Digital Tool Tutorial

 Let's learn about SUNO

SUNO is an AI   🎶 Music 🎶  Generating Platform.

I first learned about SUNO only recently, but was able to effectively incorporate it into my middle school ELA vocabulary lessons towards the end of this past school year.  The curriculum that I teach includes advanced academic vocabulary, and my 6th grader's curriculum specifically has a strong emphasis on roots and their meaning.  Throughout the year they are required to memorize a long list of roots, and I thought this digital tool might help them study in fun and memorable way.  I was right.  Not only did it help my students memorize these specific roots, but it also inspired them to try using SUNO themselves to create some of their own songs and further develop digital literacy skills in the process.  

Here's the song I wrote:

Roots: Lyrics by Kari-Ann Rocco, Music generated by SUNO 

When I created this song, I did write all of the lyrics myself because I wanted to target very specific roots and vocabulary words.  However, you can also use the simple format and the site will even generate the lyrics for you if you give a detailed prompt.  Just like we discussed in class, the better the prompt, the better the outcome when using AI.

Want to know how to use this digital tool yourself?????

Great!  Here's how it works...

Step 1:    Go to suno.com and create a free account.  Here's the link: SUNO

As you are setting up your account you can specify musical styles and genres that you prefer or you can just skip this step and get right to creating.  The workspace is very user friendly.

Step 2:    Click the Create Button on the left side of the workspace:

Step 3:    Decide if you would like to have the platform generate the lyrics for you [Simple] or if you would like to write your own lyrics [Custom].

Step 4:    If you have chosen SIMPLE, just give as specific of a prompt as you can (remember our thorough lesson on this from class).  You can add specific vocabulary or content, and you can give a sense of the intended audience and objectives.

If you have chosen CUSTOM, just insert only your lyrics into the box.

Step 5:    After you give the lyrics prompts, just choose some musical styles from the vast list that's provided and then submit.

Step 6:    Wait for SUNO to generate 2 options for you to listen to.  If you like it you can publish and if it's not quite right you can always go back and refine. 

Step 7:    PUBLISH what you like and SHARE the link with friends or students.  😀

This much of the site was all free, and they give 100 credits to use for free when you join.  I was able to create 4 different songs so far (I only published 2 that I liked),  and still have a balance of 50 credits.  I cannot speak to the added features of a premium subscription, but I'm sure if you like it you could easily figure that part out.  

Overall, I have found this tool to be very user friendly and intuitive.  I believe that including MUSIC in the classroom is a great way to differentiate learning, and that music transcends language boundaries.  Music can be used to help develop routines, support study of content, or be a creative outlet for students to demonstrate learning.