The Disquiet Junto project is an incredible resource if you’re looking for fresh and exciting ways to inspire your high school music students in their songwriting projects. Since 2012, Marc Weidenbaum of Disquiet.com has curated over 600 unique composition challenges, each designed to push musicians out of their comfort zones.
These prompts aren’t your typical songwriting exercises. They encourage musicians to think beyond standard melodies and lyrics and incorporate sound design, chance operations, and environmental influences into their compositions.
This is an incredible resource for music teachers. Whether you teach a songwriting course, digital music production via Garageband, Soundtrap, or Bandlab, or general music, these challenges offer low-pressure, creativity-boosting activities that engage students at all skill levels.
What is the Disquiet Junto Project?
The Disquiet Junto started in 2012 as a weekly experimental music challenge. Every Thursday, Weidenbaum posts a new prompt, giving musicians a few days to compose and share their responses. Over the past 13 years, this has resulted in an archive of 600+ unique songwriting ideas, all freely available to explore.
The prompts vary widely—some involve using non-musical sounds, others impose strict limitations on melody or harmony. Many of them encourage an intentional, problem-solving approach to composition, helping students develop creative resilience.
As an addition, the projects each cumulate with a compiled Soundcloud playlist where musicians can submit their final compositions for everyone to hear.
Here’s an example playlist from the first challenge, “Ice Cubes in a Glass.”
Educators can use these challenges and example recordings as classroom assignments, warm-up exercises, or extra credit opportunities. Here are 10 standout prompts from the Disquiet Junto archive, along with ideas for incorporating them into your curriculum.
Disclaimer: Because this project is open-source, please preview all material and samples before sharing them with your students.
10 Example Disquiet Junto Songwriting Ideas for the Classroom
1. Ice Cubes in a Glass
Prompt: Compose a piece of music inspired by the sound of ice cubes clinking in a glass.
Classroom Use: This challenge is perfect for teaching minimalism and texture in music. Have students record or simulate ice sounds and use them as a rhythmic or percussive element in their compositions.
2. Adding Sounds to Everyday Life
Prompt: Take an everyday sound and compose music that interacts with it.
Classroom Use: This works well as a film scoring or sound design exercise. Students can use ambient classroom noises (pencil taps, footsteps, air vents) as a base layer and add music that complements or contrasts with it.
3. Sandpaper and Dice
Prompt: Create music with distinct background and foreground elements.
Classroom Use: This is a great introduction to arrangement and layering. Assign students different roles—some create “background” textures while others write melodies or rhythmic foreground elements.
4. Make 5 Varied Doorbell Rings
Prompt: Design five distinct doorbell chimes.
Classroom Use: This is a fun sound design challenge that introduces students to musical cues. Have them compose five short melodic patterns with different emotional tones (welcoming, ominous, playful, elegant, etc.).
5. Compose Something Peaceful to Wake Up To
Prompt: Write a piece of music that is quiet, peaceful, and refreshing—something you’d want to wake up to.
Classroom Use: This is a great way to discuss tempo, dynamics, and harmonic choices. Have students analyze what makes music feel “peaceful” and apply those techniques in their compositions.
6. Make Music from Two Animal Sounds
Prompt: Use samples from two different animals and turn them into a musical composition.
Classroom Use: This introduces sampling and digital music techniques. Students can manipulate recorded animal sounds to create rhythmic or melodic patterns.
7. Let Something Go Out of Tune
Prompt: Compose a piece where an element gradually goes out of tune.
Classroom Use: A fascinating way to explore microtonality and dissonance. Students can experiment with detuning a single instrument or voice over time and analyze the emotional impact.
8. Compose with as Much Silence as Notes
Prompt: Write music where silence is just as important as the notes.
Classroom Use: This is perfect for studying negative space in music. Students can analyze composers like John Cage or Miles Davis before composing their own sparse pieces.
9. Music for Turn Signals
Prompt: Create music to accompany the rhythmic clicking of a car’s turn signal.
Classroom Use: This is an exercise in rhythmic creativity. Students can compose short loops in various time signatures that sync with a turn signal’s steady pulse.
10. Unring a Bell
Prompt: Compose music that explores the idea of reversing or undoing a sound.
Classroom Use: A great audio manipulation challenge. Students can use digital tools to reverse recordings or gradually fade elements to create an “unringing” effect.
Why Use These Prompts?
- Encourages Creative Thinking – Students explore new approaches to composition.
- Adaptable to All Skill Levels – Accessible for beginner to advanced music students.
- Integrates Technology – Many prompts work well with DAWs and recording tools.
- Cross-Curricular Connections – Involves science (acoustics), literature (storytelling), and film.
Need More Help?
If you’re interested in teaching songwriting, DAWs like Garageband, Soundtrap, or Bandlab, or would like more advice on how to approach these concepts with your music students, join us inside the Midnight Music Community for expert music technology advice, just for music teachers!
Try It in Your Classroom!
The Disquiet Junto archive is a goldmine of inspiration. Whether you assign these as full projects or quick warm-ups, they’re a fun, engaging way to develop composition skills.
Which of these prompts would your students enjoy most? Let me know in the comments!
Want more resources for music tech teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music. Yes – I’m a qualified teacher but I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through the Midnight Music Membership Community – a go-to online hub for tech-focussed professional development.
The Midnight Music Membership Community features:
- step-by-step training
- world-class online courses
- bite-sized learning through digital badges
- creative lesson ideas
It’s designed for teachers of all skill levels – from self-proclaimed ‘technophobes’ to intermediate and advanced tech users. You’ll learn how to integrate technology into your music teaching without the stress, so you can boost classroom outcomes, engage your students on a deeper level, and inspire a lifelong love of music!
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
