It’s tough to teach music without enough instruments. But, it’s not impossible. I started my elementary music teaching career with one broken hand drum. That was it. Although it was frustrating at times wanting to use a classroom full of instruments and not having that, music was still taught to my students. Sometimes it’s not about what you don’t have, but teaching with what you do have. The instruments can be bought and your classroom can be built up over time. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to teach music without enough instruments to help you move forward successfully.
Oh yeah, and make sure you listen to podcast episode 194 of The Elementary Music Teacher podcast where I talk about my thoughts behind all of this even further.
Use What You Have
You may not have a lot of instruments (or any at all for that matter), but focus on what you do have. First of all, your students have bodies and voices. So, if nothing else, start there. Your students can do so many movement activities, sing all types of songs, participate in music with body percussion, and do lots of speech pieces. If a song instructs you to use several mallet and rhythm instruments, replace these parts with body percussion, for example. If you do have a few instruments, but just not enough for the whole class, definitely use these.
Get Creative
If you have a few instruments for students to use, there are several ways to get creative in using them. The first way is by having students rotate. When you’re teaching students a song, of course students will learn the words and to sing it. Then, some students can sing and do movement, others can do a body percussion ostinato, and other students can participate on an instrument part. If you have enough time in class for students to rotate parts, then of course do that. But if not, students can learn that sometimes they’ll get to play instruments and sometimes they won’t, but they’ll always get to participate in music in some way.
Another way to get creative is by doing centers. If centers is new to you, my best advice is to have 4-6 stations set up, with different activities at each. That way, students will be doing instruments when it’s their turn at that center. You can have melodic and rhythm instrument centers, with different instructions at each.
Instrument Substitutes
If you teach elementary music without enough instruments, think about what you can substitute for the real thing. Bucket drumming is a fantastic way to bring drumming to your students. Go to your local hardware store and you can purchase 5 gallon buckets. As for rhythm sticks, students can use non-sharpened pencils. If you have access to technology, there are amazing virtual xylophones, boomwhackers, and drums to explore as well. One of my absolute favorite sites is Scratch.mit.
Another option is to do a trade off with another music teacher. Do they have instruments you don’t have and vice versa? Can you beg, borrow, and steal? When thinking of how to substitute instruments, you can do a combination of using instrument replacements and borrowing from a friend.
Plan for the Future
As a music teacher, the good news is each year gets better and easier. So, although you may not have enough instruments right now, it doesn’t mean you can’t plan for the future. Make a list of what instruments you need for your classroom, then begin thinking of ways you can acquire these instruments. Is it writing a grant? Will your PTO help you out in purchasing instruments? Are you given a budget that you can use towards the purchases? Don’t focus on getting everything you need at once, but break it down year by year and think through what you want first and start there.
Are you teaching elementary music without a class set of instruments? What has worked well for you? Tell me about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post. I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it too.
P.S. Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher? Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!
Also…I wrote a book called “Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music” to help music teachers move forward in your teaching career. You can get your copy here.
