Frequently asked questions
What is The Ear Academy?
The Ear Academy is an online education platform designed to enhance music teaching and learning for teachers and students. Our world-class educational resources and abundant multimedia material are designed to support teachers, inspire students, and make music education engaging, enriching and effective.
Getting started
Simply click this link, fill in the short form, and we’ll get you signed up.
To add students or music teachers, navigate to the 'Users' button within a class or group. Make sure you are on the ‘Participants’ page for students and the ‘Teachers’ page for teachers. Enter the email address of the person you want to add, or share a link with them for instant access. We also have a feature that enables bulk enrolment through CSV files.
To add a class or group, navigate to the 'Groups' tab on the left-hand side panel and click on 'Create a Group'. Enter the group name (e.g., 'Year 1 Class B'), select the group status ('Not Started', 'Studying', 'Finished', or 'start date/end date'), and click 'Create'. You can then assign courses to the class from the available options.
Ensure that the CSV file is correctly formatted according to the provided template, with columns for first name, last name, and email address. Double check that the file is saved as a CSV and that there are no formatting errors. If issues persist, verify internet connectivity and the platform's status. Please contact us for additional support if needed.
Students and teachers will receive an email with intructions to activate their accounts once they are enrolled ina course. The email will guide them through setting up their login details and accessing the platform.
Go to the ‘Course Catalogue’ page, select the course, click on ‘Users’, and choose whether to add students or teachers. You can invite them via email, import their details using a CSV file, or send them a public link to join the course.
Once you have been enrolled, you will receive an email to sign up. After logging in, you can personalize your account and access the Course Catalogue from the navigational panel. This is where you'll find all the courses assigned to you, along with resources to support your teaching.
Use the 'Groups' menu to monitor student progress. Music teachers can view progress of various courses through easy-to-understand metrics.
Technical
The Ear Academy is available on desktop and mobile devices through your web browser, making learning and teaching music accessible wherever you are. Please make sure you have a stable internet connection.
Yes, you can use The Ear Academy wherever you have access to the internet.
We take data privacy and security seriously. Our platform complies with all relevant data protection laws and uses encryption to protect your information.
FAQ by programme
Classroom is our comprehensive online education environment for teaching primary school music. It is designed to facilitate high-quality music education by providing teachers with comprehensive resources and support to deliver effective lessons and improve pupil outcomes.
We provide ready-to-use lesson plans, digital resources like images and audio clips, and interactive slides for engaging lessons. These materials align with national curricula and support various teaching strategies.
Teaching materials are available for use and downloadable on each lesson’s page.
Absolutely—the curriculum aligns with the UK National Curriculum and the Model Music Curriculum, ensuring lessons meet educational standards.
Lessons are structured into ‘units’, each consisting of six lessons, covering topics like instrument exploration, music theory, and performance. They incorporate practical activities, discussions, and experiments to promote active learning.
Currently, we do not offer formal assessments for KS1 or EYFS. As the platform evolves and expands into KS2, we will explore the possibility of integrating formal assessment options for teachers who require them.
Teachers use informal, formative assessments through observation and note-taking during each lesson. This allows them to monitor students' progress towards meeting learning objectives and identify areas that may need additional focus. Each unit concludes with a performance by the children. This is an opportunity for both the teacher and the pupils to reflect on what has been learnt and what progress has been made during that unit.
The 'Reflect' section at the end of each lesson encourages teachers to review and apply what they’ve learned. This acts as an assessment tool, helping teachers gauge their understanding and pinpoint areas that may need further explanation or practice.
The Ear Academy for primary schools includes a CPD programme that focuses onbuilding teacher confidence, developing subject knowledge, and enhancingpedagogical skills. It offers resources and activities to support teachers intheir professional growth.
The CPD courses at The Ear Academy provide teachers with a deep understanding of music content and offer classroom strategies and frameworks to improve their teaching practices. High-quality resources, including lesson plans and instructional videos, are provided to prepare teachers for content, while opportunities for practice and reflection help them refine their skills.
The CPD elements include knowledge checks, classroom strategies, and opportunities to practice content. Teachers can use these to refine their teaching approaches and ensure they are lesson-ready.
‘Instrumental’ is our innovative online education environment tailored for Key Stage 3 students and music tutors with a focus on playing an instrument.
It provides comprehensive teaching tools and materials for music education and supports both structured lessons and flexible learning paths. It equips music tutors with a wide range of online learning and teaching tools, including interactive resources, videos, and practice sessions, to enhance the music teaching experience and engage students effectively.
These are the instruments that are currently available:
- Guitar
- Piano
- Electric bass
- Drum kit
We also have more instruments in development which we'll announce soon.
A ‘playground’ is a structured learning environment within a course, designed to make music education engaging and interactive. Each playground consists of steps where students immerse themselves in music, engage with interactive materials that encourage active learning, and perform with backing tracks.
Within a playground there are distinct facets, designed to provide a comprehensive music education experience. The facets are:
1. Tunes: Students learn to play musical pieces, enhancing their technical skills and familiarity with different styles.
2. Etudes: These are focused pieces that target specific skills or techniques, helping students develop precision and expression.
3. Exercises: Instrumental workouts, such as scales and arpeggios, to build foundational skills and muscle memory.
4. Songs: Students learn well-known songs with backing tracks, integrating rhythm and melody.
5. Improvisation: Encourages creativity and spontaneity, allowing students to explore musical ideas freely.
6. Ear Training: Develops the ability to recognise and reproduce musical sounds, enhancing auditory skills.
7. Theory: Provides an understanding of the theoretical concepts behind music, supporting informed playing and composition.
These complementary facets work together to offer a holistic and immersive learning experience that develops students’ skills across various dimensions of music.
Every playground includes comprehensive materials like syllabi, interactive sheet music, video lessons, audio resources, and Shedding Sessions.
Shedding Sessions are guided practice sessions, created exclusively for Ear Academy students, and provided in video format, where a piece of music is broken down into smaller segments to enhance students’ learning.
During these sessions, a musician in the video plays a small unit of music, and the student repeats it, gradually increasing the length of each unit as they become more comfortable. This method helps improve students' ear-hand coordination and musical memory by allowing them to focus on manageable sections of music before putting the entire piece together.
Absolutely. The Ear Academy offers resources for both specialist and non-specialist music teachers, tailored to suit your teaching style.
The Ear Academy is developing lessons and resources that cater to different levels of musical skill, making it suitable for secondary school students who are starting out or looking to deepen their understanding of music.
We currently have Intro Level available on our platform, which caters to new players. We are also developing Levels 1 and 2, which are for more experienced students.
Pricing and payment
Yes! We offer a 14-day free trial. Start yours today.
Our pricing is clear and transparent, and based on the size of your school. See our Pricing page for specific rates, or contact us if you’d like more detailed information.
We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you're not satisfied, you can request a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
You can easily make payments via bank transfer or by using a credit/debit card through a secure online payment link.
Support and Training
Yes, each curriculum strand is designed to stand alone, allowing teachers to pick and choose the order of lessons throughout the year, with no assumption of prior knowledge between lessons.
Our platform includes a robust analytics dashboard that allows you to track usage and engagement.