You already know the job description doesn’t capture half of it. 

Yes, you’re a music educator, but you’re also a counselor, mediator, mentor, coach, cheerleader, schedule-juggler, and, on some days, a miracle worker. You pour yourself into your students, your program, and your community every single day. The last thing you need is a tool that adds complexity to your plate. What you deserve is a reliable partner that helps you work smarter: from the first week of school all the way through spring concert season and beyond. 

That’s exactly what MakeMusic is built to be. Here’s how it can support your curriculum planning at every stage of the year.

Begin with the End in Mind 

Great teachers plan backwards, and there’s no better place to start than your goals for contest and evaluation. Are you chasing a specific rating this year? Do you have a dream piece in mind for your ensemble? Maybe you’re rebuilding your program and your goal is simply to boost morale and spark some joy. All of those are worthy starting points, and MakeMusic can help you map a path from where you are to where you want to be. 

Once you’ve defined your priorities, lean on these tools to make smart curricular decisions:

• State Lists Tool: Use the State Lists search to find titles from your state’s required literature that are already available in MakeMusic. When contest music lives inside the same platform your students use every day, it stops being a separate “special” activity and becomes part of their regular practice routine. (Always verify your local list requirements before locking in any selections: this tool is a fantastic starting point, not the final word.)
• Sight Reading Studio Templates: If sight reading is part of your adjudication, you’ll love these pre-built templates that open right in Sight Reading studio with parameters already set to match state requirements or popular method texts. Less setup for you, more reps for your students. Win-win.
• Sort by Popularity: Not sure what literature students will connect with? In any Music Catalog search, sort by popularity to see what’s resonating with other players and singers right now. It’s the quickest way to let real-world data guide your decisions.

Once your “end in mind” is clear, the rest of the year becomes much easier to map out with intention.

Repertoire That Does More Than Check a Box 

MakeMusic isn’t just a library of contest titles, though it absolutely has those. It’s also home to exclusive content that genuinely excites students and keeps them coming back to practice. Here are a few highlights worth exploring: 

• The Foundations Series by Brian Balmages: Fundamental technique instruction set to epic soundtrack-style accompaniments. Designed for beginning through intermediate-advanced players, these exercises are the rare kind that students actually want to play. The accompaniments are that good.
• SI Center stage by Chris Bernotas: Pop-arranged solos for young band and string players, complete with backing tracks that make every student feel like the star of the show. Accessible, fun, and motivating.
• Pop Warm-Ups by Jack Zaino: Choir directors, this one’s for you. Vocal warm-ups built around recognizable pop songs, with accompaniment tracks that modulate: you can run them straight through your speaker system in a live rehearsal. Genuinely useful, not just a gimmick.
• Choir Up! By Bethany Main: A new and already popular choral text brought to life in MakeMusic with modulating exercises and light accompaniment. Perfect for filling a class period with engaged, purposeful singing.
• Correlated Sight Reading Generators: These are a game-changer for method book teachers. Now available for Sing at First Sight, Sound Innovations Book 1 (band and orchestra), and Habits Book 1 (band and strings), these generators follow the exact progression of the method so students can practice the same skills, essentially infinitely, without running out of new material.    

Supplemental Supports That Round Out Your Program

Your subscription comes packed with resources that go well beyond interactive sheet music. These additions are easy to overlook, but they’re worth knowing about:

• NEW MakeMusic Worksheets: Printable Games and Puzzles, Fingering Charts, and Flashcards are now available to all subscribers at no additional cost. Perfect for sub days, early finishers, or just adding some variety. If you love them, let us know: your feedback drives what comes next.
• Video Lessons Library: Level 1 videos from the MusicProfessor series are included with your subscription and offer a polished, expert-led way to introduce or review foundational concepts with younger students. Concepts are taught in small, digestible chunks by renowned instrument specialists. Great for flipped instruction, review days, or whenever you need your students productively engaged while you’re handling something else.
• NEW Multiple Choice Assessments: You can now create and assign self-grading multiple choice quizzes right inside MakeMusic. Track student understanding in a format that administrators recognize and appreciate, run quick checks for comprehension, or gather data you can actually use in a conversation with a principal or parent. Simple, intuitive, and surprisingly powerful.

Every Day in Your Classroom Shapes Your Program’s Future

Here’s something worth remembering as you plan: the way your students feel in your program is directly connected to your recruitment and retention success. Happy students talk to their friends. Happy parents talk to neighbors: who have kids deciding what activities to sign up for next fall. You being a positive, energizing presence in your school community matters more than any single performance.

Your students may not remember the exact piece they played at festival, but they will remember how they felt walking into your rehearsal every day. Whether they felt challenged and supported, whether they felt like they were growing, and whether they felt proud to be part of something bigger than themselves.

MakeMusic gives you an arsenal of tools to reach each student efficiently and meaningfully, so that everyone, from your most advanced section leader to the student who’s still finding their footing, gets exactly what they need. That kind of intentional, differentiated support is what turns a good program into one that students choose, year after year.

Ready to make this your most organized, most connected, and most effective year yet? Start your free MakeMusic trial today and see how much easier curriculum planning feels when you have the right partner in your corner.