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Ah, the age-old question: “What should I get my music teacher for [fill in the blank]?”
This is a really hard question to answer. Every music teacher is unique with their own unique taste, needs, wants, likes, dislikes… you get it. So how do you pick a gift for your music teacher that you know they will like and use?
At first blush, a gift card is the answer. It’s an instant gift, so it can be as last minute as you need, and they can purchase something they will actually use. You can pick a dollar amount that is in your budget. Honestly, just grabbing a generic target or amazon gift card and calling it a day is not a bad idea.
Here’s the thing, though. If you’ve been with your music teacher for any amount of time, you know how much personalization goes into their work – every student requires a personalized approach to their education, and your teacher does just that. If you want to give them a more specific gift than just cash, a generic gift card isn’t going to cut it.
As a music teacher myself, I’ve compiled a list of “wow!” factor gift cards you can gift to your music teacher for any occasion that have the (optional) bonus feature of being incredibly useful for their studio!
Unique Gift Cards for Music Teachers
TomPlay Gift Card
I don’t have room to fully sing the praises of TomPlay here (you can read my blog post on them if you want), but there are lots of reasons that they are my pick for best sheet music subscription. Here are some of them:
🎵 Explore over 100,000 interactive sheet-music titles for 26 instruments and all skill levels
👂 Play along with professional musicians and real recordings
️ 📉For all skill levels — from Absolute beginner to Advanced
🖐 Follow on-screen fingerings and get real-time feedback
⚙️ Slow down the tempo, practise in loops and customise your learning
📝 Annotate and print your scores, and progress confidently with every piece
📱 Available on all your devices: iPhone, iPad, Android phone/tablet, PC and Mac
Thanks to all these features (and more!) TomPlay is a music teacher’s best friend. They offer 1 month, 3 month, and 1-year gift cards, and you can pick depending on your budget!
Etsy Gift Card
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I haven’t seen much about Etsy in the zeitgeist lately. 10 years ago, it was all the rage, and now it seems like with the rise of Amazon and more instant methods of gifting, Etsy is talked about less. However, Etsy and the small business creators on it are still around! And an Etsy gift card makes for a great music teacher gift:
🎁 Give a gift a music teacher will actually love – with a wide marketplace of handcrafted items, your teacher can pick out a gift that they will not only use, but love.
🎼 Tools for their Studio – did you know that Etsy creators sell things like lesson plans, music worksheets, teacher planners, and (of course) music-themed media? Your teacher can use their gift card to supplement their studio… if they wish.
🎶 Support fellow musicians and small creators like themselves. Music teachers, especially studio owners, love supporting fellow small business owners.
📬 Perfect for last-minute gifts or long-distance thanks – digital delivery means no rush shipping & no guesswork, just instant gratitude.
✅ Effortless for you, valuable for them – you don’t have to figure out their needs or mine their wish-lists. They pick what works for them.
You can personalize the gift card amount to whatever your budget is, and send it to them via email, text, or (if you want to go more traditional) mail.
ThriftBooks Gift Card
One of the beautiful things about gift cards is that it allows the recipient to choose a gift that they will actually use and enjoy. I personally love using gift cards I receive for practical things that help my business – I like to use them to offset costs. Others like to use their gift cards on things for pleasure, and purchase things they wouldn’t ordinarily spend money on. ThriftBooks is the perfect gift card for both types of people:
📚 Give a gift full of possibilities from music history to lesson books to mysteries and easy reading; ThriftBooks has whatever book your teacher may desire.
🎼 Let your teacher pick what they really need with repertoire books for all instruments, all genres of casual reading books, or even DVDs of all kinds.
💡 Support continual learning by giving easy access to resources that can deepen a teacher’s knowledge and inspire fresh ideas.
🎁 Flexibility without pressure – if you’re unsure what kind of books they already own, this card lets them choose what fills their library best.
💸 Affordable and practical – second-hand and discounted books mean your gift stretches further, giving more bang for your buck.
I will say that no music teacher that I know would balk at a second hand book – most of the coolest books and scores I own are second (or third, or fourth) hand, and second hand is far more affordable. If you have any reservations about your teacher’s feelings on second-hand books, just ask!
Even More Specific Gift Cards
I know that some people really want to get a gift card for their music teacher that has nothing to do with their studio, and that’s great! However, you’re getting into super specific territory here, so take this next list as it is – a list of ideas. All of these are available on Amazon!
Sephora
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Taco Bell
Uber
Ulta
Playstation
Lowes
Bath & Body Works
Netflix
… and more! Pro tip: sometimes amazon rolls out discounts on gift cards.
These are (in my opinion) the best unique gift cards for music teachers out there.
And, in my opinion, there is no better gift for anyone than a unique gift card. It has all the benefits of a gift card – they can purchase what they want, you don’t have to pick out a specific gift, and you can pick a dollar amount based on your personal budget, but they have the added bonus of being thoughtful gifts tailored to the recipient!
Music teachers – know of a gift card that you’d love to receive (or you have received and loved) that’s not on this list? Leave a comment and I’ll add it!