Benefits of Using Music in Classroom Activities
Music is a powerful tool that teachers can use to enhance interactive learning experiences and to support students’ emotional well-being.
We find that when integrated into activities such as drama, role-play, mime and movement, music increases engagement by providing atmosphere and heightened sensory awareness, capturing students’ attention and encouraging active participation.
It is also a great stimulus for creativity, for expressing ideas, emotions, and narratives with confidence and powering the imagination.
Music helps to set the mood and tone for many class activities making them meaningful and inclusive, especially for students who may struggle initially with verbal communication.
Different rhythms, tempos, and styles can inspire movement and mime, storytelling, writing activities, class topics, character development and collaborative play using a multi-sensory approach.
How Can We Use Music In The Classroom?
For Calm and Focus
Music is highly effective in creating classroom moods that promote calm and focus.
If learners are engaged in an activity that requires clarity of thought and concentration then appropriate music can perfectly set up this mood without being intrusive.
This could be during mime and movement activities, writing activities, during artwork, group discussion etc
Soft, slow-tempo music can reduce anxiety, regulate emotions, and create a peaceful learning environment.
For Energising Interactive Activities
During active high energy activities, music can strengthen communication skills, teamwork and confidence while making learning enjoyable and memorable.
In drama lessons we find that music raises the quality of physical activities quite naturally.
It is there in the background and yet has a profound impact on the activities taking place “in the foreground.”
Again the tempo, rhythm and beat of the music will find its way into the physicality of activities. The students will subconsciously “feel” it and use it to great effect.
For Mood Transitions
After high-energy activities or loud vocal activities, music helps students settle and concentrate to focus moving a lesson on into reflection and the development of new ideas.
Within a scene, a sudden change in music can be very dramatic and shift emotions quickly into a completely new place.
We often set students off in a mime/movement scene with a piece of music and let it roll for a while and then without warning we change the music dramatically and observe the response of the students which is almost always excellent and they love the experience.
Alongside Teaching Delivery
When we are narrating a storyline, perhaps as an introduction to a lesson, we often put on a piece of music in the background which has the effect of drawing the children into the story. It enhances the drama aspects of the teacher’s delivery.
The children will listen far more intently and so the music is a great support for the teacher.
When Learners Are Sharing/Reading Out Their Own Written Work
Our Drama Literacy process emphasises the value of always allowing time for students to share their work with others.
We like to create atmospheric environments where this can take place. If it’s a scary theme we rig up a tent or cave-like area, turn out the lights and use a torch within the presentation.
If it’s a news report we might set up an area like a TV news desk.
We always include music either as an introduction or alongside the reading out of written work or the spoken description of artwork with captions.
Using these simple techniques is so effective and the children love the “theatre” of it. This brings confidence and a sense of achievement that is highly motivating.
Your Playlist
Having a playlist of different types of music to hand within the classroom will seriously help teachers to create dynamic atmospheres in which students are more focused, relaxed, and receptive to learning, leading to improved engagement and overall classroom harmony.
We recommend a couple of Royalty Free websites that you can download music from to create great atmospheric backgrounds for your learning environment.
These are the main sites that we use:
https://freesfx.co.uk/– This one is divided into useful sections for both Sound Effects and Music
https://pixabay.com/music/ – This one has a search function so if you’re specifically looking for a type of Sound Effect or Music you can just do a search.
