For Teachers & Educators

Creative, Screen-Free Music Teaching Tools for Educators

Musician’s Dice are tactile tools that help students explore rhythm, harmony, technique, and musical ideas through guided randomness and play.

Designed to support music educators working with individuals, small groups, and classrooms.

Why teachers use Musician’s Dice

Music educators use Musician’s Dice to:

Encourage exploration without overwhelming students with choices
Break students out of habitual patterns and rote exercises
Reinforce musical concepts through physical interaction
Make practice and lessons feel playful, focused, and purposeful
Reduce reliance on screens, apps, and printed worksheets

Designed for a wide range of teaching contexts

Musician’s Dice are used by:

Private instrumental teachers
Classroom music educators
Guitar, piano, and ensemble instructors
Higher education tutors and lecturers
Community music leaders and workshop facilitators

Suitable for beginners through to advanced students.

How teachers use Musician’s Dice in lessons

Teachers often introduce Musician’s Dice as a short, focused activity within a lesson, or as a creative thread running through longer sessions.

They might be used to:

Warm up creative thinking at the start of a lesson
Introduce or reinforce a musical concept through play
Generate material for improvisation or composition
Prompt discussion about musical choices and outcomes
Encourage independent exploration between lessons

Because the structure comes from the dice, students can focus on listening, responding, and making musical decisions - without needing constant instruction.

A roll might set a rhythmic constraint, suggest a harmonic focus, or prompt a change in approach. From there, students explore, reflect, and discuss what they hear.

What students gain

Students using Musician’s Dice often engage more deeply with practice, develop creative confidence, and strengthen their understanding of musical structure.

Over time, they learn to make musical decisions independently and feel less “stuck” when approaching new material.

The element of chance lowers pressure and invites curiosity.

“Musician’s Dice give students permission to explore.
They remove the pressure to get it ‘right’ and help musical understanding grow naturally.”

Aligns with curriculum goals

Musician’s Dice support many of the core aims found in music curricula across schools, studios, and higher education settings.

They encourage practical musicianship through active listening and response, support improvisation and composition, and strengthen understanding of rhythm, pitch, harmony, and form.

Because activities can be scaled in complexity, the same tools work for guided beginner exercises, open-ended creative tasks, and extension work for advanced students.

Because activities can be scaled in complexity, Musician’s Dice work equally well for:

> Guided beginner exercises

> Open-ended creative tasks

> Extension activities for advanced students

Rather than prescribing outcomes, the dice provide structure that helps students demonstrate learning through sound.

A simple 5-10 minute classroom activity

Goal: Encourage creative decision-making and active listening.

Each student rolls one die (or the group shares a roll).
The result sets a musical constraint; rhythm, note choice, technique, or approach.
Students respond musically for 30–60 seconds.
Brief discussion: What changed? What worked? What surprised you?

This activity works well as:

A lesson opener
A reset between focused tasks
A low-pressure way to introduce improvisation
A reflective exercise linking theory to sound

No setup, no explanation overhead. Just roll and play.

Guitar Edition

The Guitar Edition includes guided concepts developed in collaboration with JustinGuitar, making it especially suitable for guitar teachers and students at a range of levels.

For schools & higher education, studios, hubs and music programmes

Musician’s Dice work especially well in shared learning environments where students benefit from clear structure and open-ended outcomes.

They support:

Differentiated learning in mixed-ability groups
Discussion-led lessons and collaborative exploration
Short creative tasks within longer teaching sessions
Screen-free engagement in classrooms and studios

Durable, portable, and easy to integrate into existing teaching approaches, Musician’s Dice sit comfortably alongside any curriculum or method.

Used in a wide range of education and community music settings to support creative learning without adding screens or complexity.

If you’re interested in using Musician’s Dice across a programme, classroom, or department, feel free to get in touch. We’re happy to discuss suitability, editions, and teaching contexts.