START A CLASS

FOR TEACHERS

Every student makes a real song. You stay in control of the room.

No logins, no installs, no budget. Put one word on the board and your whole class is making music in about a minute, on the Chromebooks, iPads and phones they already have. You see who's stuck, hear any student from your own phone, and collect every song before the bell.

START A CLASSSEE HOW A CLASS GOES

Free, no ads, no sign-up. Nothing for students to install, and no accounts to make.

  • NO STUDENT ACCOUNTS
  • NO CHAT
  • UP TO 60 STUDENTS
  • ANY DEVICE
  • FREE
The teacher's class panel: six students shown as critters with their status (nothing yet, starter only, making, handed in), HUSH EVERYONE, HAND IN NOW counting 2 of 6 handed in, and two hand-ins, one saying from starter NIGHT DRIVE (TRAP): 9 squares changed, added VOX, the other from scratch
Your class panel: who's stuck, who's done, and what each student actually made.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Half the period goes to logins and passwords.

One word, no accounts. Put a word like PIXEL42 or a QR code on the board. Students scan or type it and they're in, each as their own critter, with nothing to install and nothing to remember.

Thirty devices, all at full volume.

HUSH EVERYONE. One tap stops every student's music behind EYES UP HERE, and the button counts the phones as they go quiet. QUIETER PHONES halves every student speaker for the whole class.

I can't tell who's stuck until the bell rings.

A live status on every critter: NOTHING YET, STARTER ONLY, MAKING, HANDED IN. Tap any one to hear what that student is making right now, from across the room.

Did they make it, or just press play on a template?

Every hand-in says what the student did: made from scratch, or which starter beat it began as, how many squares changed and which instruments and sounds are new.

Collecting everyone's work is chaos.

HAND IN NOW asks every student who hasn't handed in, and counts the songs as they arrive. KEEP ALL AND END saves them all to your device, with a class file ready to grade.

Some of my kids say they're not musical.

Sound in one tap. Starter beats in 6 genres give anyone a groove to change, and the scale lock means every note fits. The shy ones get going too.

Privacy forms and worried parents.

Anonymous by design. No student accounts, names, emails or chat. Songs go only to you, the public Wall is off for them, and the class is deleted from plip's server when it ends.

No budget, and a cart of mixed devices.

Free and in the browser. No ads, no licences, nothing to install. Chromebooks, iPads, laptops and phones all work, side by side.

HOW A CLASS GOES

YOU, THE TEACHERSTART A CLASS: one word like PIXEL42, a QR code or a link

TO EVERY PHONE

  • GIVE EVERYONE A STARTING BEAT
  • HUSH EVERYONE
  • HAND IN NOW
  • PINK CATMAKING
  • MINT FROGHANDED IN
  • SKY SLIMESTARTER ONLY
  • ROSE GHOSTNOTHING YET

Each student: their own phone, their own song. No accounts, no names, no Wall.

BACK TO YOU

  • A STATUS ON EVERY CRITTER
  • LISTEN IN, LIVE
  • HAND-INS: WHAT EACH ONE MADE
KEEP ALL AND ENDEvery song saved on your device, plus a class file with a notes and grade column
  1. Start the class. Tap START A CLASS (here, or from the ? help inside plip). Choose whether starter beats are on, whether student phones play at half volume, and whether students see when you listen. You get a word, a QR code and a link for the board.
  2. Students join in a minute. They scan, tap the link, or type the word (under PRESS START: in a class? type the word). Each starts on a fresh jam as a critter no classmate shares, shown in the corner of their own screen so you can match faces to phones.
  3. Teach. Give everyone the same starting beat: one of your own songs, or any starter beat by name (listen or change it first if you like). Or let them pick a starter beat themselves, or start from silence. HUSH EVERYONE whenever you need eyes up.
  4. Coach. Watch the statuses, tap a critter to listen in, and NEXT to go around the room. Play a student's song for the class with one tap.
  5. Collect. HAND IN NOW, then KEEP ALL AND END. Every student and every song, in one file.

WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH

The class file

One page you can print, keep in Google Drive or email to yourself: every student who joined (even those who made nothing), their song, what it was made from, when, an OPEN IN PLIP link and an empty notes and grade column.

Names that stay with you

TYPE NAMES puts a box beside every critter. Names live only on your device and in your class file, are never sent anywhere, and never show on the bar a projector sees.

Songs worth sharing

Kept songs live in FILE, CLASS SONGS on your device, ready to play back for the class. For a music tech lesson, any song goes to GarageBand or another DAW as stems and MIDI.

SAFE BY DESIGN

LESSON IDEAS

Rhythm

Build four on the floor on KICK, then a backbeat on SNARE. Change one square and hear the groove change.

Scales and melody

Turn on the scale lock (major, minor, blues, pentatonic and more) and improvise without wrong notes. Record a 2 bar phrase.

Reading the notes

Open ROLL on a melody: every note sits on a named row with its real length, and chords show their names. Move a note and hear what changed.

Math: fractions you can hear

Sixteen squares make a bar. Fill every fourth for quarter notes, every second for eighths, and hear how the fractions add up.

Science: how sound works

In the Sound Lab, draw a wave and drag the envelope: hear attack, decay, sustain and release change a sound.

English: score a story

Students read a poem or a scene, then make the music for it and hand it in with a title that tells the mood.

QUESTIONS

How long does it take to set up?
About a minute. There is nothing to install and no class list to type in: start the class, put the word on the board, and students join as they arrive.
How many students can join?
A class is made for up to 60 students, each with a critter no classmate shares. Teaching two groups at once? Start a class for each.
What devices does it need?
Any device with a modern browser: Chromebooks, iPads, laptops and phones. Headphones help a lot in a room of 30, and QUIETER PHONES helps when they're missing.
Does it cost anything?
Not right now. Classroom mode is free like the rest of plip, with no ads and no sign-up for you or your students. plip is made by one person, so some extras may cost something one day. If that happens, you'll hear about it first, and every song your class made stays yours.
Do I need to be a musician?
No. Students start from a starter beat or your jam and change it, and the scale lock keeps every note in key. It works for math, English and science lessons too (see the lesson ideas above).
What if students wander off task?
There's no chat and no public Wall while they're in class. Their status shows who has made nothing yet, a tap lets you hear what anyone is playing, and HUSH EVERYONE stops every phone when you need the room back.
How do I grade the songs?
DOWNLOAD the class file from FILE, CLASS SONGS: a page listing every student who joined (including anyone who made nothing), every song with what it was made from and an OPEN IN PLIP link, and an empty notes column.
Can students work together?
Yes. They can pair up with TOGETHER inside the class and play on the same beat, each keeping their own song as their part.

More detail in the classroom answers of the FAQ.

MORE ABOUT PLIP

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