377: No-Prop Fun and Games with Matt Murphy

The TopCast: The Official Music Teachers' Podcast

In this episode, we're chatting with one of our TopMusicGames creator, Matt Murphy. Matt shares his unique approach to teaching music through gamification, making lessons more interactive and fun. We dive into his TopMusicGames collection, designed to encourage improvisation and keep students captivated. He discusses the importance of adapting these games to suit individual student needs and moods, ensuring that learning remains accessible and enjoyable. He also emphasizes the value of keeping lessons dynamic, especially for younger students or those with learning difficulties, and highlight the flexibility and creativity these games offer to teachers. Whether you're looking to make your lessons more engaging or seeking new ways to inspire your students, this episode is packed with practical tips and insights.

• Tim introduces Matt Murphy, highlighting his contribution to the TopMusicGames collection.
• Matt shared about his games collection, emphasizing its focus on gamifying traditional music teaching techniques to make learning more engaging.
• What the collection includes, such as games like the animal game, which encourages improvisation and keeps young students engaged.
• Matt shared a brief overview of his background and teaching experience.
• How his games collection is designed to be adaptable, allowing teachers to tailor games to their students' needs and moods.
• Tim praises the collection for being accessible and easy to integrate into lessons without requiring physical materials.
• Matt emphasizes the importance of keeping lessons fun and engaging, especially for younger students or those with learning difficulties.
• The flexibility and creativity the games offer, encouraging teachers to experiment and make the games their own.
• How incorporating games into repertoire deepens students' understanding of music.
• Why teaching chords and patterns is crucial as they are foundational to music.
• Matt emphasizes rhythm and pattern-based learning, especially for drummers.
• Some simple exercises that can help students discover new sounds.

Links Mentioned

• Matt Murphy YouTube Channel
• Click here to learn more about TopMusicGames
• Register for the 3 Secrets Workshop here

Today’s Guest

Matt Murphy grew up playing music. He taught his first lesson at 14, went to music school, and has decades of experience and multiple awards as a performer and educator. he actually hated piano growing up. As an ADHD and mildly dyslexic child, lessons from a very traditional teacher (book first, book only) didn't help . So he switched to drums, but kept a piano nearby. After majoring in jazz drumset at music school, he realised there was so much more to piano than just "All Cows Eat Grass," and became determined to never be that "wrist-slapping" teacher for his young students. His lessons are infused with video game mechanics, child-psychology, Dungeons and Dragons-style storytelling, multi-instrumental composition, dumb jokes, and knowing that we're not just teachers, we're mentors.

Today's Sponsor

Alfred Music, the leader in music education for over 100 years, produces educational, reference, pop, and performance materials for teachers, students, professionals, and hobbyists spanning every musical instrument, style, and difficulty level. Alfred Music is located in Colorado, with offices around the world, including Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Since 1922, Alfred Music has been dedicated to helping people learn, teach, and play music. Alfred Music currently has over 150,000 active titles and represents a wide range of well-known publications —from methods like Alfred’s Basic Guitar, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library, Premier Piano Course, Sound Innovations, and Suzuki, to artists like Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones, to brands like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, and Billboard. In addition to its own titles, Alfred Music distributes products from over 150 companies, including Advance Music, Belwin, Edition Peters, The FJH Music Company Inc., Faber Music, Jamey Aebersold Jazz, and LudwigMasters Publications. Alfred Music is now also paired with MakeMusic, which is part of Peaksware Holdings, LLC portfolio of companies, to transform how music is composed, published, taught, learned, and performed by bringing together the leaders in educational music publishing and music technology. Visit their website at https://www.alfred.com/.

Exclusive Discount for Podcast Listeners

Exclusively for TopCast listeners, go to alfred.com/podcast and use code TopMusic at checkout to save 30% on these titles and everything else on alfred.com.

Thank you for tuning in!

Consider implementing the ideas from this podcast by writing several actionable steps for your teaching practice if it’s inspired you. If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, which helps other teachers find our show. Stay updated by subscribing to this show, and get automatic delivery to your device every time a new episode goes live! We publish on Mondays weekly.

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