Here is one of my personal favorite lesson plans that I ever used with my students. I taught this lesson many times, and it was always successful from both a student and teacher perspective.  It can be taught at any grade level with some minor adjustments.  It affords both students with little or no musical knowledge, and advanced students with an opportunity to be creative – where there are no wrong answers.  In the safe environment that the lesson fosters, students will begin to explore their musical creativity and feel a great sense of accomplishment when they perform their soundscape. I don’t think I actually coined the term “soundscape” but I think the word perfectly describes the intention of the learning activity. Students use visual images as inspiration for a wide variety of creative musical endeavors - from selecting a sound to composing an entire composition. There are numerous sources for visual images in magazines, newspapers, books, and of course, online.  For a more interdisciplinary approach, team up with the visual arts teacher in your school and perhaps use original artwork created by the students themselves.  Be sure to record the soundscapes so that you can share them with the students at a later date for reflection. 

Few questions spark more spirited conversation among music educators than this one: Does technology really belong in a performance ensemble? Whenever I am presenting a session or workshop to performance ensemble directors, I often relate my own experience teaching at the middle school level for nearly 15 years. I recount the fact that not once did I ever pull out technology during a band rehearsal, and while I stopped teaching nearly 20 years ago and technology was very different then, the reason for not using it was because I had so little rehearsal time with my students - and every minute was precious. Back then, there were no smartphones, no Chromebooks, no online software at all. I never dreamed that my students could do things outside of my classroom other than responding to written prompts on a primitive discussion board that our school district utilized. If I was still teaching today, my answer would likely be very different but I would still approach the question in a similar way: how can technology help me do my job more effectively? How can I engage my students outside of the classroom? How can technology make more time for me to focus on what I really want to do in the classroom - make music?

As music educators, we’ve long understood that music is for everyone. But for many students with exceptionalities, traditional music-making tools can present real challenges. Whether due to physical, cognitive, or sensory disabilities, the barriers to full participation in a music classroom are very real. Thankfully, we live in a time when innovative tools are being developed to help tear down those barriers. One of the most exciting I’ve come across recently is Clarion Lite, a project from Google’s Creatability team, in partnership with Open Up Music. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s time to check it out.

Yesterday Spotify launched a new integration: users can now bring their Spotify accounts into ChatGPT conversations. This means that whether you're planning a concert, creating prompts for creative projects, or just chatting about your favorite genres, you can ask ChatGPT to pull up personalized recommendations, playlists, podcast episodes, and more—right in the flow of your conversation. You will need to connect your Spotify account to your ChatGPT account to make this work. All you need to do is mention Spotify in your prompt and you should see the workflow appear. What’s very cool about this new integration is that both free and Premium users can take advantage of this; while free users may draw from existing playlists (like Discover Weekly or New Music Friday), Premium users can generate more bespoke, personalized picks informed by their listening habits. Spotify makes clear that the connection is opt-in and that user privacy is retained: Spotify will not share its audio content with OpenAI for training purposes.

The Music Explorer tool in MusicFirst Elementary is one of the included Creative Tools that makes this unique and comprehensive K-5 music curriculum a must-have (or at least must-try) products in the elementary music space. Music Explorer lives side by side with other tools like Rhythm Grids, QuickBeats, YuStudio, Music Notepad, Percussion Writer, and more. What makes Music Explorer special is that it presents a collection of (roughly) 20 musical “games” — playful experiences that nudge students to hear, experiment, respond, and create in small, approachable ways. In my view, it’s not about turning every child into a composer overnight. It’s about giving them a sandbox, with musical bits that invite curiosity, questioning, and risk-taking. When students can play in a low-stakes way, they begin to explore their own musical voices. When you select Music Explorer, the first choice you have is what instrument you’d like to use. For the purpose of illustration, I chose Boomwhackers. Once you land on that page (see below) a number of suggestions for what you can do with the Music Explorer are presented. You can launch the tool by clicking on the play button on the left menu.

One of the most common requests we get at MusicFirst is a tool that converts PDF musical score to an editable notation file. PDFs are easy to find, distribute, share, and archive, but they come with a major limitation: they are fixed images. If you want to change a key, simplify rhythms, add rehearsal notes, or adapt the music for your ensemble, you either have to re-enter the score in notation software or leave it as is. The most common method of converting PDFs to editable scores has always been scanning software, and many blog posts have reviewed those in the past, including my own. I saw a very exciting post recently from one of partners, and this is a HUGE step forward for all of their users. Flat for Education has just introduced a feature that addresses this problem directly. Now, when you upload a PDF into Flat, the system will analyze it and turn it into an editable score within the platform. This means that instead of treating PDFs as static, you can work with them in the same way you would with music you’ve created in Flat from the start. Here are the 5 easy steps - directly from their recent announcement:

As someone who has spent my career at the intersection of music, education, and technology, I’m always looking for resources that can help students better understand the mechanics of sound, recording, and audio production. The Audio University YouTube channel and its accompanying online learning community have become one of those rare gems that combine clarity, accessibility, and relevance. For music educators searching for engaging supplemental content - especially for music technology course - it’s a resource well worth exploring. Created and hosted by Kyle Mathias, the Audio University YouTube channel is dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of audio in a clear, approachable way. The channel covers topics like mixing, mastering, microphone placement, acoustics, signal flow, audio gear reviews, and more. Kyle’s mission is simple: to make learning about audio “quick, easy-to-understand, and practical.”

Every once in a while, I ask myself “What If?” questions. For me, this question spurs most of my creative thinking. Sometimes I come up with a decent idea or two, and sometimes it leads nowhere - but it’s the exercise that I enjoy. I recently asked myself “What if Lowell Mason, often called the “Father of Music Education” in the United States, was miraculously revived and took a look at music education in the United States today? What would he think? Would he be proud? Happy? Horrified? Mesmerized?”. I know I’m a bit of a nerd, but this question really got me thinking. And here’s what I ultimately came up with: If Lowell Mason could walk into one of today’s music classrooms, I think he’d be amazed. When Mason fought to bring music into public schools in the early 1800s, all he had were hymnals, a chalkboard, and maybe a pitch pipe. Fast forward two centuries and he’d find students with laptops and tablets, writing music that plays back instantly, getting immediate feedback on their performance, and exploring a world of music that stretches far beyond the European canon he so admired.

Over the past twenty years, differentiated instruction has become more than just a buzzword—it’s an essential framework for reaching every student in our classrooms. Like many music teachers, I have sat through professional development sessions that seemed aimed squarely at the core subject areas, leaving us to figure out how to apply the strategies in a rehearsal hall or general music class. What I’ve learned since then is that technology—especially music technology—can be the most powerful tool we have for differentiating instruction in meaningful ways for our students. Today, platforms like MusicFirst Classroom and the wide range of integrated software tools make it easier than ever to personalize learning for every type of student. What follows is a look at how differentiated instruction applies in music education, some traditional methods we’ve always used, and how technology available from MusicFirst has revolutionized our ability to make them work for every learner.

One of my favorite things that Google does - and has done for over 25 years - is celebrate various holidays, inventors, composers, cultures, sports legends and historical figures through changing their well-known logo on their search page to something noticeably different - adding artwork that hints at what they are highlighting or celebrating. They have posted a very interesting history of Google Doodles - including the very first one that celebrated the Burning Man Festival back in 1998. They have created over 5,000 since then and every once in a while they create something truly special for music and music educators. What follows is my personal list of the top ten Google Doodles for music education. There have been WAY more than 10 - but this I chose the ones on this list based on their usability as a teaching tool, their interactivity, and the sheer fun factor. Here they are in no particular order. If you have some that haven’t made this list, please feel free to add them to the comments section. Enjoy!

I’m always on the lookout for new AI-powered music creation tools - like Suno and Udio - mainly for two reasons. The first is how they impact creativity for our students and the second is how they actually generate music - and how their AI algorithms were trained. I tend to focus more on the impact on the creative process - meaning how students actually create with the tool. I strongly prefer AI tools that assist with the creative process rather than completely doing the work for the student. I was down at the University of Miami last weekend celebrating Parents Week with my younger daughter, and one of her friends named Jack was really into AI and had actually switched his major to focus on how AI can be used across a wide range of disciplines in business. We had a fantastic conversation and when he found out that I was a musician, he told me about GetMozart.ai, an AI-powered digital audio workstation (DAW) that combines the traditional features of music production software with generative AI capabilities. I love finding out about tools like this in the real world, rather than having an algorithm suggesting it to me. I checked out the site when I got home and I have to admit, I’m really impressed with it. For music educators, it presents a new opportunity to teach composition, production, and creativity in ways that are both accessible and engaging for students. The students need to engage with their AI tool throughout the creative process - one track at a time.

I used to read dozens of books a year, but that all changed when I started running a company full time. Now I only get to read a handful a year, and I’m pretty picky about what I read because I have so little time to do it. I recently heard about Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation on a podcast. I knew the author right away as I read his last book, The Coddling of the American Mind. I am fascinated by books that try to explain what is going on - especially books about the students in our classrooms (or our own children). I finished the book on my flight to Austin, TX today, and I had to sit down and write this review immediately afterwards. I believe that every teacher should read this book. And every parent. Having read his prior book, I expected a thoughtful analysis of adolescent mental health. What I didn’t expect was how personal it would feel—both as a teacher who has spent decades working with young people, and as a parent who has raised children in the very era Haidt is describing. The book is not just an academic exploration; it’s a mirror held up to our classrooms, our homes, and our culture at large.

For many years now, I have been very interested in finding/commissioning a songwriting curriculum for the MusicFirst Classroom, and I am happy to announce that we now have a fantastic one included in the MusicFirst Content Library written by award-winning songwriter and educator, Randy Klein. It is ideal for any music teacher - regardless of prior experience teaching songwriting and for any music student - regardless of prior musical knowledge. I personally believe that one of the greatest aspects of incorporating technology into a music curriculum is exploring student creativity. With this brand-new Songwriting Curriculum in the MusicFirst Content Library - I believe that we now have a resource that guides students step by step through writing an original, singable song - and your students will love it. Here’s a link to the syllabus.

Over the past two years, the explosion of AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini has reshaped the way our students think about homework and assessments. Whether you teach music theory, English literature, or physics, the temptation to “let the bot do the work” is very real. And while these tools can be powerful learning aids when used transparently, they can also be misused by students to produce assignments that don’t reflect their own effort or understanding. I am often asked by music teachers in the many keynotes that I have presented on generative AI about this exact topic and I usually just say that we need to either change the way we assess our students to avoid the use of AI altogether OR we need to have students clearly identify how they used AI in their work, rather than if. This post is an effort to both highlight tools that can detect the use of generative AI as well as methods that students use to try to make their use undetectable. I follow that up with a few ideas on how to avoid students using generative AI altogether in the music assessments that you give them.

Recently, a competitor published a comparison chart that contains several inaccuracies. While I generally do not respond to competitor marketing, in this case I believe it is appropriate to address the factual errors presented. I have worked with many products in this industry, including those of competitors, and my approach has always been to let educators determine which tools best serve their students. In professional settings, I avoid making negative statements about other companies, as the most effective evaluation comes from teachers trying products directly in their classrooms. Our focus at MusicFirsthas consistently been on providing high-quality solutions at affordable prices. A link to this chart was shared with me yesterday, and I would like to provide clarification regarding the inaccuracies it contains. Although the chart appears clear and authoritative at first glance, it employs a typical comparison chart strategy: highlighting features of limited significance while overlooking notable gaps. The headline above the chart claims that they have “more music education-enhancing tools than any other platform”. At last count there are 15 different software titles available - with 6 of them included with the MusicFirst Performance Bundle.

If you’ve read my blog or heard me speak about AI in music education, you probably already know that I am a HUGE fan of Moises.ai. It is a perfect tool for music educators, musicians, and students to go inside any music recording - separating tracks, adjusting tempo and key, finding the chords and lyrics of the song, and much, much more. I always demonstrate the technology behind Moises when I meet with music educators. They recently announced an incredible new instance of their technology called Moises AI Studio, and it’s awesome. Here’s what it does, and why you should definitely check it out. I think it can greatly enhance the songwriting process, and jumpstart any creative music making endeavor.

We are very proud to announce a new partnership with our good friends over at Sweetwater to provide free access to our world-class resources to all students who rent instruments through their incredible rental program for schools. Alongside other online music education platforms including MusicProfessor and Forte, MusicFirst is offering free access to a unique set of resources, curated by our team of music educators, to help students get started on the journey of learning a new instrument. Here’s how it works:

Over the past year, I had the distinct honor of serving on the NAfME AI Task Force along with a stellar group of fellow music educators. Our charge was to help provide clear guidance on the what, why and how of Generative Artificial Intelligence in music education. We met several times as a group and then we all contributed to the final document that can be downloaded HERE. That document is titled Guiding Principles, Frameworks, and Applications for AI in Music Education and it was released today (July 29, 2025). This document offers a comprehensive roadmap for music educators navigating the rise of AI in the classroom. It outlines ethical, instructional, and practical considerations for AI integration. Organized into sections including "Create," "Perform," "Respond," "Assess," and "Productivity," it emphasizes both the promise and perils of AI use in music education.

This past Tuesday, July 22nd, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance encouraging the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools, along with a proposed supplemental grant-making priority to advance AI in education. I was encouraged to see the Department of Education do anything positive, as we all know that the current state of affairs there is anything but. But what does this new guidance say, and what does it actually mean? Obviously you cannot ignore the political implications that this guidance may have. As music educators preparing for the upcoming school year, this announcement is worth paying close attention to—not just for what it says about AI, but for what it might signal about the broader direction of federal education policy.

Later this afternoon, MusicFirst will be launching the second iteration of our amazing MusicFirst Assistant - a powerful feature that harnesses the power of AI to help teachers create Tasks, Lesson Plans, Assessments, and Rubrics inside of the MusicFirst Classroom. In my opinion, THIS is an ideal way for music teachers to use AI tools in their instruction. The previous version of the MusicFirst Assistant only allowed you to generate lesson plans, but our new version (being released around 2pm ET today) will take our original idea to the next level. This is an OPTIONAL feature as we know that some areas of the country are not necessarily thrilled with the idea of using AI in schools, but if enabled, it can drastically cut down on your workload within the MusicFirst Classroom. Here’s what to expect when this is launched: