• Let your guests shine in the spotlight with karaoke.girl singing image by Peter Baxter from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
  
  Music is a party necessity, providing background noise and defining the overall vibe. Turn the party up to 11 with some music-themed activities. Allow your guests to show off their musical knowledge and talent with various instrument and song-based activities. Find out which of your friends rocks the most and which knows his cheesy top 40 songs all in one night.
  
  

Karaoke

• Take over-the-top embarrassing singing performances from the bar to your home and provide your party guests with access to a karaoke machine. A one-up on merely playing music in the background, karaoke will give each brave guest at your party a chance at the spotlight. While only one or two people might be singing at a time, karaoke is a good group activity, as everyone not taking part will be watching the performers, cheering and laughing along the way. Provide an array of songs in different styles, from pop to country to hip-hop, to allow each guest a crack at his favorite tune.
  
  

Name That Tune

• Find out which of your guests knows his Culture Club the best with a game of Name That Tune. Create a playlist with songs that your guests will be likely to guess, varying the difficulty from song to song. Split the party into teams. Each team must try to guess the name of the song they are presented within the least amount of time. Try different variations of this game using sound-editing programs. For example, play the songs backward to amp up the difficulty.
  
  

Air Instrument Contest

• Whether your guests are well-known session musicians or have never picked up a musical instrument in their lives, they'll be sure to enjoy an "air instrument" contest. Encourage each guest to show off his ability at playing an invisible instrument. Play each guest's favorite song and allow him to "play" one of the instruments in the song, such as the guitar in Guns 'N Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine" or the drums in Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain." Rate each guest on his "air instrument" ability and award the most creative performers.