Controlling Your Music with Siri

When you use Siri to play music on your iPhone 4S you can tell Siri to play music from a particular artist of course, but did you know you could also tell Siri how you want to hear it. (Yes, with Siri you can now control your music playback using your voice.)

For example, instead of touching the controls for basic operations — such as starting and pausing playback, skipping forward or back, and so on — you can have Siri do it for you.

Here's a short list of the commands you can give to take control over your tunes, via your voice. Press and hold the Home button and say:

• “Play,” to play the track highlighted

• “Pause,” to pause the track you're listening to

• “Skip,” to go to the next track

• “Next,” to (also) go to the next track

• “Previous song” or “Play previous song,” to have Siri play the previously played song

• “What's playing?” or “What song is this?” to have Siri tell you (and show you) the name of the song and artist

• “Who sings this song?” or “Who is this song by?” to find out who sings that particular song

• “Play Similar Music” to have Siri tap into iTune’s "Genius" feature — if you’ve already enabled it within iTunes on your computer — to come up with music on your iPhone 4S that has the same vibe as the song you’re playing now.

There are a number of ways to use Siri for music enjoyment, but you don't always have to press and hold the Home button. Remember, in the Settings (under Siri) you can opt to call on Siri by holding the iPhone 4S up to your ear. Or you can press and hold the small button on the white earphone cord. Or if you use a Bluetooth headset, you can press and hold the Talk button.

Playing songs from a specific artist

Say you're feeling mellow and want to kick back with some Michael Bublé or maybe chill out to some old Pink Floyd tracks? Or on the flipside, maybe you want something more upbeat to pump you up as you're getting ready to go out on the town?

Whatever the scenario, here's how to hear music from one artist:

1. Press and hold the Home button.

2. Begin speaking after the tone, telling Siri what artist you want to listen to.

   For example, say, "Play Katy Perry," or you can say, "Play songs by David Guetta."

   After Siri confirms your request, she'll start playing songs by that artist.

   

   Playback will be random, by the way.