Uninspired Teen Piano lesson? Garageband to the Rescue!

Tell me if this sounds familiar: A teenage student comes into a piano lesson having not practiced – not a stitch. You know this teen has a lot going on: big exams at school, hockey finals imminent and a part-time job. What do you do?

You could reiterate the importance of regular practice, give a big speech about commitments and following through, blah, blah, blah…but that would most likely fall on deaf ears.

You could use the lesson time to do some guided practice, running through the same assignments that you already covered last week. Not very inspiring, though.

OR You could use this opportunity for some functional music theory in their piano lesson…GarageBand-style!

This article was originally published in 2016. It was updated to reflect new changes in the GarageBand app in February 2025.

Step 1: The Chord Progression

Assign your student a specific key signature, or ask them to choose. If they’re using F major, for example, highlight F on the circle of fifths along with the keys on either side of it and the relative minors of those 3 keys.

Choose the Chords

Now they have 6 chords to choose from to create a chord progression. Four bars (measures) usually works best when starting out, but any number can work. Allow your student to choose freely from these chords – they’ll all sound good! Just have them experiment with different orders and combinations until they’ve composed their favourite progression.

Once your student has decided on a chord progression, have them play those chords – in order – until they can play through them while spinning 6 plates and whistling ‘Yankee Doodle’ backwards. (Well, maybe not that crazy, but you get the idea. 😂)

Add Some Rhythm

Now they’ve settled on their chords, play around with some rhythms. Have your teen play the root note in their left hand and chords in their right hand (or vice versa) and just mess around with some beats.

If they’re having trouble, you can make some suggestions but don’t get too involved. They need to keep ownership of the music.

Step 2: Set it Up in GarageBand

To record the chord progression as a loop, have your piano student open the GarageBand iPad app in their lesson and start a new file.

Choose the audio recorder…

…and switch the input sound to “clean”.

Now your song file is ready to use. 🎉

Check the Settings

Have your student set the tempo, time signature and key signature by tapping on the gear icon in the top right corner.

Then tap on the plus sign to set the number of bars (measures) in your student’s progression.

Record It

Tap the red circle icon when your piano student is ready to record their chord progression into GarageBand. They’ll have a 1-measure count-in before they start, and the metronome will continue while your student plays to help them keep the beat steady. Then tap the “stop” square icon when your student’s done playing the progression.

You can undo and record again in the piano lesson until your teen is happy with their GarageBand results.

Layer it up!

Now for the fun part! This is the part that will really bring the cool factor for your teen piano students.

Tap the icon with lots of rectangles (the “track list” icon)…

…then tap the “plus” sign in the bottom left corner.

Ask your student what instrument they’d like to add. They’re all awesome, so it doesn’t matter which one they choose. Drummer and Smart Bass are both great options if you’re just starting out.

Play around with the instrument until you find something you like, then record it just like you recorded the live piano. Then tap the track icon to return to the screen with your layers.

Keep adding smart instruments until your student is satisfied with their overall track. You can tweak the volume of each layer by tapping on the instrument, then tapping the “mixer” icon.

Now, have your teen student give themselves a pat on the back! They’ve created an awesome track! You can stop there, or take it one step further…

Step 3: Jam Session

If you’ve taught teens for any length of time, you’ve probably realized that they won’t follow you blindly like younger kids do. That’s where improvisation comes in.

Use the newly composed GarageBand loop as backing music for your teen piano student to improvise over.

This is not only awesome and super fun, but it reinforces the importance of solid scale knowledge. Combined with the chord progression they recorded earlier, and you’re driving home how chords and scales work together to form the basis of most Western music.

If you explain it to them, their eyes are going to glaze over. But if they experience it, they’ll believe it and internalise it.

For more improvisation fun, check out our hub page devoted to teaching creative skills. You’ll love what you find!

What’s your favourite way to use GarageBand?

Have I inspired you to give GarageBand a try in a piano lesson with your next bored teenager? Do you have a different approach to using the GarageBand app? Share your experiences in the comments below, or in the Vibrant Music Studio Teachers Facebook group.