Planning a music lesson should include as many opportunities as possible for learners to engage with and actively listen to, move to, create/perform music. The CAPS for Creative Arts defines the following topics for performing arts in the foundation phase of a student's education:

• Creative games and skills
• Improvisation and interpretation

Things to keep in mind when planning a lesson.

• Music should always be played at the start and finish of a lesson.
• Never listen to music on YouTube or from recordings without a definite goal in mind.
•  Any music played in class must aid in the achievement of the lesson's objectives.
• When playing a music in class, tell students what they need to listen for or do while listening.
• Always provide guidance to students when they are listening to music
• Do not plan a lesson where learners only listen to music.
• The introduction should be simple

Characteristics of a well-planned lesson.

A well-planned lesson should have the following:

• Introduction
• Teaching and learning phase.
• Conclusion.

A well-thought-out instruction will organically evolve from lower to higher-order thinking levels. In the beginning learners to must engage in free movement, free play, and imitation activities (Bloom levels 1-2). Learners must explore, reflect on, and manipulate materials during the presentation phase in order to internalize new knowledge and abilities through play, exploration, cooperation, and reflection (talking about what they are discovering/experiencing) (Bloom levels 3-5). Finally, in the final phase, we want learners to use the arts to communicate their understanding by making and presenting an artwork, a musical performance, or a dramatized production (Bloom level 6). These concepts apply to all lessons, not just music instruction.