14 music sub plans for subs who don't read music
None of these fourteen music lessons asks you to read music, play an instrument or sing well. They run on clapping, counting, listening and drawing, with a few old folk songs everyone already knows. Each one says what to do, what you need and the grades it fits, so a substitute who is not a music teacher can fill a music class from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Rhythm with hands and feet
1. Echo me
Clap a short pattern of three to five claps, some quick and some slow, and have the class clap it back exactly. Start very simple, then add pats on the knees or a stomp. Invite a student who claps it back well to lead the next pattern.
Grades K–5You need Nothing
2. Four-beat body band
Write four boxes on the board and put one move in each: pat, clap, snap, stomp. Count "1, 2, 3, 4" out loud and the class does one move per count, over and over. Then let students suggest new moves for each box and speed it up a little each time.
Grades 1–8You need The whiteboard
3. Pass the clap
Students stand or sit in a circle. One student claps once and the student beside them claps next, so the clap travels around the circle. Time how long one trip takes, then try to make it faster and smoother. Add a rule that two claps reverse the direction.
Grades 2–8You need Nothing
4. Clap your name
Say a student's name and clap once for each part of it, so Sam gets one clap and Isabella gets four. The class claps it back. Go around the room, then put two or three names together into a longer pattern and have the class clap the whole chain.
Grades K–3You need Nothing
Loud, soft, fast and slow
5. Be the conductor
Students hum or tap their desks while you conduct with your hands: hands wide apart means loud, close together means soft, and a closed fist means stop. Then let students take turns as the conductor. Teach the words loud, soft and silence as you go.
Grades K–5You need Nothing
6. Walk the tempo
Clap a steady beat and have students walk in place to match it. Clap faster and they speed up, slower and they slow down, and they freeze when you stop. Afterward, teach them that musicians call the speed of a song its tempo.
Grades K–3You need Open floor space or a clear aisle
Singing together
7. Row, row, row your boat in a round
Sing the old folk song once all together so everyone knows the words. Then split the class into two groups. The second group starts from the beginning when the first group reaches the second line. Try three groups once two goes well.
Grades 2–8You need Nothing
8. Hum it, guess it
A volunteer hums a short, school-appropriate tune everyone is likely to know, such as an old nursery song or the school song, without saying the words. The class raises hands to guess the name. Whoever guesses right hums the next one.
Grades 2–8You need Nothing
9. New words, old tune
In small groups, students write new words to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star about something at school, like lunch, homework or the class pet. Groups practice, then perform for the class. Lines only need to fit the beat, not rhyme perfectly.
Grades 3–8You need Paper and pencils
Listening
10. Draw what you hear
Play a classical piece, such as one by Beethoven or Vivaldi, from the room's computer or a recording the teacher left. Students draw lines, shapes and colors that match how the music feels while it plays. Afterward, a few share why they drew it the way they did.
Grades K–8You need Paper, crayons and a speaker
11. One-minute sound map
Students put their heads down and listen in silence for one minute. Then they draw a map of every sound they heard and where it came from: the heater, a door, a bird outside. Compare maps and count who heard the most different sounds.
Grades 1–8You need Paper and pencilsUse 1-minute timer
12. Instrument family sort
Write four headings on the board: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Call out instruments one at a time, like violin, flute, trumpet, drum, cello and clarinet, and have teams decide which family each one belongs to. Teams explain their guess before you write it in.
Grades 3–8You need The whiteboard
Make your own music
13. Classroom-object band
Students find sounds using only what is on their desk: tapping a pencil, rubbing paper, knocking softly on the desktop. Split the class into three sound groups. You point to a group to start and stop it, and build up a piece one layer at a time.
Grades 2–8You need Pencils, rulers and desks
14. Picture-symbol song
In pairs, students invent symbols for sounds, like a square for a clap, a circle for a stomp and a dash for a rest. They draw eight symbols in a row as their song. Pairs swap songs, read each other's symbols and perform them for the class.
Grades 2–8You need Paper and pencils
Making it work
- Leave the instruments where they are unless the music teacher's note says students may use them. Clapping, desks and voices are enough for every lesson here.
- Agree on a quiet signal before any loud activity, such as a raised hand or a closed fist from the conductor game. The noise meter on the projector helps too.
- Start with a lesson the whole class can do at once, like echo clapping, before splitting into groups.
- If you play a recording, use one already on the room's computer or one the teacher left. Keep it to music, not videos.
- End five minutes early to tidy chairs and write a short sub note about what each class did.
Questions teachers ask
- What can a non-music teacher do in music class?
- Run rhythm games like echo clapping and the four-beat body band, a listening lesson where students draw what they hear, or a round with a well-known folk song. None of them needs you to read music or play anything.
- Do I have to sing to run a music sub plan?
- No. Most lessons here use clapping, tapping, listening and drawing. For the singing ones, the students do most of the singing, and you can start them off by speaking the words in rhythm instead.
- Should a sub let students play the music room's instruments?
- Only if the music teacher's plans or the office say it is fine. Instruments can be costly and hard to put away correctly, so on a sub day it is safer to use hands, voices and things on the desk.
- What music activities work for middle school?
- Middle schoolers do well with pass the clap against the clock, new words to an old tune, the instrument family sort as a team game and the picture-symbol song, where pairs write and perform each other's pieces.
Written for teachers by Peabody Teach. No ads, no affiliate links. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.