4 Music Composition Apps for Every Level of Student

This post about music composition apps was written by Brock Chart. Brock is a composer and owner of My-Melodies Publishing in Kansas, USA, where he also runs his own piano teaching studio. Brock is passionate about helping students find their own love of music and follow their interests, no matter if it’s rap, country, pop or Norwegian death metal. Dogs and tacos are pretty great, too.

Today’s music software is an amazing thing. What used to take thousands of dollars in a professional recording studio can be done today with little more than an iPad and some music composition apps, like these 4.

Billie Eilish recorded and produced her debut album with her brother in their small L.A. bedroom studio. That album went on to win several Grammy awards including Album of the Year, launching Billie Eilish into the pop star we know today. 

Unfortunately, there are a couple more steps to making the Billboard Top 100 besides owning an iPad. Nevertheless, we can use the same technology to help students explore composition, learn valuable skills in music and recording while just having fun making music!

Here are 4 music composition apps that I like to use with my own students, and tips on how to use them with different levels of students. Remember that these are just tools and the sky’s the limit with how you use them in your own lessons. 

Be creative, don’t be afraid to try things out and most of all, have fun!

Composition App No. 1: My Singing Monsters Composer

This app is like GarageBand, but for a younger audience. Instead of different instruments, there are 50+ monsters that make different sounds. Some sound goofy while others sound like real instruments. After a student chooses a monster, they can input notes on a staff by tapping with their finger.

This is a huge hit in my studio, and is one of the music composition apps that most kids beg their parents to download for playing at home. (Available for Android and iOS at $4.99 USD as I’m writing this article.)

Tips for Newbie Students

I always use this app at the end of a beginner trial lesson. It’s fun for everyone, kids don’t need any musical know-how to use it and they can immediately hear their creations with the playback button.

Since students input notes on the staff, it’s a great excuse to reinforce basic reading skills without students knowing. 🤫

Try giving students a couple of ideas such as:

• “Can you add three high notes?” or “Can you add three line notes?”
• How about this monster plays fast notes and this monster plays long notes? (Great for rhythm practice and introducing counterpoint without students knowing.)

Tips for Beginner Students

Students can input the notes for a song they’re working on, or other folk songs they know. It’s an excellent and fun way to practice reading and writing skills on the staff.

I like to do this by giving them what notes to input, and then it’s a surprise for students when they recognize the tune from the playback.

Giving a theme to compose around can be a great head start for early writers. 

• If it’s Halloween, try a song with only spooky monsters in it.
• Compose based around an A minor or E phrygian mode. 
• Explore what bones might sound like? (Maybe find a xylophone sound or something spooky and low?)

Composition App No. 2: Song Maker – Chrome Music Lab 

This free browser app is basically a beat sequencer, but with melodies, and is very user friendly. The software is laid out like a grid where a student can tap on any of the blocks to create sounds. 

When introducing this app for the first time, click the play button at the bottom first, then let the student tap anywhere. 

Tips for Newbie Students

This app allows beginner students to really get their creative juices flowing. Try fun activities like these:

• Let students draw a smiley face or their names, and listen to what sounds the app comes up with.
• Ask the student to draw a different shape and explore where they think the music will be louder or softer.
• Point out the places where there are a lot of notes happening at the same time, and the places where there’s not as much happening.

Tips for Beginner Students

This app is an excellent way to visualize rhythms, and can be a valuable tool when talking about subdivision. Ask a student to make a melody with only crotchets (quarter notes) while the other voice uses minims (half notes) or quavers (eighth notes) underneath.

It can also be fun to recreate a song they’re currently working on, or make an original melody.

In addition, students can use the app to try:

• Making a drum beat or different voice for their first melody.
• Creating a question and answer texture with the second voice.
• Exploring a more active second voice, then a more relaxed second voice, then deciding which works better. 

Composition App No. 3:  Staffpad

Staffpad is a pricey app ($49.99 USD), and is honestly one that I’m still learning myself. But it’s very unique, and I’ve been enjoying it with my students so far. 

It’s an engraving software like Finale, Sibelius or Dorico, but with one big difference: It turns your handwritten notes and rhythms into a professional looking score.

Are there faster ways to notate and engrave music? Yes, but there’s just something magical about writing a phrase by hand and seeing it transform into ink on the page.

Tips for Intermediate and Advanced Students 

Although I suggest using this app with advancing students, it can be used by younger students who can handle a great deal of precision. This app is an excellent way to practice writing notes and rhythms by hand, and that’s the main draw of the app (pun intended).

Call me old-school, but I do think it’s a valuable skill to write music by hand. This takes that idea further, making it possible for handwritten scores to be ready for print. In addition, the playback function on this app is a great way to hear the music immediately after you write it.

Still, students love working with an Apple Pencil and they love seeing it transform on the page. (Be aware that it can be a little finicky, and does require learning the software. Plus, students will have to be more precise when writing in this way.)

This app is still new to me, so I would recommend watching some pros use it on YouTube to see what it’s capable of. 

Composition App No. 4: Dorico 

If I had to choose one composition app to bring on a desert island, it would be Dorico (Available for iOS – Free). Dorico is not only what I personally use for my professional work, but is something I use multiple times a day – even during lessons. 

Before Dorico was released for iPad in 2021, there was darkness. Just kidding! 😂

But before 2021, I would hand write everything at the piano and then go to a computer for engraving into Sibelius. Since Dorico’s release, I completely skip the first step and compose at the piano, directly into the app.

Tips for Newbie and Beginner Students

I arrange a lot of student requests during my lessons, and this app is a great way to get students involved in the process.

If we’re transcribing something, I’ll ask younger students if we need a short note or a long note for this or that phrase. Then they can click that rhythm button, and I’ll tell them what note to play on the keyboard.

It does take time, but students really seem to enjoy taking an active part in making the music they’re working on. And bonus: Transcribing skills are always incredibly valuable.

I help my students write out their compositions in this program, and the final result always leaves students feeling proud and eager to play through it!

Tips for Intermediate and Advanced Students

This is my personal choice for an engraving software and it can handle most things students would want to compose.

The free version of Dorico will allow students to write up to eight voices, but will disable the “Engraving” tab. (The “Engraving” tab is purely for the aesthetics of your score, so may not be essential for your students.)

The free version would be great for 90% of students and, for the other 10%, the yearly subscription for the full version is $49.99 per year or $119.99 for the life-time pass.

If students have past experience with GarageBand, Dorico has a way of composing that’s very similar to GarageBand. It’s also easy to import anything you make in GarageBand into Dorico or vice versa. 

What music composition apps do you use for your students’ projects? 

Are there any cool apps that I missed?