Middle School General Music Curriculum for Private and Independent Schools
If you teach general music for grades 6–8 at a private or independent school and nobody handed you a course, Music Complete – Middle School gives you a full year of sequenced units in listening, theory, composing and assessment, with worksheets, slides and answer keys. It downloads the moment you buy, so the teacher or the head of school can read through the whole program before the first class.
See the music curriculum →Music Complete – Middle School is a no-prep general music curriculum for grades 6–8, priced from $149.90. It covers listening and analysis, music theory foundations, music and culture, composing and performing, and assessment with rubrics. Its product description names private schools as one of the settings it was written for. Because it is a digital download, a small school without district materials can have a complete course on hand the same day and judge it against its own program goals.
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)
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Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
The general music gap at a small independent school
At a small private school, general music often belongs to one person who also runs the choir, plays for chapel or assemblies, and stages the spring concert. Nobody sends a scope and sequence from a district office. If the last music teacher left, their binders usually left too. So the course in the schedule may exist only as a time slot. That creates three practical problems. First, rehearsal pressure eats the general music hour, and by March the students can sing four songs but cannot tell you what a time signature means. Second, families and the head of school want to see a real course of study, something you can explain at an open house beyond 'we sing'. Third, the room is uneven: a sixth grader with six years of piano sits next to a classmate who has never seen a staff. You need lessons on rhythm, meter and notation that work for both, listening tasks that ask real questions about form and motifs, and enough structure that a grade 8 class is not repeating grade 6. Writing all of that alone, on top of performances, is where most of your evenings go.
Why it fits
How it fits a one-person music department
The curriculum is built for exactly the setup where you are the program. Here is what that looks like in practice.
- Units build across grades 6, 7 and 8, so each grade gets new material instead of repeats.
- Theory foundations cover notation, rhythm, meter, scales, intervals and chords in a clear order.
- Listening lessons on program versus absolute music give families something concrete to see at open house.
- Differentiated worksheets let the trained pianist and the beginner work on the same concept.
- Composing, improvising and group performance tasks feed naturally into the concerts you already run.
- Rubrics and written assessments give you grades you can defend to parents and administrators.
Getting started
Your first two weeks with it
A small school can move quickly. One sensible way to get from purchase to a working course looks like this.
- Read the full contents in one sittingOpen the download and skim every unit before planning anything. You will see how the theory, listening and creating strands connect, which makes it easier to decide what each grade does first.
- Map the three grades on one pageWrite grades 6, 7 and 8 across the top and place the units under each. Keep the sequence the curriculum suggests, then mark weeks you lose to concert rehearsal or school events.
- Start with a listening unitListening lessons on genres and expressive elements need no instruments and settle a new class fast. Bring your own recordings or clips for the pieces you choose.
- Run a quick theory checkUse an early notation and rhythm worksheet as a baseline. It tells you who reads music already, so you can hand out the differentiated versions with confidence.
- Share the outline with your head of schoolSend a one-page summary of what each grade studies this year. It answers the program question once and gives families a clear picture before conferences.
Which version
Starter, Extended or Pro for a private school
The Starter version, with 50+ resources at $149.90, covers a full year of core general music and suits a school that sees each grade once or twice a week. Extended, with 90+ resources at $199.90, makes sense if you meet more often or want extra material for review and differentiation. Pro, at $239.90, adds Teach-Life-Balance, a digital course with a planner, guides and templates for managing your time. Choose it only if your workload is the real bottleneck. If you also teach upper school music, buying the high school curriculum alongside it with code TEACHMORE15 takes 15% off both.
Honest limits
What it does not do
There is no audio or video in the package. You choose and play your own recordings, and any instruments or software come from your school. The curriculum is written for U.S. middle school classrooms, but your school decides what its music program must cover, so compare it with your own goals and any outside requirements that apply to you. If a colleague or a second campus will use it, send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it turns out not to be a fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value. That is store credit, not a cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is it aligned to national arts standards or approved for accredited schools?
No outside body has endorsed or approved it, and Teach Lessons does not claim it meets any standards framework or accreditation requirement. It is written for U.S. middle school general music classrooms. If your school answers to an accrediting association or a state rule, check the contents against those expectations yourself and confirm with your administration before you rely on it as your documented course.
Can I see sample material 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 the layout, the reading level and how the tasks are written, which helps a head of school see what the full course looks like.
Do my students need to read music already?
No. The theory strand starts with notation, rhythm and meter before moving to scales, intervals and chords. Worksheets are differentiated, so students who already take private lessons can work on harder versions while beginners build the basics. That matters in a small school where one class holds every level of experience.
We combine grades 6 and 7 in one section. Will it still work?
It can. The units are sequenced across the three grades, but each can also be taught on its own. Many combined classes work best on a two-year rotation, teaching one set of units this year and the next set the following year, so nobody repeats material. Use the differentiated worksheets to stretch older students.
The school, not me, will pay for it. How does that work?
The product is bought online like any other order and delivered by download. If your school has questions about purchasing, or wants to know how the licence covers a teacher and their department, send those questions to Teach Lessons before buying so they can answer them directly.
Will it help with our concerts?
Indirectly. The creating and performing strand includes composing, improvising, arranging and classroom-friendly performance tasks. Those build the reading and listening skills that make rehearsals easier, and a student composition can become a short concert piece. It is not a choral or band repertoire collection, so you still choose your concert music.
Give your music program a written course
See every unit, the version options and the sample preview on the product page, then download the full year today.
See the music curriculum →