In 2013, almost nobody knew who I was.

I had created this strange little sight-singing system in my own middle school classroom. Publishers weren’t interested, so I decided to figure out another way to get it into teachers’ hands.

I recorded myself teaching directly to a camera.

I uploaded videos to YouTube.

I put links inside PowerPoints. I wrote out lesson plans. I tried to anticipate every question a teacher might have because I wanted someone hundreds or thousands of miles away to feel like I was standing beside them saying:

“Here’s what I would do next.”

And I was scared to death when I put Lesson 1 out there.

Would teachers think it was awesome?

Would they think it was awful?

Would anybody even care?

That picture is from the very beginning.

It was the first day in August 2013 when I recorded teaching tips for Lesson One, Forbidden Pattern.

I went home that night, uploaded the video to YouTube, got the link, popped it into the PowerPoint, uploaded the lesson to Teachers Pay Teachers...

...and held my breath.

Different Tools. Same Mission.

Those early PowerPoints weren't particularly pretty. Some of them still aren't!

But they're part of the story of S-Cubed.

I didn't invent YouTube.

I didn't invent Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, or any of the technologies that eventually helped S-Cubed find its way into classrooms.

And I certainly didn't invent AI.

But throughout this entire journey, I've been willing to look at a new tool and ask one question:

Can this help a teacher?

Thirteen years later, that question has brought me somewhere I didn't expect.

I've built an AI Coach specifically around S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners.

And I want to tell you why.

Why an AI Coach?

I know educators have serious reservations about AI.

I respect that.

Over the past two months as I've been building this Coach, I've been reading conversations on social media, participating in some of them, listening to teachers, and thinking carefully about where I believe this technology belongs — and where it doesn't.

This is not AI replacing music teachers.

It isn't composing music for students.

It isn't taking the human being out of music education.

The human being standing in front of those students is still the most important part of the equation.

But here's something I've learned after supporting teachers using S-Cubed since 2013:

Sometimes a lesson plan and some videos aren't enough.

Maybe Lesson 6 is falling apart.

"Dale, why can't I get them to sing out confidently during Chaos? What am I doing wrong?"

Maybe you're brand new to S-Cubed, and changing your classroom routines feels overwhelming.

Maybe you've taught S-Cubed for years and need some fresh ideas.

Maybe you're dealing with a pacing or classroom-management problem that I couldn't possibly have anticipated when I wrote the original lessons.

Those are the kinds of questions teachers have been emailing me for years.

That's why I built the Coach.

What I Want the S-Cubed AI Coach to Do

I want you to be able to tell the Coach what's happening in your classroom and get help applying S-Cubed to your situation.

Because S-Cubed has never just been a method.

It is part method and part philosophy.

And at the center of that philosophy is something I've said for years:

3/4 Learning + 1/4 Cup Fun = SUCCESS!

S-Cubed stands for Successful Sight Singing, but I've always wanted that success to belong to two groups of people:

The students AND the teacher.

That's what I'm trying to teach this Coach to understand.

You Can Try the S-Cubed AI Coach Yourself

I've initially built the Coach around Lessons 1–10 of S-Cubed.

And you don't have to buy anything just to see what I've created.

MEET YOUR S-CUBED AI COACH FREE

Think of the onboarding process as introducing yourself to your S-Cubed Coach.

Tell it about your classroom.

Tell it what grade you teach.

Tell it where you are in S-Cubed.

Tell it what's working.

Tell it what's not working.

You can even tell it what makes you nervous about beginning the program.

Then test it.

Try telling it:

"I'm brand new to S-Cubed."

Or:

"I've started S-Cubed several times but have never gotten past Lesson 4."

Ask it a real question you've had about the program.

See what it already knows.

I Put It to the Test Myself

Lesson 6 — CHAOS — has been one of the biggest challenges I've heard about from teachers over the years.

So I decided to test the Coach myself.

I gave it the kinds of problems teachers have brought to me about Lesson 6 and recorded what happened.

Don't take my word for it.

Watch it respond.

WATCH ME TEST THE S-CUBED AI COACH: LESSON 6 — CHAOS

See It Tested Live on October 6

On October 6 from 7:00–8:00 PM Eastern, I'm going to reveal the S-Cubed AI Coach live on Zoom.

I'm going to show you what I've built, how it works, and what I believe it can do for teachers.

And I want your questions.

I especially want the questions from people who aren't sure about AI yet.

Come see it. Test the idea. Ask me what you're wondering.

I'M GOING / I'M INTERESTED

Facebook will remind you as we get closer, and I'll share more in the event before the Zoom.

You Don't Have to Wait Until October 6

A few teachers have already decided to jump in early.

If you know my work, trust what I've built over the last 13 years, and you're ready to start using the Coach now, I've created a 10% early-access discount.

START USING THE S-CUBED AI COACH + SAVE 10%

The annual subscription works out to less than 70¢ per day for a Coach designed to help you through those critical first ten lessons.

But here's what matters more to me than the price.

I Don't Want Teachers Dependent on AI

The goal isn't to make you dependent on AI.

The goal is to make you more confident teaching S-Cubed.

That's what I was trying to accomplish when I sat in front of a camera and made those first teaching videos in 2013.

And that's what I'm trying to accomplish now.

Different tools. Same mission.

Thirteen years ago, I sat in front of an iPhone 4 camera, recorded a teaching video, uploaded it to YouTube, put the link into a PowerPoint, uploaded the lesson to Teachers Pay Teachers...

...and held my breath.

I'm doing a little bit of that again.

The difference is that back then, almost nobody knew me.

Today, some of the teachers reading this have trusted my work for more than a decade.

That makes this moment mean even more to me — not less.

I know AI brings questions.

Some teachers are excited about it.

Some are skeptical.

Some aren't sure what to think yet.

I understand all three.

But the question I'm asking myself is really the same question I was asking back in 2013:

Can I use the technology available to me to help a teacher standing in front of beginning singers tomorrow morning?

I believe I can.

And I believe this Coach can help me do it.

Whether you're excited, skeptical, curious, or somewhere in between, I hope you'll come see what I've built.

Different tools. Same mission.

My friend- David Stauffer- who was reading my manuscripts back in 2009 when I was starting this journey has been testing it for me-

Same pixellation I'm known for- the realness. And so is this app. It's going to help a lot of teachers.

— Dale Duncan
Creator, S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners

A Note for My Fellow Curriculum Creators

If you've been watching what I'm doing and wondering whether you could build something similar around your own curriculum or expertise, I partnered with Studio to create mine.

EXPLORE CREATING YOUR OWN STUDIO APP

The S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Coach is here