Here’s what we’ll cover.

• Musago Lessons & Teacher Resources
• The Musago Certificate of Achievement Grades
• Teacher Account, Inviting Students & Reporting
• Pricing and Payments
• What To Do If Something Goes Wrong.

Let’s go!

Musago Lessons & Teacher Resources

In this video Zac will demonstrate how Musago content is laid out and how you can approach it as a teacher.

The Musago Certificate Of Achievement Grades

In this video Zac will explain Musago accreditation options and a suggested learning pathway that teachers might find super helpful.

Teacher Account, Inviting Students & Reporting

Zac explains the features for teachers.

Pricing and Payments

Zac explains the price of Musago and options for studio teachers.

What To Do If Something Goes Wrong.

What could possibly go wrong? Who knows… but here’s some things to be aware of if things get weird.

Where to from here?

Hopefully these videos have given you the confidence to step out and give Musago a try! You can sign up here.

If you still need help after watching these videos you can contact us here.

Not to worry, that’s what this post is all about.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Using Musago with your students
• Informing your students (& their parents)
• Payments
• Copy and past email

Alright, let’s dive in.

Using Musago with your students

We all know that our students will need to learn theory eventually, especially if they are serious about becoming good musicians. So implementing theory alongside their face to face lessons is the way to go.

Here’s some ideas for you…

Do one lesson of Musago in each face to face lesson.

This would mean watch the video with your student and then let them complete the quiz in front of you. You will immediately be able to see what they learned and you can easily flow into how this concept is applied on the instrument. You’ll also save 5-10 mins of your voice for that lesson. You could even extend your lessons times to include musago content, which may add value for some of your students.

Ask students to do a lesson per week but outside of the lesson.

You as the teacher can check their quiz results and progress if you wish in the groups dashboard. Then, ask your student to bring in a completed worksheet. You should be able to glance at this and see how their going with the given subject. This allows you maximum playing/jamming time in a face to face lesson, which is very important to your students, and you can rest easy knowing their theory is growing alongside their playing skills.

Set extra Musago lessons during missed weeks.

If you or your student cannot make a lesson one week, Musago could be a great activity to kepp momentum up for your student.

You could assign lessons and courses based on where each student is at.

You don’t have to start form the beginning. All lessons are accessible from the beginning so if your student has prior knowledge they can jump in where they’re at.

MCA Grades

For a comprehensive learning experience you could work your students through the MCA Grades, which are graded assesments with a set currculum. Currently available is MCA Preliminary through to MCA Grade 4. Click here to find out more about the MCA Grades. This is a great option for streamlining your business and your students might appreciate being recognised for their learning.

These are just some suggestions. You might be able to combine these or come up with some entirely new ideas for implementing Musago.

Now, let’s talk about getting Musago over the line with your students and parents.

Informing your students (& their parents)

You may be using music theory books or other resources and your students (and their parents) are going to be curious as to why you’re switching.

It would be good to be prepared for this and be clear in your own mind why you’re going to do this, and then explain that to your students.

At the end of this article you’ll find a copy and paste email that will help you do that… but here are some possible reasons why you might be doing this.

• Music theory has a tendency to be a little dry with some students. Musago has packaged the lessons in a really engaging way that is easy for students to learn from and digest.
• It will allow for more playing time during face to face lessons.
• The Musago platform works really well for students who want to go at their own pace.
• The theory offered by musago is more relevant to your students, and will allow them to progress faster than the current theory system you might be using.
• The built in assessments and progress tracking for you as a teacher is more convenient.

Whatever your reasons are, just be sure to state them clearly and most, if not all your students will accept your decision…you are their teacher after all.

Ok, let’s talk about the $$$…

Payments

Let’s consider how to pay for Musago. As a teacher you have several options.

1. You could ask each student who wishes to use Musago to purchase a single license and have their own account.

Price is $12 a month or $120 a year (with a small discount). This means you don’t need to manage payments but your student will not be part of your teaching account. This is a simple path to take.

2. You could sign up with a studio teacher plan and purchase bulk licenses in increments of 5 and get 50% off each student license.

When you do this, your students pay you and you pay Musago.

You could include a section on each invoice which covers the Musago cost for each student per term.

Because licenses are in increments of 5, you may have a number that doesn’t quite fit…

Example:

Say you purchase a 20 seat license but only have 16 students using Musago. You could charge a little more per student to cover the difference.

20 student licenses cost = $120 per month to you.

Divide by 16 students = $7.50 each per month, $22.50 per term. That’s cheap!

You could markup your price and make some profit after costs, because you are handling the payments and actively involved checking progress, and quiz results and marking worksheets. For example, you might choose to charge $10 per license regardless.

20 student licenses cost: $120 per month to your business.

16 students each pay you $10 per month = $160. Still about 16% off for your students.

That’s $40 profit for you per month with just 16 students. If you’re a teacher with 50 students, your profit might look like this:

50 student licenses cost = $300 per month.

50 students pay you $10 per month = $500

Your profit each month is $200! ($2,400 over a year!!!)

Or, you could choose to put your lesson price up and include Musago for all students who would like to use it.

Please be aware that you can increase or decrease the amount of licenses you need at anytime.

These are just some ideas. You will need to think through what solution best suits your business.

Copy and paste email.

Ok, so you’ve decided to run with Musago, but you still need to communcate this to parents and students. Here’s an email draft for you to copy and edit this however you like to best suit your purposes.

Hi {student / parent}

I have been doing some research around music theory alternatives for teaching {instrument}.

Music theory is an important and necessary part of learning music and I’ve been looking for something that students would enjoy working through and fits with the kind of music we have been learning.

From {next term, next year, next week} I’ll be using Musago, which is an online music theory platform.

Instead of working though text books, much of the learning will be happening through short, animated lessons which are really engaging and I believe will work well. There are also interactive quizzes and worksheets which I will be checking to make sure each student is on track.

Students will work on most of this outside of our face to face lessons, which will mean we can concentrate more on the playing side of things. Sometimes we may need to work on Musago during a lesson, if the subject is a little more complex or if a student needs help.

Here are the 3 key things students will do.

1. Watch the lesson.
2. Complete the interactive quiz. (I can view their results, which is a bonus)
3. Print and complete the worksheet. (Which I can check quickly during a lesson)

This will be a brilliant solution for weeks where a student or I am sick or away. It means my students can still move forward musically if they wish.

Like all music theory materials, Musago is an extra cost so here is how this will be incorporated into my billing process.

{Here are some options for you (the teacher) to choose from…}

• There will be an extra charge of $30 per invoice to cover my cost to Musago. This is roughly $10 a month or $2.30 per week over the year which is about 16% off the normal retail price.
• I will be putting my price up by {amount} per lesson, to cover the costs for supplying services and materials, such as Musago, which I use for teaching.
• I will add the musago cost on each invoice for each term. Please be aware that this number will change a little depending on how many students are using it per term. This is because I purchase licenses in increments of 5 and during some terms I may have a slightly lower amount of students using it.
• ((You may want to explain that you get 50% off as a teacher, and depending on how you choose to incorporate Musago. This will influence the actual price for your students, just so parents don’t feel misinformed.)) DON’T INCLUDE THIS PARAGRAPH IN YOUR EMAIL. FYI ONLY.

I’m excited to incorporate Musago into my business and I believe it will add more value for my students and allow our lesson time to be used more effectively.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me.

Kind regards,
{your name}
{Your Business details}

Wrapping Up

Hopefully this post has given you some great ideas with how you could incorporate Musago into the amazing work you do as a teacher.

What will your next steps be?

Written by Zac Pugh.

In a nut shell, the MCA grades are a suite of assessments that test multiple areas of music knowledge all at once.

Currently we offer the following grades:

• MCA Preliminary
• MCA Grade 1
• MCA Grade 2
• MCA Grade 3
• MCA Grade 4

There are plans to develop grades 5-8 over the next 12 months.

These grades provide a great framework for learning and are accessible to students from the moment they have access to Musago.

Each assessment is a comprehensive multiple choice quiz, where a certificate is awarded upon completion.

Grading is as follows:

• Pass: 65%
• Merit: 75%
• Distinction: 85%
• Higher Distinction: 90%

Students may retake the assessments as many times as they like, however the multiple choice answers are randomised on each retake.

Students participating in music examinations, such as the Saint Ceclilia School Of Music, may be exempt from the music knowledge section of the exam by presenting their relevant completed MCA certificate to the examiner.

The Saint Cecilia School of Music will also recognise MCA Grade learning and can issue SCSM theory certificates of the same standard. This is particularly attractive for students who would like extra TCE or QCE points for their school education. This recognition begins at the grade 2 level.

To see the full MCA curriculum and find out more please head over to our MCA grades page.

Musago | Music Theory Made Easy

You might also be interested in:

If you’re a classroom music teacher then you are most likely juggling a lot of tasks. 

This can get even more tricky when your students start to diverge and learn their own instruments. Some get private lessons and excel while others are happy just to do what’s asked of them in the classroom.

Musago seeks to address this by providing self paced contemporary music theory courses and lessons, particularly for grades 7 to 12.

Musago Lessons

Lessons range from the basics like notes on the stave all the way through to scales, intervals, chord construction and more.

The beauty is in how Musago does this.

1. First there are the animated lesson videos which explain the concepts and demonstrate the theory in action.
2. Then there are the interactive quizzes which test the student on what they have just learned. Quiz results can be viewed by you with the student reporting that comes with your free teacher account. Find out more about teacher accounts here.
3. And finally there are the worksheets which encourage literacy and retention, as well as another way for you to mark and evaluate each student.

This 3 pronged approach means your students can learn at their own pace and allow you to move around the classroom more. 

Flexibility

Given that this is all online, some of this work can be set as homework, allowing for more time doing practical or covering other required learning. This also works great for students participating in distance education.

Oh, and what if you need a relief teacher? This is a great solution for that too, students can just continue working through the Musago content at their own pace. Brilliant!

Here’s what one classroom teacher has to say about it:

“Musago is a fabulous resource for both studio teaching and class teaching at school. In terms of class teaching, it’s great to have the option to assign homework in terms of videos to watch and worksheets to complete.

It’s also highly suitable for a flipped class teaching model. The videos are engaging and explain the various concepts explicitly and clearly.

In a school context where a sound understanding of theory is essential for students to be able to do compositions in their senior years, this resource is particularly valuable as students can complete the course in their free time or as part of their homework.”

Aimee Rossler, Classroom Music Teacher – NSW.

The MCA grades are another great option for assessment and structure to ensure your students are systematically learning. You can find out more about the MCA grades here.

Try for free

So, don’t take our word for it… why not try our free sample course and see for yourself how Musago could be a game-change for you and your students. Your free sample course is waiting here.

We also offer discount rates for schools and academies. 

If you want to talk to us in person or would like to trial Musago with a group of students you can contact us here. 

Discover how Musago can enhance your department today.

By Zac Pugh,

Director.

Musago | Music Theory Made Easy