5 fresh ways to celebrate International Music Day with your students

International Music Day, marked annually on 1 October, is a great opportunity to celebrate the joy of making, learning and sharing music in all its forms. Here at Trinity College London, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to take part in music, whether they are just starting out, developing their skills or already performing with confidence. That’s why we’re proud to support teachers and music educators who inspire students every day and help more people discover the enjoyment, creativity and sense of achievement that music performance can bring.

To help you celebrate with your students, we’ve pulled together a few simple activity starters you can adapt to suit different ages, instruments and teaching settings. Whether you have five minutes or a full lesson, these ideas are designed to spark creativity, participation and enjoyment around music-making. We've also got an exciting giveaway - see below for details. 

1. The 60-second performance challenge

Ask your students to prepare a one-minute performance of something they all enjoy playing. It could be a polished excerpt, an improvisation, a duet or even a work in progress. The aim of the activity is to make performance feel low-pressure and accessible to as many people as possible, while giving every student a chance to share something musical.

2. Create a class/group soundtrack

Invite each student to nominate one piece of music that represents something important to them: motivation, friendship, home, celebration or a memorable moment. Build up a class/group playlist and ask students to briefly explain their choice. This keeps the activity student-led while opening discussion around individual musical taste, identity and listening.

3. The musical skills swap

Pair or group off students and ask each person to teach the others one small musical skill they know well and are confident in. This could be a drum groove, chord pattern, scale, riff, vocal warm-up, improvisation idea or practice technique. The activity celebrates peer learning and helps students recognise the skills they already have.

4. Re-imagine a familiar tune

Take a simple, well-known melody and challenge your students to transform it. They could change the tempo, metre, accompaniment, style, instrumentation or mood. For example, a nursery rhyme could be transformed into a rock track, jazz arrangement, film score or electronic piece. This works particularly well across mixed abilities because the task can be as simple or sophisticated as needed.

5. The music-making relay

Start with a short musical idea created by one student or group, then pass it to the next group or student to add another layer: rhythm, bass line, harmony, melody or lyrics. Continue building it up until the class has created one collaborative piece. It creates a strong sense of shared ownership and works well as an International Music Day celebration because everyone contributes to the final result.

6. Music for a purpose

Ask students to create or select music for a real-world brief, such as creating music for a school event, sports team entrance, charity video, podcast intro, fictional game or a short film scene. Students then explain why their musical choices suit the given brief. This gives the activity a creative but purposeful angle and reinforces how musical skills transfer into wider contexts.

Win prizes to keep the music playing!

However you choose to celebrate International Music Day this year, we’d love to help you keep more learners making music. You can enter our International Music Day 2026 Prize Draw for the chance to win your choice of musical instrument, plus other music prizes including: a Sonos Roam 2 speaker or a full set of Trinity College London repertoire/song books. Click below to enter.