My Minimalist Elementary Music Classroom: Ideas For Simple and Functional Classroom Setup

It’s time for an elementary music classroom tour! Whether it’s the beginning of the year or you just want to rethink your classroom layout, it’s always good to think through how you want your classroom setup.

I’ve seen many elaborate classroom setups in my day. And while they all look very impressive, they also look exhausting! Well I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to have elaborate decorations to have a good classroom. In fact, sometimes your classroom might even be better with less. Less really is more.

If you are like me and want to go home at the end of the workday instead of toiling through the summer to decorate every inch of your room, then this post is for you. 

Why I Do Minimal Classroom Setup in Music Class

There are several reasons why I have opted for a minimal music classroom.

Movement

I like my students to move in every class. This means I have very little furniture and what I do have is usually around the edges of the classroom. 

Time Saving

I’ve already mentioned it, but having a super decorated, themed room can be time consuming (believe me, I’ve done it). Most of the time, I see these teachers posting on Facebook throughout the summer (sometimes before the year is even over!) prepping for next year. I assume that brings them joy, but not for me. I want a break!

Also it allows me to focus time on other things that will impact my students.

Visual Clutter

Many students can find rooms with lots of decor over stimulating. They may struggle to find the posters you want them to focus on during a lesson, and they may be distracted while you are doing your lessons. A minimalist classroom can help them learn, distraction free.

Minimal is Still Beautiful

You can still create a bright, friendly room with a minimal aesthetic. Minimal doesn’t mean NOTHING. Just purposeful placement. 

Elementary Music Classroom Ideas: What To Consider When Setting Up Your Music Room

Before you jump in and start moving furniture, take a moment to consider some of the needs of your classroom.

Seating

What type of seating will you use with your students? How many students do you have in a class?

I personally use sitspots. The color-coding is so helpful! I use them for grouping and calling turns to get supplies all the time. Chairs are great for posture, but get in the way during the movement and instrument activities that make up a large part of my lessons.

Instrument Usage

Do you want xylophones or tubanos out and at the ready for students or tucked to the side? If you plan to be at your orff instruments every day you may want them out instead of on shelves. If you want to do ukuleles, make sure you can pass them out quickly. You get the idea.

Flow

Where does traffic flow? How do students enter and exit the room? Do they have space to line up? Is there an area for them to grab supplies or will you pass supplies out to them?

Visuals

What space do you have to hang posters or decorate bulletin boards? Each space is different, so look at your room setup and see what possibilities there are.

Next, think about what types of posters and visuals you want to have displayed in your room. That can be anything from classroom rules and posters about rhythms, scales and solfege to motivational posters and cute bulletin boards.

Don’t forget to think about placement. If you are going to talk about notes of the scale in every lesson, you probably don’t want your solfege poster to be at the back of the room.

Music Classroom Storage

Instruments

Instrument storage is a key component to any elementary music classroom. Again, every space is different, so look to see what is provided for you in your classroom. I’ve had rows of deep storage cabinets as well as storage closets of varying sizes. Right now I have a storage closet with built-in shelves.

Don’t have anything built in? Don’t worry. A cube storage organizer from your local Target or kid storage bin holders can solve this problem at a relatively low price tag. (I see the kid storage bins on Facebook marketplace all the time!)

For individual bins, I love dollar store bins. They are great for most small percussion and lots of other things I need to organize as well!

Here are the labels I use to make finding things so much easier. You can actually grab them as part of my Back to School Megabundle and save yourself tons of prep time!

Paperwork

Papers can easily become visual clutter that take up mental and physical space. File that stuff away and clear some space! What REALLY needs to be on your desk? Probably almost nothing.

Some of the files I find useful:

• Papers to grade
• Papers to enter into the computer
• Future lesson ideas
• Student info (IEP accommodations, medical info, etc)
• Field trips we go on every year
• Performances we do each year

Add or delete to your organized little heart’s content!

A good filing system means a clean desk and space to work!

Elementary Music Classroom Decorations

Like I’ve said before, classroom decor for me is minimal. I don’t go all out with a theme every year. But I do have some key pieces. Here are my classroom essentials.

Music Classroom Rules

Okay. Classroom rules aren’t EXACTLY decor, but they are very important. At my current school, all special areas have the same rules and when students earn 50 stars they get a reward.

Here is a different, very similar behavior system that I used to use in my room.

I also have movement rules.

1. Stop when the music stops.
2. Stay in your own space.
3. Control your body.

These are things that are posted all year long so they can be referred to as needed.

Music Classroom Posters

My posters are mostly content related. I have my major and minor scale solfege poster and I would usually have my rhythm solfege poster up as well but I am in the middle of switching solfege systems with my students (new school) so it’s not there right now.

I also have some key phrases like audiate prominently displayed at the front of the room so that I can remind students what it means to audiate a rhythm pattern, for example.

I also have a couple inspirational posters welcoming students on my door.

I find that this minimalist approach helps students focus on the information I want them to during a lesson instead of their eyes and brain wandering off to other visuals during the lesson.

Music Classroom Bulletin Board

I also have one precious bulletin board. This year I decided to go with a static display for the whole year. Our school is a global themed school. Each grade level learns about a different part of the world. So I thought that a global themed board would be great.

I got the characters for the board for FREE on TPT. Then I added “Music is the Language the Whole World Speaks” and a world map.

My Music Classroom Layout

Here is a peek at my classroom layout. When designing your own classroom layout, continue to think about things like flow for you and your students and what things you need ready access to.

Seating

Here are my sitspots. 

I organize them into groups of 4 – red, yellow, green, blue. This is so I can easily do Kagan strategies within my lessons and students are already organized into Kagan groupings.

Checkout this post to learn more about Kagan in the music classroom.

Again, my students move a lot so I don’t use chairs. Every once in a while a student may need one for one reason or another, so I have a small stash.

Risers

My risers pull TRIPLE duty. Students put any supply they brought (snacks, lunch boxes, coats, etc) underneath the risers. I put bins of instruments that we will be using on the risers. And when it is performance season, we pull out the risers to rehearse on them.

Piano

My piano only gets used during performance season. It’s just not my forte and I don’t like being tethered to something while I am teaching. So off to the side it goes!

Teacher desk

My teacher desk is actually a little more minimal than I would prefer. Some drawers would be nice. But I have made due with my own solutions. A desk drawer from Target holds my pencils, pencils, scissors and such. Everything else goes in a filing cabinet behind. I guess it helps me keep my desk decluttered???

The more you can have systems for what to do with your paperwork, the less mess you need to have on your desk. Less mess, less stress.

Supplies

Make sure to have a working spot for students to get supplies such as pencils or facial tissue. I have a table set up at the back of the room where students can easily access supplies when we are using them, and I have a bookshelf next to it that I use for storing the supplies when they are not in use.

Want Some Simple and Functional Music Classroom Decor Ideas?

I love this Back to School Megabundle. It has a Composer of the Month bulletin board and a vocabulary word wall that are super functional. Plus orff and classroom percussion labels to organize your room. I love the bonus ice breaker activities you can use for the first day of school with your students.

Check out my Back to School Megabundle and have all your classroom decor prepped and ready for you for the start of the year.

Want More Elementary Music Class Ideas?

Music Classroom Decor: What You Need For a Great Classroom Environment

Music Lessons for Kindergarten: What to Teach the First Day of School

Lesson Plans for Elementary Music

Get your lesson plans organized with this comprehensive list of what to include in a lesson plan – complete with a free workbook to help get you started!

Listening Maps for Music: The Ultimate How To Guide

How to build a guided listening lesson with listening maps and more.

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