Loop Pedal Technology Project 

& 
6-Week Guitar & Loop Pedal Project Curriculum 
 
 
Day 1: Scale Introduction/G major 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ The letters used in music (ABCDEFG) 
○ The theory behind the G major and C major scale 
○ How to play the G major and C major scale 
 
Day 2: Scale review/C chords (Spelling Chords) 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ The letters used in music (ABCDEFG) 
○ The theory behind the G major and C major scale 
○ How to play the G major and C major scale (In groups) 
○ How to play I, IV, V in C major 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ The theory behind chord structures 
○ How to spell triads (1,3,5) 
○ How to spell C major, F major and G major chords 
○ How to associate roman numerals with the chords (C=I, F=IV, G=V) 
 
Day 3: C and G scale review/C Chords (Spelling Chords)/You are my Sunshine 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ The letters used in music 
○ The theory behind the G major and C major scale 
○ How to play the G major and C major scale 
○ How to play I, IV, V in C major 
○ The theory behind chord structures 
○ How to use 1,3,5 to spell triads 
○ How to spell C major, F major, and G major chords 
○ How to associate roman numerals with the chords (C=I, F=IV, G=V) 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ The chord progression to ​You are my Sunshine ​(C,F,G) 
○ How to perform the song with words and in time together 
 
Day 4: You are my Sunshine review/G chords (Spelling Chords)/Country Roads 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ How to play the G major and C major scale 
○ How to play I, IV, V in C major 
○ The theory behind chord structures 
○ How to use 1,3,5 to spell triads 
 ○ How to spell C major, F major, and G major chords 
○ How to associate roman numerals with the chords (C=I, F=IV, G=V) 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ How to play I, V, vi, IV, I and I, vi, IV, V, I in G major 
■ (The chord progression to ​Country Roads​) 
○ How to spell G major, C major, D major, and E minor chords 
○ How to play ​County Roads ​with words and in time together 
 
Day 5: Own choice playing quiz assignment and practice 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ The theory behind chord structures 
○ How to use 1,3,5 to spell triads 
○ How to play I, V, vi, IV, I and I, vi, IV, V, I in G major 
■ (The chord progression to ​Country Roads​) 
○ How to spell G major, C major, D major, and E minor chords 
○ How to play ​County Roads ​with words and in time together 
● In this class, students were ​assigned​: 
○ Own-Choice playing quiz! 
■ MUST learn the CHORDS to a song 
■ MUST be able to SPELL the chords they play/learn 
■ Everything else? Up to the student! 
 
Day 6: Own choice playing quiz performance for teacher 
● In this class, students ​practiced​: 
○ Their choice songs, while teacher roamed to help individuals 
● In this class, students ​performed​: 
○ Their choice songs, and spelled the chords they played 
 
Day 7: Learning a loop (Seven Nation Army) 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ How to play Em and C chords 
○ How to spell Em and C chords 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ What a “Loop” is 
○ How to play ​and loop ​the chords to ​Seven Nation Army ​(Em, C) 
○ How to play ​and loop ​the guitar intro to ​Seven Nation Army 
○ How to play the chords and melody to a steady beat 
 
Day 8: 7NA review/Looping in a group(Tempo) 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ How to play Em and C chords 
○ How to spell Em and C chords 
○ What a “Loop” is 
 ○ How to play ​and loop ​the chords to ​Seven Nation Army ​(Em, C) 
○ How to play ​and loop ​the guitar intro to ​Seven Nation Army 
■ How to play the chords and melody to a steady beat 
○ In this class, students ​performed​:  
■ 7NA in large groups 
● Room split in half, one side plays chords, one side plays 
melody. And switch! 
■ 7NA in small groups 
○ In groups no larger than 4, students took turns playing chords and 
melody with their other group members (to a steady beat) 
 
Day 9: Looping in a group(Tempo)/Beat exercise/Loop pedal intro 
● In this class, students ​reviewed​: 
○ How to play Em and C chords 
○ How to spell Em and C chords 
○ What a “Loop” is 
○ How to play ​and loop ​the chords to ​Seven Nation Army ​(Em, C) 
○ How to play ​and loop ​the guitar intro to ​Seven Nation Army 
○ How to play the chords and melody to a steady beat 
○ 7NA in large groups 
■ Room split in half, one side plays chords, one side plays melody. 
And switch! 
○ 7NA in small groups 
■ In groups no larger than 4, students took turns playing chords 
and melody with their other group members  
■ NEW STIPULATION​: The teacher couldn’t count off the group, one 
of the students had to start the performance. Stay in time! 
● In this class, students ​learned​: 
○ How to identify and keep a steady beat 
■ Listening to pop songs as a class- clap the beat 
○ What a loop pedal is and what it does 
■ Class was shown a video of Ed Sheeran using a looper 
 
Day 10: Loop pedal project introduction&practice 
● In this class, students were ​assigned​: 
○ Loop Pedal Project! 
■ (Directly taken from assignment): 
■ “Pick a song (in a group or by yourself) and use: 
● CHORDS 
● A MELODY  
○ (Tab, by ear, by music, etc.) 
● You must have at least ONE “layer” for each person in your 
group. 
 ● You don’t HAVE to record on the pedal at the end (you 
should though :) 
○ BUT you should prepare as if you did have to record!” 
 
Day 11: Loop pedal practice 
● In this class, students ​practiced​: 
○ Their Loop Pedal Projects, while teacher roamed to help individuals 
● In this class, students ​performed​: 
○ Their projects for the teacher, if they were ready 
Day 12: Loop pedal performance  
● In this class, students ​practiced​: 
○ Their Loop Pedal Projects, while teacher roamed to help individuals 
● In this class, students ​performed​: 
○ Their projects for the teacher 
 
Reflection 
 
This entire experience was very new to me. 6 months ago, I had never played a 
single guitar chord. At the beginning of my Senior year at JMU, I got a guitar and 
decided to learn! At that point, I had no idea how much I was going to be able to use 
that acoustic guitar in my future. 
A few weeks before I started student teaching, I discovered that my 
cooperating teacher had two guitar classes. I was immediately excited, but also 
nervous. I decided to learn as much guitar as I could in the following weeks to best 
prepare me to teach students that I hadn’t even met yet. 
Within the first week of student teaching, I had basically completely taken over 
both of the guitar classes. While getting to know these students through jam sessions 
and conversations, I had a student tell me that he would love to one day learn how to 
use a loop pedal while he played. I told him that I owned a loop pedal of my own, and 
I immediately started brainstorming a way to incorporate this technology into the 
class. 
I knew then what my end goal for my time in the classes was: a loop pedal 
project in which students will compose or arrange a loop for themselves,! I now had 
to ask myself “how do we get there?” I thought immensely about scaffolding. What did 
these kids know when I got there, and what should they know in order to utilize a 
looper in a creative way? I typed out numerous lessons, and even drew flow charts to 
visually map out the entire project. 
This being said, this project was not completely planned in one day. I had to 
adapt and re-plan ​many ​times after experiencing where students individually were in 
their progress toward our final goal. During classes, I made sure my “lecture” time in 
front of the class was limited. For example, teaching chord progressions would take 
me less than 10 minutes. After I was done instructing the whole class, they practiced 
on their own. During these practice times, I physically sat down with every single 
student in the class and got the opportunity to teach them one-on-one. ​This p ​ art was 
my favorite part of my whole time teaching this class. Not only could I individually 
assess every students’ progress, but I also got to know them as ​people​. 
Another favorite part of this project was getting the opportunity to hear their 
Own-Choice and Pedal Project songs. They were able to pick songs that best 
interested them, as long as they fit into the requirements of the projects. The final 
loop pedal projects ranged from gospel songs, to the ​Cops​ theme song, to songs 
from middle-eastern countries. 
The requirements of the final loop pedal project were almost non-existent. 
They needed to pick a song and prepare a chord progression, and a melody to play 
over it. They could also work in small groups. The largest group I had was four 
students. The only additional stipulation in groups was that each member had to 
contribute in a ​different w
​ ay! But, ultimately as long as the progression and melody 
could be looped, it worked for me! I feel that letting the students have so much 
freedom with their loop choice really influenced how much they enjoyed the project. 
When they “performed” their loops for me, we sat together in a room with an 
amp, the looper, a mic, and two guitars. The environment was low-stress, and very 
one-on-one. I knew that some of them would be nervous, so I encouraged and 
helped them through the loop as much as possible. I gave them the option to use the 
pedal themselves, play while I operated the pedal, or to not use the pedal at all (as 
long as they could loop their chords/melody without one). All of them chose to use 
the pedal, and some even wanted to learn how to use it themselves! 
Ultimately, this project was one of the most exciting and fun experiences I have 
had as a teacher so far. I would absolutely try to modify a project like this into any 
classroom I get to teach in in the future. I feel that the students enjoyed this project, 
and I know that I had SO much fun with it too!