School music clubs are a fun and easy way to bring joy to children. In this blog, you’ll discover a variety of easy to set up music club ideas that engage and entertain young learners.

Why Start a School Music Club?

Creating music together is not only fun but known to have a significant impact on child development. It builds self-confidence, supports social-emotional development, improves cognitive function and encourages creativity. Music is such a versatile subject and there are so many ideas for clubs.

Here are a few music club ideas to get you started:

Singing Club Ideas

It could be a traditional choir or a pop, rock or folk group – whatever genre of music takes your fancy. Children can learn songs to perform at school concerts, school events and in the community. Local care homes, garden centres, town halls etc always welcome children singing, especially around the festive season. Why not make good use of a PA system to enhance performances by solo or group artists?

Recorder Club Ideas

Recorders are great instruments for getting children reading and playing music with fast results. Basic fingering can be learnt quickly, and a quality sound can be produced with little difficulty – children will be playing basic tunes in no time. To build confidence, give children the opportunity to perform in school assemblies, concerts, events and in the community. Recorders also provide children with the opportunity to progress onto different sized recorders. If you are feeling more ambitious, start a recorder ensemble and teach different parts.  A quick internet search will produce numerous beginners’ books that can be purchased. There are also online videos to get you started.

Ocarina Club Ideas

Offering something different to a recorder, ocarinas are also a great option for introducing children to music-making with fast results.  With a small number of finger holes which are positioned closer together, ocarinas are a particularly good option for KS1 children. Ocarinas are also less likely to squeak, making music making a little more pleasant on the ears. They also sound well when played alongside recorders so you may wish to combine the two.

Chime Club Ideas

Percussion instruments are fun to play and great for developing listening, motor skills and spatial awareness. They are also cognitively stimulating. Other than school concerts, other opportunities to perform could include accompanying a school singing club or providing sound effects during school plays. Or why not put on a performance for World Music Day? Perhaps use Djembe drums to create West African music, samba instruments to create sounds from South America or use Gamelan instruments to form an Indonesian ensemble.

Keyboard Club Ideas

Learning to play the keyboard is great for improving dexterity, cognitive development, boosting confidence and mental wellbeing. It’s a very versatile instrument too. Children can play songs and learn notation, use keyboards to compose and record music, as well as explore the sounds of other instruments.

Ukulele Club Ideas

Ukuleles are fun to play, both independently and in a group, and they are easy to learn. Like other instruments, ukuleles are great for developing hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, improving dexterity and boosting confidence. Playing in a group is both enjoyable and great for building self-confidence, boosting mental well-being and developing collaboration skills.

World Music Club Ideas

Start a world music club and give children the opportunity to try a range of multicultural instruments. Invite parents and members of the community from different cultural backgrounds to share their musical talents with the children and introduce them to a wide range of instruments. Encourage children to showcase their djembe drumming or samba rhythms to parents and the rest of the school, as part of World Music Day. Or learn Indian percussion instruments  and perform some traditional Indian music during Diwali.

School Band or Orchestra 

School bands and orchestras are always an excellent way to bring children together. Playing together develops listening and collaboration skills, and it’s great fun too. Organise a clear, quiet space and give children the responsibility of bringing their own instruments. All you need then are some music stands and sheet music.

Give the children opportunities to perform by organising school concerts. Involve the children in supporting school plays, providing entertainment during school events and in the local community. The more opportunities the children are given, the more their confidence will grow.

To further inspire children, organise for local musicians to run some workshops with the children. Or take the children to see some live music concerts.

Composers Club Ideas

How about a composers club where children can really unleash their creativity and imagination? For inspiration, there are some great videos online of 21^st century composers explaining and demonstrating their craft – John Williams, Ludovico Einaudi, Hans Zimmer, Yoko Shimomura and Rachel Portman to name a few.

What about trying to compose some video game music too? This has become very popular in recent years.

Another inspiring activity is to give children a short story or video to compose music to. Or simply have fun making up some songs and pieces.

There’s some good composing software out there for children but a few easy to play tuned instruments, such as glockenspiels, xylophones and keyboards, would be a great starting point. Some plain paper or notation whiteboards  to record ideas are also useful. Using recording equipment, such as classroom tablets, are great for children to record, listen back and make amendments to their creations.

Sound Club Ideas

Why not create a club where children learn the art of sound engineering. Perhaps a parent or person in the local community, who does sound engineering as a career or hobby, could come in and offer some workshops. Maybe have a school concert to raise money for equipment, such as a digital audio workstation, so that children have all that they need to experiment with sound.

As part of the club, make musical instruments and explore how different sounds are made.  Make a stringed instrument using rubbers bands and a shoebox, a rain stick using a cardboard tube and some rice or use plastic bottles to make shakers. A quick internet search will provide lots of ideas. It’s a great way to recycle items too – think musical instrument junk-modelling.

Outdoor Music Club Ideas

In the warmer months, why not take music clubs outside? What could be better for mental well-being then playing music out in nature? It’s a good way to keep children motivated when they might not want to go inside for a club on a lovely, warm summers’ day.

If you don’t want to take instruments outside, use purpose made outdoor instruments all year round, as they offer something different to normal, conventional instruments.

And Finally

With Music Clubs it really is the taking part that counts. It doesn’t matter if instruments squeak or a performance piece isn’t as perfect as you wanted it to be. What matters is that the children are engaging with music and are having fun making music with others. Music really does do wonders in developing the whole child and we hope this blog has given you lots of ideas for starting your own exciting music clubs.

Written by Kelly Lawrence.

Kelly has 15 years of experience working as a Primary School Teacher in both Key Stage 1 and 2. Kelly is also an enthusiastic amateur musician who, during her tenure as a teacher, led school choirs, facilitated recorder groups, organized music concerts, and coordinated out of school music events, serving as the music lead at a large primary school.