Musical March Madness: Starting a Music Bracket Your Students Will Love

 

Are you ready to spice up your music room this March with a friendly musical bracket championship? Well, you’re in for a treat because today, we’re diving into the world of brackets – no, not the punctuation kind, the musical kind! So, let’s jump right into it!

 

What is a Music Bracket?

Before we begin, you may be asking what a bracket is anyway. Well, a music bracket is a great way to get students excited about music during March Madness. It is a competitive format where musical genres, artists, or specific pieces are paired off against each other in a tournament-style structure. Students vote on their favorites in each matchup until the last round when you reveal the grand champion. Trust me – your students will absolutely love it! 

 

Using a Music Bracket in Your Classroom

Sound like fun? Then read on for some tips and hints to getting started in your music classroom.

 

1. Choose Your Theme

 

First off, decide on your theme or musical style of this tournament. What’s the focus of your musical bracket going to be? There are so many different possibilities! 

 

It could be anything from movie soundtracks, Beethoven’s compositions, or simple kids’ songs like “Baby Shark” vs. “Baby Beluga.”  The key is to pick something that gets your students excited and eager to participate. After all, it’s all about having a blast with music!

 

Here’s just a few to get your mind rolling:

• Composer Clash – choose several composers that you’ve studied throughout the year, using one of their most popular compositions for the matchup
• Movie Magic – soundtracks from age-appropriate movies compete against each other
• Battle of the Genres – vote for your favorite genre (i.e. rock, hip hop, pop, country, folk, country, etc)
• Singer Showdown – choose lots of songs all sung by one singer (Rihanna, Taylor Swift, etc) to vote for the most popular one

 

2. Create Your Musical Bracket

 

Now that you’ve got your theme for your music bracket, it’s time to round up the contenders – the different pieces that you want to include. Create a bracket with pairs of musical choices that fit your theme.

 

Once you’ve sketched out a general plan for each bracket, you can also create a digital bracket to use in class. Not only put the title, but I would suggest embedding the YouTube song videos into your presentation as well. This is such a time saver, and will be well worth it in the end.

 

3. Let the Voting Begin!

 

Now it’s time to open it up for voting. Set up a voting system – which can be as simple as raising hands to vote or as high-tech as using online survey tools. It’s totally up to you.

 

After the results are in, just copy the winning title and video to the next bracket. Continue the process until you have a grand champion, the March Musical Championship winner in your classroom.

 

4. The Music Champion

You don’t let the fun end with just one bracket. Make it a recurring event, with different themes and matchups throughout the year. If you try a musical bracket with multiple classes or groups, compare the champions in each. Maybe you’ll have duplicate winners. Hopefully, this activity will help spark a great musical discussion about different elements and genres of music.

 

Find an exciting way to announce the finalists to your classes. You can play the winning pieces on your school announcements or news or even just for a fun class dance party. 

 

Well, there it is – a crash course in turning your March into an exciting musical championship! Hope you enjoy it – and let me know how it goes too! Find me on Instagram @bethsmusicclassroom, or my email is  beth@bethsmusicclassroom.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for more helpful teaching music tips, check out this post on using a parachute in the music room!