Description: This lesson focuses on the mindset needed to be successful in the course. Students learn to listen critically to different types of music, solve technical problems to maintain their workstation, collaborate effectively, and help themselves and others with the lessons. They then create a product as a group that demonstrates their understanding of the material.

Technical Outcome: Understand the location of resources and tools in the lesson and studio pages.

If you have any specific expectations or outcomes, feel free to include them in the discussion of the roles of a producer. Prepare the collaborative playlists and share the links in your LMS to make it easy for students to add their favorite tracks. Also, be ready to share your own music with students. Have a roster of your students ready and take notes on what type of music they like and other pertinent information.

As a Class:

Complete an icebreaker activity or a name game at the beginning of class.
Ask the students what they think a music producer is.
Watch the top video on the roles of a music producer.
Watch the videos for the different roles of a music producer.
Discuss the different roles between each viewing and how they can be applied to the class. Here are some prompts:
- Musician: Have students discuss their favorite artists and genres. What kinds of music do they NOT like? How does keeping an open mind help with being a musician? Ask students why they listen to music and play an example of a song, asking them to identify as many instruments as they can.
- Engineer: Ask the class if they have ever had a problem with technology. Who in their life is the best at solving problems and why?
- Collaborator: Ask students about what positive collaboration looks like. Have they ever been in a group where the work wasn’t distributed evenly? Was there ever a time when they felt left out in a group? Have they ever done all of the work? Come up with norms for group work in the class.
- Teacher: Discuss with students the difference between giving an answer and understanding how to figure out an answer. Why is it important to be able to learn by yourself and help others? Ask them what distracts them while working independently. Chances are they will bring up phones. Have them come to the conclusion that having a phone by them is not the best idea to stay focused while working independently.
- Creator: Ask students if they have made anything in class or outside of school that they are proud of. What went into the making of that thing? What was the difference in how they felt when they were making it versus how they felt after it was created.
Watch the tour video together.

In Groups:

Have students introduce each other and discuss a non-musical issue for an introduction, like: what is your favorite or least favorite item in the lunchroom?
Instruct students to make some sort of product, a script, poster, song, or screen recording that demonstrates their understanding of the following:
- What does good collaboration look like?
- What do you do if you are lost or have a question on a project?
- How do you help someone?
- What do you do if your device isn’t working?
- Where are the resources on the lesson and studio pages? When are they used?

Informal Assessment:

Check for understanding of the lesson when discussing the roles of a producer.
When students are working together, observe their collaborative skills. Call out skills that you like to the rest of the class.
Allow students to present their product to the class.

Sabotage! After going through the troubleshooting steps for the student workstations, have students switch stations and purposely create a hardware or software problem. Instruct students to go back to their stations to figure out the problem. This activity can also be done as a class where either the teacher sabotages a station and students work together to figure out what is wrong, OR students sabotage a station and the teacher has to troubleshoot the issue.

Consumer, Curator, Creator: This is an icebreaker activity that gets students thinking about where they place themselves in the world of content consumption and creation. Discuss the roles of a consumer, curator, and creator in social media. A consumer scrolls and watches and lets the algorithm decide, a curator learns and is entertained by favorite people in specific content areas, and a creator makes the content to be consumed and/or curated. Have students identify which role they identify as and which role they would like to play in the future. Have students get into small groups and discuss their findings as well as share their favorite creators. As an extension, you can prompt students to discuss how their creators embody the different aspects of a producer.

Collaborative Playlist: Set up a collaborative playlist using Spotify or with a Google Form and YouTube. Instruct students to anonymously add 2 songs to the playlist. Listen to some of the songs together and act as musicians to keep an open mind and find new favorite songs in the class. Use songs from this playlist as examples in future lessons.

Find It Fast: Ask students to find a specific section of either a lesson or studio page on their devices. Have students show their device to the teacher once they find the indicated item. The fastest finder wins!

This lesson sets the stage for the course. Aspects of a good music student are disguised as the roles of a producer. Taking extra time at the beginning to identify these and work together to come up with examples of what each “looks like” in your classroom will pay dividends when students work independently and in groups on projects later. Continue circling back to the roles of a producer during the course and spotlight behaviors that you want students to see when working. Encourage students to reflect on how they feel they are embodying the roles of a producer throughout the class. This type of metacognition will also help them during the course and beyond.

Core Arts Standards

Creating:
- Anchor Standard 1 (Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work): Develop the mindset needed for success in the course by understanding the roles of a music producer and listening critically to different types of music.
- Anchor Standard 2 (Organize and develop artistic ideas and work): Organize and develop technical problem-solving skills, collaborative strategies, and self-help techniques.
- Anchor Standard 3 (Refine and complete artistic work): Refine collaborative and technical skills through group activities and problem-solving exercises.
Performing:
- Anchor Standard 4 (Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation): Analyze and interpret the different roles of a music producer and how they apply to class activities.
Responding:
- Anchor Standard 7 (Perceive and analyze artistic work): Analyze and understand the technical and collaborative aspects of music production.
- Anchor Standard 8 (Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work): Discuss and reflect on the roles of a producer and how they contribute to success in the course.
Connecting:
- Anchor Standard 11 (Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding): Connect the roles of a producer to broader contexts in music production and collaboration.

Technology Literacy Standards

Empowered Learner (ISTE Standard 1):
- Use digital tools to locate resources and tools on lesson and studio pages, track progress, and reflect on their work.
Creative Communicator (ISTE Standard 6):
- Experiment with collaborative activities and problem-solving techniques, and effectively communicate their understanding through various formats.

Career Readiness

Music Production: Skills in critical listening, technical problem-solving, and collaboration essential for a successful career in music production.
Sound Engineering: Technical knowledge of maintaining workstations and troubleshooting hardware and software issues.
Collaboration and Teamwork: Understanding the importance of effective collaboration, helping oneself and others, and maintaining a productive work environment.
Education and Training: Ability to learn independently and assist peers, embodying the roles of both student and teacher.

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