a longer keepsake memorial video you share afterwards.
Start with a short instrumental section while people settle, then bring in a song with lyrics once the photos move into a more celebratory phase.
Use a favourite upbeat song at the very end of a tribute video, perhaps over footage of the person laughing, travelling or doing what they loved.
This is also where bilingual or culturally specific music choices can be powerful. In the ABBA example above, blending an English version with a Spanish version in a single funeral video quietly honoured both the woman’s heritage and the languages of her family. Similar ideas can work with songs in other languages, regional music, or pieces connected to particular faiths and communities.
For families who want a longer, more cinematic memorial video that weaves together several songs, voice recordings and footage from the day, our article on how to create a funeral tribute film shows what is possible and how the whole process works from start to finish.
Common mistakes to avoid
There are no strict rules, but a few choices do tend to create problems in tribute videos and funeral slideshows:
Clashing words – lyrics competing with live readings, eulogies or recorded messages. Instrumentals are almost always safer under speech.
Songs that distract rather than support – tracks that are so famous, humorous or unusual that people end up listening to the song more than watching the photos.
Music that doesn’t match the images – very light music under extremely raw images, or very heavy music under simple, gentle family photos.
Overly long playlists – using four or five full songs in one sitting during a service can feel tiring and can push the funeral over time.
The aim of a good funeral slideshow, memorial video or tribute film is not to show off clever editing or dramatic music. It is to create a calm, honest space where people can look at the pictures, listen, and remember.
Bringing it all together
Choosing music for a funeral slideshow or tribute video is not about finding the “perfect” song on a list. It is about finding something that fits the person, suits the images, and works with the way the tribute is being used – whether that is during the service, at a reception, or as a private funeral video shared later with family around the UK and overseas.
If you would like help creating a funeral slideshow or tribute video, you can read more about our funeral slideshow and tribute video service, or contact us to talk through song choices, structure and how everything will play smoothly on the day.