The drum sequencer is an invaluable tool for teaching rhythm and drum patterns but can only be found on GarageBand for iOS devices
I love GarageBand for iPad. Despite its faults, it still amazes me that students in my classes have their own personal studio; they can all multitrack, record and remix music as part of the ‘everyday’ curriculum.
Working intensely with GarageBand for iPad has given me an insight into its quirks, as well as how to make the most of the app when using it with your students. Here is a non-exhaustive list I’ve put together:
Version control
At the time of writing, I have been using iOS 18 on my devices for around three weeks. The school iPads, of course, didn’t update on Day 1 of the new iOS release (and they still haven’t). This caused no problems whatsoever, for about a week. The latest GarageBand update rendered my beautiful templates and sample projects, created on my own iPad, totally incompatible with the student iPads. This was annoying. It is best practice to create templates and sample projects on the same version of GarageBand that your students are using.
Drum sequencer
Astonishingly, GarageBand for Mac doesn’t have a drum sequencer, but the iPad version does (see image above). The drum sequencer is an invaluable tool for teaching rhythm and drum patterns, and serves as a composition tool with a very low barrier for entry. If you want to use a sequencer with the Mac version, you can load in a third-party audio unit (AU – more on this below), but the native one on the iPad version works really well.
Audio sources
Unlike on Macs, you cannot select the ‘audio out’ (headphones, HDMI, USB, bluetooth, etc.) manually on an iPad. The iPad OS will default to the most recently plugged-in audio source. Meaning? If you are projecting your iPad and don’t want the audio to go through the HDMI cable, plug in your headphones/speakers/USB audio interface last. The OS will then select that source for use with apps like GarageBand. If GarageBand doesn’t ‘see’ the source, then close the app and reopen it. There are very few whizzy YouTube tutorials that mention this, because it is not quite as exciting as showing off the latest sample pack from a famous producer. However, for us mere mortals in the music classroom, it is an essential piece of knowledge.
Hidden menus
Select a track on the arrangement screen. On the top bar, tap the icon immediately to the left of the ‘FX’ button. This will open a menu that allows you to select a range of plugins, the EQ (yes, there is one), external effects and audio units, transforming the potential of the app as a music production tool.
Annotate the ‘auto-chords’ screen to teach harmonic progressions 
Annotate the guitar fretboard to show scales and chord shapes
The ‘real life’ design language of GarageBand for iPad can be used as a great teaching tool. Look at the annotated images below, using the images from GarageBand to show how primary chords work in major keys, as well as how to play pentatonic scales on the guitar:
Using audio files
If you want to use audio files with GarageBand for iPad, the process is not intuitive. The easiest way is to put any audio files in the folder ‘GarageBand File Transfer’, which can be found on the ‘On My iPad’ section of the ‘Files’ app. When you are looking for loops, there is a slider at the top that allows you to select ‘Files’, and you should see all your audio there. Alternatively, you can navigate for each file manually. From there, you can drag samples, stems and so forth into your projects.
Sharing GarageBand files
GarageBand files are labelled with the extension ‘.band’ (e.g. ‘My Composition Version 3446. band’). Non-Apple file systems (Google Drive, Windows Explorer, OneDrive, etc.) will see these files as folders, meaning if you try to open them on a non-Apple device, you will actually delve into the file itself, scaring off all but the most techy student/colleague. The best way to share GarageBand files in systems like OneDrive is to head to the ‘Files’ app on the iPad, long press on the GarageBand project in question and select ‘compress’. This will create a ‘.zip’ file that can be more easily shared.
The receiver needs to open the ‘Files’ app on their iPad, navigate to the ‘.zip’ file in question, tap it once, and it will magically turn into a GarageBand project.
The future with Apple
Taking a longer-term view, it may be that Apple pushes us all to transition to Logic for iPad, with its annual subscription (yet to be discounted for schools). GarageBand sports a somewhat dated design language in comparison to more recent Apple products (part of its appeal, if you ask me), a clear sign that its days may be numbered.
However, Apple’s competitive pricing on the entry-level iPad assures its place in the classroom, and (for now) that of GarageBand too. Long live GarageBand for iPad!
