Just 21 days to go until Make Music Day! You don’t need to be a musician to get involved – Make Music Day is a day for everyone to enjoy music – in whatever way works for you.

Here are some ideas for how you can get involved… and don’t forget to register  what you’re doing here https://makemusicday.co.uk/events/community/add/ 

• 21 days to go… Organise a Window Serenade. These events share the joy of live music with isolated people, bringing solo musicians or small groups to play outside care home windows for those who request a song. Find out more here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/window-serenades/ 

• 20 days to go… Start making plans for your very own livestream. Decide on what you will be performing and where you will stream to. On the Make Music Day resources page (https://makemusicday.co.uk/resources/) you can find video guides and toolkits for streaming on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget our Digital Gig-In-A-Box has a range of assets to help you to promote and brand your livestream. You can download it all here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Make-Music-Day-Gig-In-A-Box.pdf 

• 19 days to go… Get involved in the Big Sing. On Make Music Day Durham Play is organising an event in which Musicians will lead a virtual sing-a-long of the songs featured on the Charanga platform. Register for the event here.

• 18 days to go… A quick and easy way for your school or youth group to  get involved in Make Music Day. The fabulous Charanga has made some of their vast library of songs and activities available for free on Make Music Day. Find out how you can get your hands on them here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/mmd-schools/ 

• 17 days to go… Choreograph a dance. Pick a piece of music and bust out some moves to it. You might want to perform it on the 21 June in your garden for neighbours, as a parade up and down your street or capture it on Tik Tok… you never know, it might go viral! 

• 16 days to go… Register to host a premiere screening of Rock ‘N’ Roll Misadventures in Libraries. These screenings can be held in-person or on  social media release. Check out the full info here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/get-it-loud-in-libraries/ 

• 15 days to go… Get involved in the Junkophonics initiative and host a homemade found object instrument-making party! All the info and some tutorial videos on how you can do this is available here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/junkophonics/ 

• 14 days to go… Get ready to enter the Make Music Day Anthem competition. This year’s anthem is ‘Stand By Me’ and we’ve teamed-up with Hal Leonard Europe to bring you the chance to win £150 of Music Room vouchers. Full info here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/make-music-day-anthem-stand-by-me/  

• 13 days to go… Got some video footage of you and your band playing? Then why not do a special edit of it for Make Music Day? You can put different clips together to make a ‘mega mix’ or tidy up the footage to create one performance. You can then release or premiere it on platforms like Facebook and YouTube on 21 June. There’s a handy guide to video editing here to help you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHqPSV9-W5U The trick is to keep it simple!

• 12 days to go… Got a new music track that you want to release? Then why not launch it on or Make Music Day? Remember to schedule some promo material on social media in advance and let people know when you’ll be dropping the track on the 21 June. Remember to use the hashtag #MakeMusicDayUK and tag us @makemusicdayuk and we will share it on!

• 11 days to go… Join the MixMash studios project. From 6-20 June, musicians and non-musicians are invited to add short sound samples to a global collection – bass lines, barking dogs, vocals, machine noises, or anything else they find intriguing. Then, from 20-21 June, producers will have 24 hours to create an original piece of music using only the samples provided, and nothing more. Find out how you can be a part of it here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/mix-mash-studios/ 

• 10 days to go… Get organising and rehearsing for your very own doorstep gig. Find out more here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/doorstep-gigs-bring-music-to-your-street/ 

• 9 days to go… Do you play an instrument? Then why not offer a live streamed demo workshop on social media? Keep it simple and show people the basics, or demonstrate how to play any easy tune. Remember to pace it slowly and give clear instructions so that people can follow along at home. For help with live streaming search ‘Live Streaming’ on our resource page: https://makemusicday.co.uk/resources/ 

• 8 days to go… Got something to say about music? Why not organise your own social media campaign to coincide with Make Music Day? You might want to bring attention to the need for music events to be inclusive (the fabulous Attitude Is Everything have some brilliant resources to support work in this area), or for gigs can be safer for women (here the work of Safer Gigs For Women might be useful). Whatever music-related campaign you’d like to launch, 21 June is a great date to galvanise it. 

• 7 days to go… Organise your own ‘listening party’. These are events for music lovers where a new album, single, or music video is premiered and enjoyed collectively – online or offline. The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess has been hosting them on Twitter… You might find some inspiration here: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com 

• 6 days to go… Make Music Day is a great catalyst of introducing people to new music. Why not take a look at what new releases there are this week and organise a private event or party on the 21 June where you can listen to them. You never know, you might find a new favourite artist! 

• 5 days to go… Check out the line-up for the official Make Music Day broadcast and see which bits you want to watch on 21 June. There’s going to be a lot of good music so you might need to order extra popcorn for your music-a-thon!

• 4 days to go… Create a music quiz for you and your family and friends to do on Make Music Day. You could do this in your home or garden (abiding by COVID-19 restriction) or get online and host a Zoom Quiz event!

• 3 days to go… Check what rubbish you are throwing out… you might be throwing away valuable materials that could be used to make instruments on Make Music Day! Take a look at these videos that show you how you can transform everyday household materials into instruments: https://makemusicday.co.uk/junkophonics/ 

• 2 days to go… Create your own Make Music Day playlist. You can do this on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube. Decide  who you are going to share it with and get ready to send it to them on Make Music Day… Or you can play it at your very own Make Music Day party on the day itself!

• 1 day to go… Get yourself in the Make Music Day spirit and print your own Make Music Day bunting. There’s also colour-at-home options as well. Get it hung up, and host your own Make Music Day party! Download it here: https://makemusicday.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PrintAtHomeBunting.zip 

• Make Music Day is here! Search what’s happening in your area and online, and get involved. Find out more: https://makemusicday.co.uk/events/