With MakeMusic Cloud as your partner in the classroom, you’ll have more time to focus on the things that inspire you most, like making music with your students! 

1. Single Sign-On and other LMS integrations

We’ve recently expanded our LMS partnerships to include ClassLink Single Sign-On! Make sure to connect with your LMS (Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, and now, ClassLink) to simplify the log in process and streamline rostering your classes. If your LMS is not yet supported, don’t worry—CSV Rostering is a great time saver! Learn more about LMS integrations. 

2. Mobile Compatibility 

It’s been a top request for years and it’s finally here—MOBILE COMPATIBILITY! 

No app required, simply log in to MakeMusic Cloud on your mobile device and you can search the Music Catalog, open titles, practice (with assessment feedback), create and complete assignments, and more! Try it out now or read the details. 

3. Units and Assignments 

Last year we streamlined the Assignment process in MakeMusic Cloud to make it simpler than ever to create assignments for students. Teachers use assignments in many different ways, so feel free to get creative and assign things in ways that work best for you and your students! Here are a few ideas:

• Video assignments: assess things like posture, hand position, and mallet grip that you cannot see in audio-only recordings 
• Ungraded assignments: not everything needs a grade attached! 
• Utilize the MakeMusic Cloud assessment score, your own rubric, or a combination
• Love listening live? Consider requiring a specific MakeMusic Cloud assessment score prior to students booking a “pass off” time with you. 
• Rhythm-only assignments: assess this specific and essential skill alone 
• Comments box: start a dialogue with students in the comments boxes and make it part of the assignment routine by awarding extra points or praise for students who communicate with you in this way. 
• Assignment notifications: students will receive a notification when they receive a new assignment (unless it is pre-scheduled) or when they are re-assigned an assignment.
• Add assignments to Units that you can reuse in the future! 

Our Units page has also recently gotten an update! Units are a great way to organize assignments that you would typically assign together and year after year (scales, exercises, school song, etc). You can assign a Unit all at once to your students to streamline your workload. You can now reorder Assignments within a Unit and more easily add previous Assignments into Units (Assignments can only be in one Unit at a time).

4. Parent/Guardian Emails 

Your students’ families will love Weekly Highlights Emails about their child’s progress in your class. With Weekly Highlights Emails, parents and guardians can opt in to receive a weekly message that gives them insights about their child’s activities in MakeMusic Cloud like practice time, content they’ve explored, and upcoming assignments, to name a few. This connection tool is a low-lift for teachers (just invite parents with their email addresses) and provides rich content to families automatically! Learn more about this time saving connection feature.

5. Hogwarts Foundations 

The newest Foundations release is here just in time for the new school year—Hogwarts™ Foundations! The Foundations series by Brian Balmages features exercises for band and string players that are set to exciting movie soundtracks. When exploring the series, you’ll find exercises for beginner and intermediate players. Hogwarts™ Foundations is extra special because of its special focused beginner section—use it alongside any method book for some extra magic! These exercises are exclusively available in MakeMusic Cloud, and all subscribers can print score and part packets at no additional cost. 

6. Video Assignments 

Have you tried out video assignments yet? Here are a few ways teachers love using this tool: 

• Visual assessment of posture and hand position
• Visual assessment of percussion performance (playing area, grip, technique, etc) 
• Slow down the recording around errors to diagnose problems—crucial details like slide positions, hand positions, etc can be easier to spot with a slowed down video!
• Marching band visual/choreography/step-outs assessment in conjunction with a playing performance 
• Visual assessment of embouchure 

Turn any assignment into a video assignment! Use the Video Assignment toggle when you are adding in assignment details and it will prompt students to turn their cameras on to record. 

7. Notifications/Emails for Students 

Students can stay more on top of their assignments with our helpful notification system. Students will receive a notification when logged in to MakeMusic Cloud (the bell at the top right of the screen) when there are updates to their assignments. Additionally, email notifications are sent out when a student receives a new assignment. Notifications aren’t for everyone, so preferences can be adjusted in Account Details.  

8. Sight Reading Studio 

Great news: Sight Reading Studio is included with MakeMusic Cloud subscriptions! Explore the latest updates like Classroom display mode, accompaniment styles, and more by logging in and trying it out. Sight reading templates can be used live in class time (on a projector works great!) or sent as assignments to students. Sight reading has never been more fun! 

9. Video Lessons Library 

The MusicProfessor Video lessons library is a great resource that is included for MakeMusic Cloud subscribers. Featuring the Level 1 woodwind, brass, percussion, and string videos, these allow students and teachers access to high-quality, pedagogically-sound videos for reference. Use these concise videos for lesson extension, review, and more. Most of the series also comes with a printable resource PDF to follow along with. 

10. Music Catalog  

We are adding to our Music Catalog constantly! Explore often to find your next favorite titles. Be sure to use our State List tool to peruse titles in our catalog that appear on major state lists across the country! You can also plan your future concert cycles in advance by creating playlists of your favorite content for easy access down the road. 

You’ve got the teaching superpowers and we’ve got the tools to support you as you positively impact students’ lives through music.