Originally published February 8, 2026
Updated March 4, 2026
This collection of Jon Batiste music lesson plans provides K-8 educators with ready-to-use interactive activities centered on Batiste’s life, jazz genre, & social music.
By focusing on his work in Soul and his “Social Music” philosophy, these lessons meet National Core Arts Standards in Creating, Responding, and Connecting while fostering student engagement through multimodal learning and interactive play.
How to Use This Interactive Page
Pick and choose from the activities for a short class starter, full period lesson, or multi-lesson unit. For written lesson plans, see the Jon Batiste Music Lesson Plan Guide.
Activity Length Guide-to help you plan and pace your lesson.
🟢 Quick (3–5 min)
🔵 Focused (5–10 min)
🟣 Extended (10+ min)
Table of Contents
Quick Facts About Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste is a world-famous singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, television personality and actor from Louisiana who loves to spread joy through music!
He is a master of the piano and the melodica, has won huge awards like Grammys and an Oscar, and is famous for leading “love riots” that are spontaneous musical parades that bring people together.
Click to open each blue heading.
🔵 Jon Batiste Bio
BORN
Name: Jonathan Michael Batiste
Born: Metairie, Louisiana
Date: November 11, 1986
FAMILY
🔹Wife: Suleika Jaouad
🔹Children: None
🔹Siblings: 1 sister
🔹Parents: Michael (musician), Katherine (Department of Energy)
EDUCATION
🔹High School-attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Trombone Shorty
🔹College-Bachelor’s & Master’s degrees in Jazz Studies from Juilliard
EARLY MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
🔹Instruments: vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar, melodica
🔹Early Performance: played percussion/drums with his family’s band, The Batiste Brothers Band
🔹Lessons: started piano lessons at age 11
🔹Fun fact: he loved to transcribe video game music like Sonic and Street Fighter Alpha
LEGACY & ACTIVISM
We often think of legacies as something people leave later in life—but Jon Batiste is already creating one with his wide variety of music.
🔹”Apathy is the killer of all that we fight and hope for in our society.” He wrote his “We Are” album to encourage people to care about everything.
🔹”The artist as citizen has a golden opportunity for you to really show and utilize the full power of music to actually make impactful change in people’s lives.”
🟢 How to Play the Melodica With Jon Batiste
Watch how Jon Batiste produces so many sounds with a melodica!
🟢 Cartoons & Game Music With Jon Batiste
Check out Jon Batiste’s love of video game music and cartoon fx!
Melodica buying recommendations!
In general, the cheaper Cahaya brand is more like a toy so go with a good music brand like Hohner, Suzuki, Yamaha.
🟢 Musical Influences of Jon Batiste
INFLUENCES & GENRES
🔹He was born into a musical family including his father, uncles, and cousins.
🔹His influences include Mahalia Jackson, James Brown, Louis Armstrong, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Beethoven, and Django Reinhardt.
🔹Musical genres include jazz, classical, and blues, as well as soul, Americana, and pop.
Watch how Jon changes Beethoven’s music to fit his style!
Want great Jazz experiences for kids?
Bring interactive Jazz activities to your students with these Easy Jazz Music Lessons & Activities for K-8!
“Freedom” Musical Form Activity
🟢 “Freedom” Live Performance Video
🟣 “Freedom” Form & Body Percussion Activity
Find the form of the song by showing these motions!
- Chorus: “When I move…”
- Verse 1: “I love how you talk…”
- Chorus: “When I move…”
- Verse 2: “The reason to get down is to get back up…”
- Bridge: When I look up to the stars…”
- Verse 3: I’m stuck to the dance floor.
- Verse 3:
- Chorus/Coda: “When I move…”
Social Music Philosophy & Group Activities
Jon Batiste believes in “social music,” the kind of music that brings people together to celebrate life, family, and community.
Social music is music people use to celebrate, remember, and connect with each other.
🟣 Songs for Life’s Moments Class Activity
- Have a whole class discussion sharing songs for each category
- What songs would you choose for the life events listed below?
- Are there any events that you’d add to the grid?
- Divide the class into 9 groups, then share out to the class
Bulletin Board & Community Project
- Create a bulletin board with song answers from many students
- For a wonderful community project, assign the grid to take home for family input
Soul | Jon Batiste Music Lesson Plans
🟢 The Music of Soul: Behind the Scenes Video
Jon Batiste composed and performed the jazz music for Soul, alongside score composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the music of Soul with Jon Batiste.
🟢 “It’s All Right” Sing-a-long Activity
Verse 1: Say it’s all right. Say it’s all right. It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, woah, it’s all right
Verse 2: Now listen to the beat, and kinda pat your feet.
You’ve got soul and everybody knows, that it’s all right, woah, it’s all right
Bridge: When you wake up early in the mornin’, feelin’ sad like so many of us do
Just hum a little soul, Make life your goal, And surely something’s gotta come to you
🟣 Draw What You Hear to “Soul”
Listen to the instrumental music, played by Jon, from the Pixar movie, Soul, and draw what inspires you. Let the music be your guide. Draw what you hear, feel, or imagine. Here are some ideas. Draw-
- pictures
- shapes
- scenes
Interactive Jon Batiste Music Quiz
🟢 Quick Quiz on Jon Batiste
Let’s see what we’ve learned about musician, Jon Batiste. Good luck!
Question 1: Where was Jon born?
Question 2: What is a genre Jon is known for?
Question 3: What unusual instrument does Jon play?
Question 4: What movie did Jon provide the music for?
Question 5: Who did Jon go to school with?
Reload the page to take the quiz again.
Jon Batiste Music Lesson Plan PDF
Here’s the written lesson plan based on the resources on this page. Use it to paste steps into your planner.
Grab a PDF of the Lesson Plan in the Free Teacher Resource Library. Drop your email below.
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Review This Page
My goal is to have the most useful page possible for teachers & students!
Because of teacher reviews telling me what works and what doesn’t, I’m able to continue to improve this interactive page!
Please leave a comment below so I can continue to make edits that make this page work for busy teachers!
Works Cited/Sources for Jon Batiste Interactive
- Wikipedia contributors. “Jon Batiste.” Wikipedia, Accessed March 2026.
- Goldsmith, Margie. “John Batiste: So Much More Than Steven Colbert’s Music Director.” Forbes, September 9, 2019.
- BET Editors. “Grammy Award Winner Jon Batiste on His Music Evolution, Video Game Inspirations, and His Leap Into Acting.” BET.
- Mandel, Trevor. “That’s Like Coltrane: Jon Batiste Sees Jazz Genius in Video Game Soundtracks.” The Washington Post, October 24, 2019.
- The Current Staff. “Interview: Jon Batiste Talks About the Many Ways Music Inspires and Connects.” The Current, October 27, 2025.
- del Barco, Mandalit. “In ‘Soul,’ Jon Batiste’s Music Helps Bring Pixar’s First Black Lead to Life.” NPR, December 25, 2020.
Wonderful, I love it.
He is such a huge talent, and promoter of music. His enthusiasm is contagious
AGREE! Talented, a humanitarian, SO many wonderful things about him!
This is really detailed on offers so many opportunities for students to explore! What a great resource!
Thank you! My goal was to make it as interactive as possible! There’s a Google Form at the bottom of the page and I’d love your input!