If you walk into an elementary classroom, you might notice that everything is color-coded: signs and charts on the wall to labels on bins to pieces of tape marking certain spots on the floor.

This is because colors are easy for most young children to recognize and differentiate between.

But in music, our baseline is black and white, the colors of standard notation.

For this reason, color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills. Elementary educator Amy Curletto wrote, “When we use color in a systematic way it can help students retain information better than just using black and white.” (source)

Today, I’m sharing four simple, unique strategies to use color to teach music literacy.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Why You Should Be Color-Coding Your Classroom (James Stanfield)

Boomwhackers

Colored handbells

Colored chime bands by ChimeWorks

Electrical tape for color-coding handchimes

Rainbow-colored hair ties for color-coding instruments

Color-coded chord cards

Color-coded fabric staff — available in two sizes: Junior (18"x14") and Large (28"x28")

Colored markers

Colored dot stickers for color-coding handchimes or creating your own colored music charts

Colored music notation stickers

Flat.io — create your own colored notation!

ChimeWorks Icon Chart

12x12” colored cardstock — great for illustrating musical form

Colored bean bags — a fun way to analyze musical form

Erasable pens — my students love these!

Highlighters are great for marking repeated patterns or phrases

The Psychology of Color: How Do Colors Influence Learning? (SHIFT eLearning)

Colored pencils are great for marking dynamics or adding your own

Washi tape

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