For teachers · ages 6 to 10 · one phone, no materials
Substitute music lesson: 45 minutes, no prep.
Music with a class you don't know in a few minutes, and nothing prepared? Here's the lesson: the games below in order, and under them every step with the words to say.
Mika: “I only need paper to lie on. This lesson needs none, and no sheet music either.”
Before you start: phone turned up, on an iPhone the silent switch off, and a Bluetooth speaker connected if you have one.
- Minutes 3 to 13 · settling in, quietHigher or lower?
Mika plays two tones, the class points up or down. You tap what most of them show.
5–10 years · one round 5 min · quietears - Minutes 13 to 21 · at their desks, quietSame or different?
Two short tunes: thumbs up for same, a wobbling hand for different. When they're right, Mika howls.
5–10 years · one round 5 min · quietears - Minutes 24 to 42 · letting off steamA melody of their own in 20 minutes
Children hum two bars into the phone, and the class hears them straight back as a track. The steps one by one; the worksheet there is optional.
Ages 6–10 · 20 min · a bit loudmic - Ages 8 to 10, if there are recordersRecorder: which note was that?
Instead of part of number 3, or for a quick class: Mika shows the fingering, a child plays, the page names the note.
6–10 years · one round 10 min · a bit loudmic - Runs in number 3Brumm Kids, the app
Open it once before the lesson and press Play, then it's loaded. No account, no sign-up.
Ages 6–10 · 5 min and up · a bit loudmic
Ages 6 to 8: minute by minute
- 0–3 · Settling in, no phone
Everyone sits down. Stand at the front and wait until it's quiet.
Hello, I'm here for music today. Today we're making music with our ears. Close your eyes and be really still. Who can hear three sounds?
Three children say what they heard.
- 3–13 · Higher or lower?
The phone lies at the front, turned up. You tap “Let's go” and then the answer most of the class shows.
Mika is going to play two tones. If the second one goes up, stretch your arm up high. If it goes down, point down. Listen first, then point.
If the class can't agree, tap “Hear it again”. After four right answers Mika plays a tune made of exactly those tones:
Listen, that's your tune. You just made it yourselves.
- 13–21 · Same or different?
Now two little tunes are coming. If they're the same, thumbs up. If something is different, wobble your hand. When you're right, Mika howls.
After a few rounds, ask:
What was different? Can someone hum the tune back?
- 21–24 · Clap echo, no phone
Now it can get loud. Clap four beats, the class claps them back, then a new pattern: clap, clap, stamp, rest.
I go first, you copy me. Exactly like that, not louder.
- 24–42 · A melody of their own
Press Play in Brumm Kids. Mika makes the beat.
Clap along on the one: one, two, three, four. Who's brave enough to hum two bars? Anything you like, there's no wrong here.
A child comes to the front, holds the phone close to their mouth and taps Brumm; everyone else stays quiet meanwhile. The melody comes back in time, first as the child's voice, then as an instrument.
Is that still the same melody? What stayed the same, what's different?
Then the next child hums along. The steps in detail are in the lesson “A melody in 20 minutes”.
- 42–45 · A quiet ending
Back to Higher or lower?, two rounds, but whispered only.
To finish, really quietly: we only whisper now, high or low. And what was the most fun today?
Ages 8 to 10: what changes
The same plan, just faster, with the children doing more of it.
- 0–3 · Settling in
Eyes closed. Who can hear the quietest sound in the room?
- 3–11 · Higher or lower?
With every right answer the tones creep closer together. Children take turns tapping the class's answer.
The tones keep getting closer. How close can we get together?
- 11–19 · Same or different?
What exactly was different: a note higher, a note lower? Where in the tune?
- 19–22 · Clap echo
Longer patterns, then a child takes over leading.
- 22–42 · A melody of their own
More children one after another: up to six melodies play together, from the third there are Break and Drop. Whatever has to go, Mika gets.
What happens when a melody is missing? Can you still hear it in your head?
If there are recorders, a few children play their notes during these minutes with Recorder: which note was that?.
- 42–45 · A quiet ending
As with the younger ones: two whispered rounds.
When it gets too loud: the quiet version
If the class can't get up or gets restless, the whole lesson stays at the desks and without a microphone. The two listening games take turns, ten minutes each, with a silent minute with eyes closed in between. Answers are hands only: one finger for higher or same, two for lower or different.
If you can hear me, put a finger on your nose.
The melody part needs a quiet room anyway; it can wait for the next lesson.
For a quick class
After Same or different?, a child hums the second tune back and the others say whether it was the same. In the clap echo, a child invents a pattern. And for the older ones, the recorder, if there are any in the room.
What you need
A phone with a current browser (Safari or Chrome) and internet. A Bluetooth speaker helps but isn't a must: in a quiet class the phone turned up is enough. If the room has a projector, you can open the pages there too. No account, nothing to print, no musical knowledge needed.
Only number 3 needs the microphone, and only when a child taps. The recordings stay on the phone and become notes there; nothing is uploaded. Please don't share songs from class: a shared song carries the children's voices, and that needs their parents' consent (Privacy at Brumm Kids).
This lesson is new and hasn't been tried in a class yet. If you try it, tell us what worked and what didn't: hello@brumm.ai.