Writing Good Lesson Plans For Music By Kevin Tuck

Lesson plans are an indispensable tool for music teachers. They are critical to the success of one lesson, the whole terms lessons, and the teachers life in general.

There is nothing like the old saying "If you don't prepare, then prepare to fail". Once you have a bit of experience under your belt however, then preparing lesson plans does not have to be as onerous as it is at first.

For those who are just starting out, here are a few guidelines for creating compelling music lesson plans:

Think about the age group of the students you are teaching

A very good starting point when you are preparing a lesson is to think about the maturity of the children you are teaching. What are their likes and dislikes? What sort of music do they listen to on a regular basis? What are the other cultural factors that affect them at this age? Are they at an age where they are extremely hesitant to do anything in front of their peers?

These are the questions that you need to think about when preparing a music lesson plan. This is why ready made, fit all situations lesson plan usually doesn't work. Lesson plans need to be tailored to the needs of the students in each individual class. Once a teacher has been teaching for a number of years they are able to do this adaptation in an instant, referencing the lesson plans that are in their head, and adapting as they go. When you are just starting however a good starting plan is to spend a few minutes researching the age group, and learning how they think and interact with each other.

Always plan more than you'll need

Often you'll prepare a lesson with (say) ten activities. Sometimes you'll only get up to the fourth one and the bell will ring for the end of the lesson. Another day, perhaps even with the same lesson and a different class you'll get through all ten activities and there will still be another 15 minutes to go! You just don't know for sure, and that is why its always a good idea to have a backup plan. Have copies of spare worksheets, or an interactive game on hand so that you can always go to at the end if you have a few spare minutes.

Include a mixture of activities

Most music lessons are usually segregated into set activities - One lesson for the week will be theory, one practical, one history and one aural (or something like that). Often this is unavoidable due to practical concerns and the length of the school lessons, however why not try and mix them around a bit? If you're not limited by rooms try spending half the lesson on practical, then moving into theory based on the materials you were just playing. It'll be interesting for the students and keep them guessing.

Start simple - simpler than you might think!

Its always a good idea, particularly if working with younger students to have the simplest version as a backup of your complicated idea. For example if you're introducing a new piece of music in a practical lesson you may wish to plan for the scenario of it being way too hard for the students. This happened to me many times, and I found that if I had ready a small little section or part of the piece which I knew was very easy, that going and doing that bit would be enough to get them in and enthuse them about the piece. Its not always the best idea to start at the very top! If you can start with a section that you'll know they will do easily, then come back to the more challenging sections.

Listen to feedback

Students will give you feedback - even if it is extremely subtle. Students (particularly teenagers) will never say "Mrs Jones I thought you did a brilliant job today, you gave us a lesson that was lots of fun and we learned heaps." Perhaps you might have a dream that your student says that - but its not going to happen in real life! What you will see is students eager to come to your classes, and happy to have a joke with you at an appropriate time. You'll also see students putting band or orchestra ahead of their other activities. When this happens, you'll know that what you are doing is on the right track.

Kevin Tuck is an experienced music teacher, having taught music in schools and his own private music studio. Kevin is also an editor for the Fun Music Company, where he helps develop music lesson plans for elementary and junior high school music lessons.