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This site presents students with knowledge on famous composers, well-known literature, composing, instruments, timbre, beat patterns, and more in the form of Discover, Listen, Play, Perform, Conduct, and Compose.

"What is Jazz?" is a four-part lecture about jazz by Dr. Billy Taylor presented at the John F. Kennedy Center. Dr. Bill Taylor is a noted jazz pianist, historian, and educator. His four-part lecture dives into the history of jazz and the most important moments of jazz history. The first lecture centers around the origins of jazz in the African-American experience of slavery to the civil rights movement. This lecture explores the development of repertoire and techniques used in jazz performance. The second lecture discusses the techniques and traditions of jazz improvisation. The third lecture discusses the evolution of swing and rhythm/harmony with the inclusion of examples by a piano. The fourth lecture discusses the role of jazz in American culture and history, as well as the impact it has had on the world. 

The website for Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. PMEA supports music educators with resources on lessons, advocacy, and performance opportunities. 

Eric Litwin is an author, musician and producer who specializes in children's music. He is one of my favorite artists for kids. He has many educational resources and a curriculum for preschool children. His books featuring Pete the Cat are awesome and appear regularly in my music room! Eric Litwin also does performances in schools and communities and has visited my school for his "Earth Shaking, CD Making" project where my students learned songs and recorded them to make their own CD.

Any music educator thinking about taking their performing ensemble to music festival? Great article with great information.

Wondering what type of microphone to use on your next ensemble performance recording?

The Blue Devils website is an amazing resource for connecting with the drum corps experience. Videos of performances and behind the scene takes are amazing.

Music research at the CASS is concerned firstly with the design and construction of the hardware and software technologies associated with the production of music and sound and secondly, with the creative application of those technologies in current musical performance or sonic installations. The research includes a historical and theoretical perspective.

These clinic notes are a great reference for implementing the new National Arts Standards. This handout has numerous websites and articles for responding, creating and performing music with technology.

Be Part of the Band is actually the recruitment tool that we use, along with a public performance and Jazz Band Tour. This website shows you real live musician that perform on their specific instruments as well as talk about their personal involvement with Music. 

Beapartoftheband.com is an awesome resource for beginning band teachers. Recruitment is such a huge part of the beginning of the school year and Scott Lang's resources are great! This website provides free resources for both recruitment and organization for bands. Individuals are able to make donations to the program, but no payment is required. Beapartoftheband.com not only provides demonstration videos for each instrument, the site also provides eighteen documents to assist with the recruitment process.

Band recruitment is the biggest event in the life of a band director.  This site features high quality tools to help make our lives easier. It also features famous people that have been band members.  Students need to relate to the bigger picture sometimes.  They need to see that big athletic stars can be in the band as well.  I am always looking for new perspective to recruitment.  

In this blog, Thorne Palmer shares his reflections on current research, theory, philosophy, pedagogy, performance, creativity, critical thinking, and more, including links to external resources.

This blog offers insight to some of the non-traditional music education aspects .

Create and send customizable rubrics and scores to students by email for any assignment. Use Online Rubric for any assignment, including presentations, performance, and participation grades, and send grades to your students without the hassle and waste of paper and copiers. Online Rubric supports multiple emails for each student in the case of revisions and allows you to use previously created rosters and rubrics within the add-on.

Sing&See is vocal training software that helps you sing better by showing real-time visual feedback on your voice!

This slow blues jam is a great resource for those teaching improvisation to beginners or demonstrating the skill to a class. The video is approximately 8 minutes in length allowing the listener/performer to repeat without having to start the video over once more.

The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge site contains a wealth of lessons, activities, and supporting information to enhance arts education. There is an extensive media library containing audio stories, performance clips and other viable information for students.

Great elementary music exploration site!

SFSKids is an interactive website for kids. This website offers listening, playing, performing, conducting and composing opportunities. 

This is a great historical resource for jazz music. Includes biographies, decade-by-decade history, and an interactive jazz performing section.

As a saxophonist, the North American Saxophone Alliance is a valuable organization that is dedicated to the advancement of the saxophone. The organization is comprised of performers, teachers, students, and enthusiasts. The group provides important resources for saxophonists at all skill levels, no matter what their background. It is a strong community network that is working hard to foster appreciation and love for the saxophone. 

The San Francisco Kids website offers students many musical activities from listening, performing, composing and even conducting. I think that my elementary music students would love this site, and that it would also work well on the SMARTboard in class. I think the visuals would keep students engaged, and excited about music learning.

A music theory and performance site for beginning through advanced musicians. It is filled with articles to help teachers and students as well as downloadable and printable sheet music, a bookstore, and customizable lessons for students. There is a free subscription to this site on the homepage.