Music classroom posters

What to put up, by grade

Put up what you’re teaching now, plus a little of what comes next. A wall covered in every topic is hard to read and easy to ignore.

Grades	Put up	Trebly posters
Elementary (K–5)	Note and rest values, note names on the staff, dynamics (loud and soft)	Beginner poster, rhythm and note reading poster
Middle school (6–8)	Rhythm and time signatures, both clefs, key signatures, the major scale	Rhythm poster, treble and bass clef notes, key signatures
High school and theory classes	Circle of fifths, scales, intervals, chords, Roman numerals, cadences	Music theory poster, circle of fifths
Piano or keyboard lab	The keyboard with note names, finger numbers, the grand staff	Piano poster, piano keys chart
Guitar or ukulele class	Fretboard notes, chord boxes, reading tab	Guitar poster, guitar chord chart, ukulele chord chart
Band and orchestra	Rhythm, dynamics, articulations, repeats, key signatures	Rhythm poster, key signatures

We don’t make posters of instrument families or composers. For those, look to a classroom supplier, or have students make them (see the ideas for bulletin boards below).

Which size, and where to hang it

Where	Size	Use it for
Front wall, where you teach	A1 or 24 × 36 in	The posters you point to in most lessons
Side and back walls	A2 or 18 × 24 in	Reference students check on their own
By the instruments or a practice station	11 × 17 in or A3	Chord charts, fingering, the keyboard
Desks, folders and binders	Letter or A4	Handouts and a copy to take home

• Hang posters at students’ eye level when they’re sitting, not up near the ceiling, where only the title is readable.
• Keep the front wall for what you’re teaching now, and move older topics to the side walls.
• Avoid windows and bright lights that cause glare, and use matte paper or matte laminate.

Every free Trebly poster comes in all these sizes, in US terms (measure, quarter note) or UK terms (bar, crotchet). Smaller sizes hold fewer sections, so the text stays readable. For paper and print shops, see how to print your poster.

On a small budget

• Print the small sizes on the school copier. 11 × 17 in or A3 copies are usually free for teachers. Laminate them if students will touch them.
• Spend money on one or two large prints of the posters you point to most, from a print shop.
• Start with free posters. Pay for a poster only when you need something the free ones don’t cover, like your school’s colors, your own topics or your school name.
• Ask your school’s parent group. Many fund classroom supplies, and a few large prints are a small request.

Make them part of the lesson

A poster students look at during lessons is worth more than one they walk past.

• Point to it while you teach, so students know where to look when they’re stuck.
• “Check the wall first.” Before a student asks what a dotted half note is worth, they check the poster.
• Quick quizzes: cover one part with a sticky note and ask what’s under it.
• Swap posters as units change, so the wall stays fresh and matches the lesson.
• Practice from the poster: students learn the note names on the wall, then practice them in Trebly’s free classroom games.

Posters for your room or school

The free posters come as they are, in the Trebly style. The Music Theory Poster Maker lets you choose this term’s topics, use your school’s colors and put your class or school name across the top. It checks the text is big enough to read at the size you choose. A custom poster is a $9 print-ready PDF that you can print for your classroom or your whole school, and share with colleagues at your school.

Readable for every student

• Strong contrast: dark text on a light page (or light on dark), not pale gray on white.
• Never color alone: labels are written out, so color-blind students get the same information.
• Clear lettering and space around it; avoid crowded posters with tiny text.
• Low enough to read from a wheelchair or the front row, as well as from the back.

Trebly’s free posters use dark text on a light page with every label written out, and the Poster Maker’s page colors are tested to meet WCAG AA contrast standards.

Ideas for a music bulletin board

Bulletin boards work best when students help fill them. Ideas many music teachers use:

• Music word wall: the words of the current unit (tempo, dynamics, staccato) with a symbol or a short definition.
• Rhythm tree: a whole note splitting into halves, quarters and eighths, built up as the class learns each one.
• Composer or musician of the month, with a piece to listen to.
• Instrument families, with pictures students find or draw.
• Student work: short rhythms or melodies students have written. Trebly’s Compose mode lets them write and play a melody on screen.

Before you put up a lot of paper, check your school’s rules: some limit how much of a wall or door can be covered, for fire safety.

Questions

Are the posters really free for a classroom? Yes. Print as many copies as you like for your classroom and hand them out to students. No email or sign-up. Please don’t sell them or upload the files elsewhere. See the poster terms.

Can I use them in more than one classroom or school? The free posters, yes: print them for any classroom. A custom poster you make in the Poster Maker covers your whole school, including colleagues’ rooms. For several schools, such as a district, email support@trebly.fun first.

Should I laminate classroom posters? Laminate the ones students touch or that stay up all year: they last longer and take dry-erase markers. Ask for a matte laminate, as gloss reflects the lights.

What should go up first in a new music room? A rhythm and note reading poster and a music theory poster on the front wall. Add instrument posters for what you teach, then fill the side walls unit by unit.

How do I choose between posters from different places? Check that they’re accurate, readable at your size and in your music terms. Our guide to choosing a music theory poster has a five-minute check for common mistakes.