As a music teacher preparing for the back-to-school season (or maybe you are starting this semester!) you’ll need a variety of resources that can help you organize your lessons, engage your students, and enhance your teaching.
Here are some valuable resources I have discovered across different categories which I have put together into a music teacher checklist available to download in this blog!
Your music teacher checklist, Lesson Planning and Organization
You will need some sort of planner. Now, personally I like to have a notebook AND digital notes- I use a notebook often for when I travel, and for planning child lessons, and I use digital for when I am teaching from home, or teach adults.
I use Microsoft OneNote because I already had it, and I like that I can just write on my laptop like a tablet, then email the notes to my student after the lesson.
For students: If you are a student reading my blog, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten you! A lot of these resources could also work for a student taking the leap with piano lessons or other music lessons too!
Music practice notebook : this little book has a space for teachers, and parents to write notes- and at the bottom gives a tip for practice that week!
I created “Your music teacher checklist”: available to download for free here!
Teaching Materials and Sheet Music
These are the most important things for teaching music. Figure out the payment systems, and scheduling later, because without teaching materials, you will struggle to teach. It is also important to remember: you will build these up gradually. Take it step by step and don’t buy everything at once: Firstly because if you buy a lot of things which turn out to be not useful, you’ve made a loss, and secondly because your teaching path may go down a different route than you first anticipate.
You will probably want:
Music books
- Music books: just get a few to start with- I like Piano Time books by Pauline Hall, and also the Faber piano adventures look clear and structured.
- Duet music book: I have found that duets are great for sight reading (both yours and students!) and is a way to help your student build confidence in playing music. Plus, it shows music can be fun (its always quite fun for a student to see if you make a mistake, and its rewarding when you play the finished piece together.)
- Music Theory resources, which follows nicely to:
Supplementary Materials
Worksheets and Printables:
- Teach piano today: A very useful resource.
- Flashcards: You can easily make some. Also Musical snap is very popular with my students. You will need some sort of musical game, because learning a skill is tiriing, and it is nice for you and the student to keep it fresh and fun. Google and you will be amazed the free resources on offer!
- Making Music Fun: Offers a variety of printable music theory worksheets and activities.
Games and Activities:
- Teach Piano Today’s WunderKeys: A program with fun, game-based learning for young beginners.
Technology
Use technology. Even if it sounds scary- there really are an abundance of resources online and you can also find out lots of things about how to improve your teaching, and different learning techniques etc etc.
Digital Tools:
- Online Music: musicnotes.com is useful, but I am sure there are others!
- Online music notation software that allows you to create and share sheet music. I like Noteflight
- Stand for a camera or phone so you can record you playing a scale, or a section of music to send to your student.
- Consider providing students with recordings of their playing, which can be a valuable teaching tool.
- Spotify: to listen to songs your students like and you can try to transpose!
I hope the ” Music teacher checklist” resource I have created can help you get started for the new semester! You can download below:
