Digital Music/Technology Class Resources
List of Resources Needed to Create New Classes Including Materials and Supplies
Sykes, John. “Music Technology Resources for Teachers.” Save the Music Foundation, 2024. https://www.savethemusic.org/music-education-resources/music-tech-setup-guide/.
This is a step-by-step guide to setting up a music tech lab and add music technology to your classroom. This guide is organized into several sections (a beginner’s guide, overview of stations to set up in the class for teachers, student producers and live performance/recording, exploring DJing, podcasting) written to help meet each educator where they are on their journey into music technology teaching and learning. Each section has a general breakdown, quick links, and “Straight to the Point” tips that simplify complex concepts into one-sentence summaries. The intro offers important advice for educators as they start integrating technology in music classrooms. Of special note is the wealth of curriculum ideas included in the guide (see below for more details and a direct link). The language in the guide is accessible to a novice and uses charts and pictures to illustrate points.
Desmarais, Gillian. “Music Tech Series, Part 1: Getting Started Teaching the DAW.” Yamaha Music (blog), 2023. https://hub.yamaha.com/music-educators/prof-dev/teaching-tips/music-tech-series-part-1-daw/.
This article, the first in a series, advocates for digital audio production, noting how it helps support students in active, culturally relevant music-making no matter their previous experiences with playing music. The resource gives guidance to educators developing a music tech curriculum that meets the needs of their students. And the resource offers a unit sequence for teaching digital music skills, starting with ear training, music history and learning, musical style and technique, and then go on to teaching timbres and stylistic arranging, electronic composition and performance, and creating projects. The resource outlines specific skills within the unit sequence to teach in a logical way. The article also outlines the necessary technology and tools needed to implement such a course, with three tiers of suggested classroom recording setups. The second article in the series, found here https://hub.yamaha.com/music-educators/prof-dev/teaching-tips/elementary-music-technology/ covers elementary music technology but many of the ideas could be adapted for secondary classrooms. This page has an elementary web apps chart and includes 3 lesson plans for grade 3 (which can be modified for older students) with objectives, standards, materials and procedures.
Literature on this topic for educators
Curriculum, Method Books, and Lesson plans structured around national music standards
Digital Music Innovations. “Music Technology Curriculum: 12 Project Ideas for Middle or High School.” Jwpepper, 2019. https://www.jwpepper.com/music-technology-curriculum-12-project-ideas-for-m-10971608f/p.
This collection of projects is sold on JWPepper and designed for middle or high school students, to be taught by a teacher who understands music but might not be a sound engineer. The bundle includes 12 project idea packets with lists of skills to be learned, step-by-step project instructions for students, “tips and tricks” sections for students, rubrics, and a “teacher to teacher” section explaining common issues. The topics for the 12 projects include special FX, looping, digital drum beats, mini MIDI songwriting, remixing, movie music, rap beats, bass lines, and composition. The source also includes a glossary of terms, a map of GarageBand functions, keyboard shortcuts, and teacher resources with links to thought provoking or relevant articles, downloads of MIDI or video files for students, and videos or links to examples of completed project examples. While this resource was created in 2011 and there is likely some out-of-date Garage Band software information, this is still a useful source for all the projects and lesson plans and a great place to start with a curriculum. Cost as of Spring 2026 is listed at $46 for a PDF of the digital download of the curriculum, and an additional $16 for Reproducible PDF worksheets for the 12 projects.
Freedman, Barbara. Teaching Music through Composition: A Curriculum Using Technology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. https://a.co/d/0gFgpLrK.
This book, written by respected music technology educator Barbara Freedman, is described as a “go-to music tech handbook” by educators. Though published in 2013, this book remains a relevant source for today’s music teachers. It provides a practical, comprehensive, classroom-tested curriculum with more than 60 lesson plans in 29 units, with assignments, worksheets and multi-media resources for teaching music through composition and technology. The musical and compositional concepts can be applied with a variety of music technology tools even as technology evolves. It has a companion website that gives access to student handouts, assignment sheets, overhead projections as well as audio, video and MIDI files. This book would best be used alongside current, technology-specific materials and tools, as the software landscape has evoloved significantly in the past decade. The book is great for secondary schools through college classes. Freedman’s website, https://musicedtech.com/, offers videos of classroom setup and a list of 7 example presentations or workshops that can be provided for professional development for teachers.
Humberstone, James. “Teaching with Flip Sampler by Andrew Huang.” Miti Websites, 2024. https://humberstone.org/2024/02/20/teaching-with-flip-sampler-by-andrew-huang/.
James has freely shared an 8-week unit on sampling using the app “Flip” that he taught to his Junior Secondary music classes in Australia. (See videos about Andrew Huang, creater of Flip for more music tech ideas). In the unit students write their own original composition that is made with samples, listen to music made with samples, and perform/improvise with electronic samplers and music related to sampling. He includes free downloads of the printables he created to teach the unit. James also shared a video he created to explain how to record samples and use the Flip app. He is methodical in the unit and the activites are age appropriate and engaging. This website has more resources to teach the lesson https://humberstone.org/2025/03/06/my-flip-sample-unit-of-work-for-middle-high-school-e-g-year-7-8-students-updated-to-meet-the-new-nsw-music-7-10-syllabus/
Lui, Amy. “Soundtrap for Secondary: Modern Music with Traditional Concepts.” Canva, 2026. https://www.canva.com/design/DAG6eaATNJ8/vJ-MS8fgOJ0Ii3vD_9dWOQ/edit
This resource is a 90-page slide deck that Amy uses during presentations on music technology. The slides cover information on how Amy has integrated her class with music technology and industry studies, starting with student interests and focusing on project-based assignments and interactions with the industry. She shares several examples of assignments she’s created with lesson plans and student work. Many video and audio files are embedded in the slide presentation. This is a good source to get ideas of what a current teacher has done in their classroom and how they approached this topic.
Spencer, Melissa. “Lesson Plans by Melissa Spencer.” self-published, 2026. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CsFmU_bouteSH7PUahKTTZbG1x2mJwvV?usp=drive_link
This folder has 4 free lesson/unit plans for secondary music students. Two of them would be appropriate in a digital music classroom. These lesson plan topics include:
Song Analysis Road Map lesson plan (teaching students how to analyze a song and make a map of it, using the song “Willow” by Taylor Swift as an example
Splicing and Editing WAV forms with a DAW using covers of songs to demonstrate techniques with “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen
Sykes, John. “Music Tech Curriculum Resources.” Save the Music Foundation, 2025. https://www.savethemusic.org/music-education-resources/music-tech-setup-guide/curriculum-ideas/.
This free source contains a list of curriculum ideas with basic sketches of lesson plans for music production, audio engineering, live performance, and other music technology projects. The project ideas include descriptions of the assignments, objectives and tools needed for 12 different lessons. The projects are organized based on difficulty level. This source is a good starting point for educators to get ideas for what kinds of projects to include in a digital music or technology class, though executing these projects will require further time from educators to plan and prepare for the lessons. Further in this resource are sound recording, producing and composing resources (found here https://www.savethemusic.org/music-education-resources/sound-recording-producing-composing/). There is a curated list of companies that feature free or accessible digital audio workstations for the classroom and home. The tutorials and articles can help teachers and students with setting up their music technology and learn more about the music industry. From basic skills to more advanced songwriting, there is a resource for all ages and grade levels. Resources help teachers instruct students in music technology and composition, audio production, beat making, song mastering, and DJ’ing through online, free recording studios and Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs)
Videos
Huang, Andrew. “Andrew Huang.” YouTube, 2006. https://www.youtube.com/@andrewhuang.
This video channel, created by Andrew Huang, explores a variety of music technology projects, tutorials, and songs. Huang, a partially deaf musician from Canada, works with lots of different genres and instruments. He created Transit 2 in collaboration with Baby Audio, which won Best Plugin of 2025 from Sound On Sound, as well as the iOS and Android music making app Flip Sampler. Contained in this channel is an online music production class, a book called Make Your Own Rules, and 40+ albums. Huang also created the app “Flip Sampler” (http://flipsampler.com) and has tutorials on how to use it found here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxV60u_OAuI).
Other useful resources
Argyle, Katie. “Simplifying Technology for Music Teachers.” Midnight Music, 2026. https://midnightmusic.com/.
This source, produced in Australia, has both free and member-only elements. They have created a free guide of 350+ curated resources for integrating music technology into the classroom which is emailed upon request, which includes information on assessments, games, quizzes, audio recording and editing resources, coding, DJ software resources, lesson plans, notation software, virtual instrument resources and more. The paid membership gives users access to on-demand online courses, lesson plans, live webinars and a friendly, private members-only forum helpful for asking tech questions. This is a helpful source as they have been specializing in simplifying music technology for over 10 years for music educators.
Music Will. “Tech Archives.” Music Will JamZone, 2024. https://jamzone.musicwill.org/instrument/tech/
Music Will offers support to music teachers teaching technology. They have created over 17 tech videos in a variety of sub-topics. These videos include tutorials and lessons on incorporating a digital mixer into a live sound system, Soundtrap, making virtual performances, Incredibox, Chrome Music Lab, using iPads as instruments, sampling, home recording, Garageband tutorials, and videos teaching about iPad music tech apps. They are all free and great resources for secondary music teachers. Elementary music teachers could adapt many of these concepts for grades 4-5.
Save the Music Foundation. “Education Resources for Children.” Save the Music Foundation, 2025. https://www.savethemusic.org/.
This website houses the “Save the Music” Foundation, a non-profit organization. The organization supports and is aligned with the following goals: quality education, reduced inequalities, good health and well-being, decent work and economic growth, and sustainable cities and communities. Their website serves several purposes- collecting donations for helping fund Music Education needs, giving grants to teachers and students for Music Education (see here https://www.savethemusic.org/how-we-work/), and contains a list of 150 music education resources. The resources include a step-by-step guide to setting up a music tech lab, teaching students to create their own beats, exploring career paths in the music industry, social/emotional learning, general music resources for educators and students, free websites for learning music, and a resource library. The library is searchable by grade (pre-K thru 12 plus categories for collegiate, families, and educators), subject (advocacy, audio production, choral or vocal, composition or songwriting, culturally relevant teaching, education technology, fundraising, general music, guitar, instrumental, keyboard, music theory, professional development, and Virtual Concerts/Tours) and content type (app, article, curriculum, digital audio workstation, lessons, membership, nonprofit organization, online platform, print, video and webinars). They also offer a free professional development curriculum called “Music Workshop” for educators. There are also sections on the website for Latin Percussion, the National Standards for Music Education, a history of Mariachi music, and links to The Music Pathways through the Smithsonian Folkways. The website is a well-organized and curated source of help for music educators.
Siebert, Johanna J. “General Music, Creating through Responding Unit, High School Proficient Level Technology’s Impact on Music.” NAfME, 2020. https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/General-Music-Responding-Unit-High-School-Proficient.pdf.
This source is a free curriculum unit titled “Technology’s Impact on Music” General Music Creating through Responding Unit for High School students, made available through the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the Library of Congress of the United States. It is a 52-page downloadable PDF complete with standards, objectives, projects and worksheets. The lessons in this unit last approximately 35–45 minutes each and cover six to ten class periods. Thi can be taught as a whole, supplemented with other technological advances, or taught piece by piece over the course of a longer period. While this unit focuses mainly on the technological advances themselves, discussions and activities can explore how those advances shaped how music was experienced and created. This unit would be great to use in a variety of music classes (Music Technology, Music Appreciation, or as short mini-units within a band, choir, or orchestra class to balance performing with creating and responding activities.