Middle School General Music Curriculum for a First-Year Music Teacher
If this is your first full year teaching general music in grades 6–8, Music Complete – Middle School gives you a sequenced set of listening, theory, composing and assessment resources so you are not writing tomorrow's lesson at midnight. It is built for students who mostly do not play an instrument, and it runs from first listening tasks in sixth grade to deeper analysis by eighth.
See the music curriculum →Music Complete – Middle School (Grades 6–8) is a no-prep general music curriculum from Teach Lessons, starting at $149.90 for 50+ resources, with 90+ resource versions above that. It covers listening and analysis, notation and rhythm, scales, intervals and chords, music in film and media, composing and improvising, plus rubrics and differentiated tasks. A first-year teacher can follow it as a full sequence or pull single units. You supply your own recordings.
The curriculum
Music Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Music Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School Music (Grades 6–8)
Music Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School Music (Grades 9–12)
Music History & Style Periods Bundle | Baroque, Classical, Romantic & Impressionism | 4 Complete Units | Grades 9–12
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
Why the first year of general music eats your evenings
Your music training probably centered on performing. General music asks something different: thirty sixth graders, most of whom have never read a note, and a 45-minute period that needs a plan for listening, talking about what they heard, and making something. Building that from scratch means choosing a piece, writing questions that go past "I liked it," making a worksheet on quarter and eighth notes, and then doing it all again for seventh and eighth grade the next morning. The harder part is sequence. If you invent lessons week by week, eighth graders end up repeating the meter worksheet they did as sixth graders, and nobody gets to intervals or chords. You also need some way to grade a composing task fairly when one student has eight years of piano and the next has none. And there is the observation question: an administrator walks in and wants to see objectives, student talk and an assessment. A first-year teacher can do all of this, but not every night for 180 days while also learning the school's systems.
Why it fits
How it carries a first year of general music
The resources are grouped by what students actually do in a general music room, so you can see where each lesson sits.
- Listening tasks across classical, film, pop, rock, jazz and contemporary music give you lessons beyond your own playlist.
- Program versus absolute music, form and motifs give students words to describe what they hear.
- Theory foundations move from notation, rhythm and meter to scales, intervals and basic harmony in order.
- Classroom-friendly performance tasks and group projects work without an ensemble or a trained choir.
- Rubrics and performance-based assessments give you a defensible grade for composing and improvising work.
- Differentiated tasks let the piano kid and the beginner work on the same concept at their own level.
Getting started
Your first two weeks with it
One way to start the year without building anything new, adjusted to your own schedule and room.
- Read the scope, not every pageBefore school starts, look at how the units build across grades 6–8 and pick which content area each grade begins with. Skip printing everything at once; print week one only.
- Open with listening and describingUse a listening and analysis resource in the first days. It sets classroom routines for quiet listening and discussion before you hand out any notation work.
- Bring in your own recordingsCollect the tracks the listening tasks call for from your school's streaming account or library. This is the one prep job that stays yours each week.
- Start notation in week twoMove into rhythm and meter worksheets. Use the differentiated versions so students who already read music are working on harder examples, not waiting. Keep the pace slow enough that beginners leave with one rhythm they can read and clap.
- Run one small creating taskEnd the second week with a short composing or arranging task and score it with the included rubric. You now have a first grade and a sense of each class.
Which version
Starter, Extended or Pro for your first year
The Starter version has 50+ resources for $149.90 and covers every content area, which is enough to anchor a first year. Extended has 90+ resources for $199.90 and is the better choice if you see the same students all three years and want more material before anything repeats. Pro adds the Teach-Life-Balance course to the 90+ resources for $239.90. That course is a planner with guides and templates for managing teacher workload. It does not add music content, so choose it only if your schedule, not your lesson supply, is the problem.
Honest limits
What it does not do
No audio or video is included. You find the recordings and clips yourself, and you supply any instruments, keyboards or devices. It is written for U.S. middle school classrooms, but you should check it against your state and district music requirements. There is no built-in day-by-day calendar for your school year, so the pacing is your call. If other music teachers in your building want to use it, send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it is not right for you, you can exchange it for store credit of equal value within 7 days. That is store credit, not a cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this aligned to the National Core Arts Standards?
It is not endorsed or certified by any standards body, and Teach Lessons does not claim formal alignment. It is written for U.S. middle school general music and covers listening, theory, creating, performing and assessment. As a new teacher, compare the content areas with your state or district music standards and note where you want to add or emphasize something before you plan the year.
Can I look at it before buying?
Yes. The product page has a browser preview of three sample documents: Music in the Orchestra – Instruments, Sound Art & Experimental Music, and Joseph Haydn – Biography & Works. They give a fair sense of how the worksheets are written and how much student reading is involved. If the reading level looks right for your students, the rest of the curriculum is written the same way, so the preview is a reliable test.
I was trained as a performer. Will the theory be too basic or too advanced?
It starts with foundations such as notation, rhythm, meter and tempo, then moves to scales, intervals, chords and basic harmony. That sequence suits students with no background. Your own training will help you extend the differentiated tasks for advanced students rather than having to write those tasks from nothing.
Does it assume I have a choir or band?
No. The performing tasks are described as classroom-friendly and include group projects and presentations. They are meant for a general music class where students may sing, clap rhythms, use simple instruments you have, or use digital tools, not for a rehearsed ensemble. Any instruments you use come from your own room.
How do I handle 6th, 7th and 8th grade in the same year?
The units are designed to build across grades 6–8, so you can start each grade at a different point in the sequence. One option is to keep sixth grade on foundations while seventh and eighth move into analysis and composing. Check the product page for the full list of what is included.
Can I use the lessons for sub days?
Yes. The description lists substitute teaching as one intended use. Listening worksheets with answer keys and review activities work well for a sub, as long as you leave the recording and a device ready to play it. A short note on which track to play and where the answer key is saves your substitute guesswork and saves you a lost day.
Spend your first year teaching, not rebuilding
Look through the content areas and the three sample documents on the product page, then pick the version that matches how often you see each grade.
See the music curriculum →