Director Resources
One program code for the beginning band
One program code and one passphrase put the beginning band on the first five notes, in the browser or on iPhone, without a student roster.
Beginning band is a logistics problem wearing a method book.
You have too many beginners and one of you. Rehearsal is not the place to reteach written B-flat on horn while the clarinets wait. The work has to happen at home, or on a Chromebook before school, without you standing there.
Name it, finger it, play it
First Five Notes is the first-week tool I built for that. The student names the written note, finds the fingering, and plays along with a sounding reference after a correct answer. Then the app confirms whether the expected note came out. Playing starts in step 2, not later. That is the whole loop: name it, finger it, play it.
Here is what it does not do, because directors ask. It does not score rhythm, tempo, tone, or articulation. It does not save a recording. It does not build a practice-analytics profile on the student. It makes no generated-coaching claims. If you need a chair-test grader, this is not that. If you need the first five notes to stop being a mystery, it is.
Two different doors
The first five notes are free. No account. Live on iPhone and in the browser, 14 learning paths across 12 beginning-band instrument families, including separate high-bells and low-bells paths. Instrument samples play where a usable take exists. Remaining gaps, including bells, keep a built-in tone. As of 2026-09-06 that is the honest sound picture, after the 1.2.1 release.
When the whole beginning band needs the full beginning ranges, that is First 5 Notes Classroom, not a stack of family unlocks. Classroom is $99 as a one-time payment for a 12-month term. It covers one band program at one school. Enrolled students and co-teachers in that program can use it. Access does not renew automatically. After payment you get one program code and you choose one passphrase. You do not upload a roster. Students do not give a name or an email. Progress stays on the device. Microphone audio is processed in the moment and is not recorded or uploaded.
That last paragraph is the part I care about as a director. I will not collect a beginner email list to teach B-flat.
Browser and iPhone, same code
As of 2026-09-06 Classroom is live in the browser, and native program-code sign-in shipped in First 5 Notes: Beginning Band 1.2, so the iPhone app can take the same code. Put the browser on the band-room Chromebooks. Send iPhone households to the App Store listing for First 5 Notes: Beginning Band.
Hand it out this week
Send clarinet homes to the clarinet page, horn homes to the horn page. The written first five are on each instrument page. Print the two-page student sheet and send that hosted link with it.
What you will not see next Monday
What you will not see next Monday: a dashboard of who practiced, a heatmap of missed notes, a recording of last night's living room. First Five Notes does not give you that, on purpose. What you can ask in rehearsal is simpler. Could they name it, finger it, and play it? If a beginner is still lost, open their instrument page with them for one minute.