This guide will show you how to:

• Plan and teach great Grade 4 music lessons that kids love
• Balance what you need to teach with fun activities for teaching Grade 4 music lessons
• Keep fourth-graders excited about grade 4 music

Without spending hours and hours on prep work!

Teaching Grade 4 music lessons can be tricky! You’re dealing with kids who are more grown up than younger grades. But they still need structure and help. Finding the right balance between meeting standards and keeping 9-10 year olds happy isn’t easy.

In this post, I’ve listed the 5 best ways to teach grade 4 music. I’ll also share what really matters at this important stage.

Let’s be honest. Creating a full grade 4 music program from scratch is hard work! It takes lots of time, energy, and hours of research and planning. Most teachers piece together resources from different places. This creates problems:

• Different quality between materials
• Gaps in what kids learn
• Preparation takes way too long!
• Doesn’t match what you need to teach

If you want to teach Grade 4 music lessons well, this article will help you start strong. Ready to make music class the best part of your students’ week?
Let’s look at our top 5 ways to teach fourth grade music. This works even if you’re new to music teaching!

These proven tips come from Janice Tuck, founder of the Fun Music Company. Janice is a music curriculum expert and former teacher with years of classroom experience.

As an ex-teacher herself, Janice knows firsthand how overwhelming lesson planning can be. She watched fellow teachers spending hundreds of hours in their own time planning lessons. She saw how this affected their work-life balance and overall well-being.

That’s what drove Janice to create comprehensive music resources. She is passionate about helping other teachers value their #1 commodity: TIME. Her obsession is helping teachers live a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Teachers shouldn’t have to spend endless hours planning lessons.

Over 20 years, Janice has helped more than 12,000 K-6 teachers in 149 countries. She makes it possible to teach great music classes without extensive music experience or overwhelming preparation time.

Music teacher Zoltán Kodály said:

“Music is a powerful tool for teaching.”

Grade 4 students are at a cool stage. They’re becoming more independent. But they still want approval and success. They can handle harder tasks. But they still need clear structure and goals they can reach.

What fourth-graders are like:

• Can focus longer (15-25 minutes for one activity)
• Want more independence and to be leaders
• Better hand skills
• Think more clearly
• Care more about what friends think
• Can follow steps in order

What this means for your Grade 4 music lessons:

• Let students lead and make choices
• Use harder music concepts and tools
• Give structure with room for creativity
• Let them perform and show what they’ve learned
• Use different ways to learn in each lesson
• Keep energy high with different activities

Grade 4 students like knowing what to expect. But they also want variety and challenge. The key is making a plan they can count on. Fill it with fun, growing content.

Here’s the proven lesson plan from the Fun Music Company for Grade 4:

Every good Grade 4 music lesson starts with an energizing warm-up that:

• Hooks students right away into the music experience
• Reviews old concepts while adding new ones
• Gets everyone participating from the start
• Builds confidence through success

At the Grade 4 level, warm-ups can be more advanced than younger grades. Students can handle rhythm patterns, vocal exercises, and coordination challenges.

This is where the main musical learning happens! Grade 4 students are ready for:

• Singing multiple parts (rounds, simple harmonies)
• Harder instrumental work (xylophones, recorders, ukuleles)
• Playing together with different parts
• Leading roles in group activities

Research shows that active music-making gives the best learning benefits. Not just listening. Your Grade 4 music program should focus on hands-on musical experiences. Use quality, age-appropriate songs.

The final part of each lesson focuses on:

• Active listening exercises that help kids think about music
• Creative composition activities where students make their own music
• Cultural connections that show different kinds of music

Grade 4 students can engage with more advanced listening activities. They can create surprisingly complex original music when given proper frameworks and encouragement.

“Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers.” – Arthur Chickering.

Grade 4 music lessons must go beyond just instruction. Students need to be decision-makers and problem-solvers in their musical learning.

Real active learning ways for Grade 4:

• Student conductors: Let students take turns leading rhythm activities
• Peer teaching: Have students explain concepts to classmates
• Musical problem-solving: “How can we make this sound more exciting?”
• Performance choices: Students vote on tempo, dynamics, or instruments
• Composition partnerships: Team music-creation projects

This approach changes students from passive listeners into active participants. They take ownership of their musical learning.

We’ve studied music curricula from around the world. We’ve looked at the Australian National Curriculum, US Common Core Arts Standards, and the UK National Curriculum. We’ve also reviewed programs from various US states, New Zealand, and Canadian provinces.

Here’s what we found: every good music program has three basic parts:

Grade 4 students are ready for more advanced musical challenges:

• Singing in harmony or rounds
• Playing multiple instruments in one lesson
• Group work where students play different parts at the same time
• Performance opportunities that show growth

Fourth-graders can engage with music on a deeper level:

• Finding musical elements (tempo, dynamics, instruments)
• Comparing different musical styles and types
• Understanding cultural contexts of music
• Making informed judgments about musical quality

This is often the hardest area for teachers. But it’s crucial for Grade 4 students:

• Structured improvisation activities
• Composition projects using familiar frameworks
• Technology-assisted music creation
• Team songwriting experiences

The Art vs. Music Education Comparison

Consider this: In art class, we celebrate when a Grade 4 student creates an original drawing. We praise their creativity even if it’s not perfect. We don’t expect them to copy the Mona Lisa!

Yet in music, we often focus mainly on playing existing songs. Performance skills definitely matter. However, Grade 4 students also need opportunities to create original music. They thrive when given supportive frameworks for composition.

You’ve probably heard the saying “reinvent the wheel.” According to Wikipedia, this means trying to duplicate something that already exists. Usually, you get worse results than the original method.

Many teachers find themselves creating Grade 4 music curricula from scratch. They spend hundreds of hours:

• Searching for age-appropriate songs
• Creating activities that align with curriculum standards
• Developing sequences that build skills step by step
• Finding quality backing tracks and resources

The internet has countless music education resources. But starting with random Google searches actually increases your workload. It doesn’t reduce it. What you need is a complete, professionally-designed Grade 4 music curriculum. One that you can use step-by-step.

You can certainly adapt materials for your specific students and situation. But having a solid foundation saves you hundreds of hours. It also ensures complete curriculum coverage.

Teaching Grade 4 music lessons well requires several key elements. You need to understand your students’ growth stage. You need to provide steady structure with engaging variety. You also need to balance all essential musical skills within a manageable timeframe.

The strategies outlined above have helped thousands of teachers worldwide. They’ve created music programs that students absolutely love. These programs also meet rigorous curriculum standards.

With the right framework and resources, you can feel confident and prepared. You’ll walk into your Grade 4 music classroom ready to teach. Your students will have meaningful musical experiences every single lesson.

Ready to transform your Grade 4 music teaching? Check out our complete Grade 4 Music Curriculum and stop starting from scratch!