Group items tagged

IMSLP is on online library of music that is now held in the public domain. It is a resource that can be freely used to print copies of music for use in your classroom for free! This resource is especially useful for string orchestras, as entire catalogs of music from such great composers as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven can be found in the archive.

Over 119,000 compositions in the public domain can be found here for free. This is a great resource for musicians and can be used for research, performing, and arranging. Some pieces include recordings.

An online resource for downloading pdf and mp3's of music scores and audio that is within the public domain for legal print and download.

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.  

This site gives students the ability to create satisfying compositions that explore texture using loops that are designed to fit in with each other. Perfectly suited for differentiation, students can create works that are simple or complex.

Music Improvisation Arranging Music

Incredibox is a web-based mixing tool, and its purpose is to create mixes with pre-set loops including, beats, effects, voices, and melodies. In each "dude", the user needs to select a "clothing piece" that contains a specific loops. The user begins creating their mixes, and can add and delete them as needed. Musically speaking, it is a teaching tool because the user learns how to mix loops ate certain points. It enhance several concepts such as rhtyhm and meter. It can be used by elementary and secondary-level students.

The Rhythm Trainer is a simple flash-based game that reinforces rhythm concepts. Students can either enter the rhythm that they hear, or choose the correct audio that matches the rhythm they see. Each example is four beats long, and there are a limited number of rhythms available. Students can select any or all of the 8 rhythms available to practice. Results can be emailed to the student's teacher.

The Rhythm trainer is another great source for helping students learn the principles of ear training. Teachers can load listening examples of varying rhythmic figures which students can respond to picking the examples they think best fit. Students can choose two modes of rhythm training which either provide them with choices for answers or require them build their answers based on the specific rhythms they are being trained on. The Rhythm Trainer does require the use Adobe Flash Player in order to play the examples but can be great for anyone teaching or learning the very basics developing good ear training skills.

This is a great tool to have to teach students rhythm. I use this to teach my private students to strengthen their ability to read rhythm. They find this website quite fun, and they enjoy all of the practices in which assign.

Sometimes students have trouble with understanding what to listen for while singing or don't pay attention to anything other than their own individual part of the ensemble. This blog describes creative a ways to enhance how students listen within the choral ensemble.

This site contains lessons, worksheets, and quizzes for young music students. In addition, there are links to other music tech related resources and suggested reading materials and other supplies

Amazing resource for lesson plans, worksheets, and games to teach students about a wide variety of music topics. This website would be great for creating lesson plans for subs and would also be a great resource if you can't find printed worksheets that address theory. The games are also fun and educational, asking students to identify instruments, tempos, etc. and can act as quizzes that can be scored and printed out. Great resource!

Music Tech Teacher is an open resource offered by Karen Garrett as an extension of her own music classes she had previously been teaching. Ms. Garrett offers free lessons, worksheets and assessments that can be downloaded as .pdfs and used by any teachers looking for materials that could be used within their own classrooms. Ms. Garrett's resources also have a strong focus on teachers looking to specifically make use of technology in their classes.

Online Practice Record is a fantastic tool to aide performers of all levels with keeping a record of their practice. The program is easy to use and tracks practice time, music practiced, and questions or comments the user might have to refer to later. The records can be printed or emailed to others, which is an important feature for teachers. The teacher even has the option of entering comments directly into a practice record. 

This site is great for teachers looking to motivate students to practice more consistently. Its purpose is to make practicing more interactive by providing a record of student practicing and the opportunity for teachers to view and comment on the student's practicing. The recourses include practice logs, comments by teachers, student-set goals, and the pieces practiced. This site is very student-directed in the sense that the students set their own practice goals and must be motivated to be more successful in their practicing in order to make progress in their record of practicing statistics. Although you do have to register to use this site, there is no charge and it allows teachers to provdie students with some guidance in their practicing.

This is a website that students can use to track their daily practice habits. It tracks amount of time, what was practiced and all records can be printed off for students to analyze. The lesson teacher is also able to add comments on each post.

A source for links to music education blogs. Blogs are categorized -- elementary, middle school, high school, kodaly-inspired, orff-inspired, technology, choir, orchestra etc.  

For persons that enjoy reading blogs, this is the place for you.  Separated into pages from elementary to high school, Kodaly and Orff-inspired, choir or orchestra, there is something for everyone.

This website is a great home base for many music educator blogs. It's great to see shared ideas, lesson plans, and teaching strategies.

A great resource for your last minute lesson plan needs!  There are plans, activities, and quizzes!

Resource for UF Masters in Music Education. I love this resource primarily for the fun and interactive nature that the games provide to my classroom. There are plenty of resources such as lessons, pre-made assessment, and videos. However, the games allow students to enjoy learning through assessment and interactive scenarios.

This website is a great resource for beginning to integrate technology into your classroom. There are ready-made lesson plans, as well as fun activities to do with your students. There are worksheets on theory, lessons on piano, and so much more.

This is an online site for ear training. It has tests covering intervals, chords, scales, cadences etc.

For teachers who want to help their students improve their ear-training skills, Good-Ear is a great and easy-to-use website that focuses entirely on this topic. This resource has a simple layout and allows its users to train their aural skills on anything from intervals and chords to harmonic progressions. Teachers who are just beginning to introduce this skill to their students can also find use in the beginner level training exercises. Good-Ear is free and can easily be used by not only teachers, but also students who have access to an electronic device and internet source.

This is great tool to develop an ear for music. It has all of the qualities and the features to be able to help the student become a stronger performer. Being able to hear is very important when it comes to music. What I love mostly about this training tool, it strengthens your ability to enhance perfect pitch.

This website is filled with information about every song you can imagine. It also includes information about artists as well as some fun games and trivia concerning musicians. A top ten list of songs is given with further explanation about the music.

This site is a great resource to help students get into the minds of their favorite pop artists. Students often find it easier to connect to pop tunes than to classical music. This site provides a list of different pop tunes/artists along with descriptions about those pieces and artists. This helps students realize the thought behind creating music, which they can then transfer to their school music class. This site also includes blogs about songwriter interviews, quizzes, and song facts to name a few. The featured songs fall into the category "daily top ten" or "weekyl top ten," keeping the songs up-to-date and easy for young students to recognize/connect with.

This website is a great resource for discovering the stories behind popular songs. The list of songs seem to be extensive and include pieces that would be familiar to students. This resource could help create a relevant curriculum that speaks to the non-traditional music student's interests and their music experience.

This site, compiled of professional educators, aims to enhance creative music and movement by emphasizing the Orff approach to instruction, providing professional development to its members, and supporting the creative potential of learners. You must subscribe to the association in order to benefit from its classroom resources, scholarships, and publication. But it seems to be a great source of support for classroom music educators!

The AOSA website is a resource for music educators. It provides information about the Orff-Schulwerk approach, advocacy, professional development, and teaching resources (lesson plans covering a variety of music content, videos, literature integration, and technology). Some links are only accessible by AOSA members.

The American Orff-Schulwerk Association provides a variety of resources for teachers and students to enhance their musical education. Here, students work together to create musical experiences through dance, movement, playing instruments, singing, and acting. Workshops and clinics can be attended to enhance knowledge and understanding in this area of music education.

The purpose of this blog is to collaborate with other musicians about issues dealing with performance, creativity, developing ones career, and (most importantly) technology. There are blogs that allow readers to interact with each with the objective being to gain perspective on other musicians point of views. The blogs includes monthly newsletters, different tags for information such as performance anxiety and music career guidance, benefits on recording music, how to practice with a positive mental attitude, and how to talk to audiences as well as how to not talk to them. This information is for the public to view and gain insight on their goal towards becoming a better musician and educator.

Sometimes all people need is a word of encouragement to keep doing well. As teachers, it is difficult to find ways to keep our students engaged and motivated. We can become so absorbed with getting our students to do well that we may forget to actually tell them when they do well. It may seem small, but simply acknowledging when a student does what is asked of them can keep them motivated to keep doing it.

Sometimes all people need is a word of encouragement to keep doing well. As teachers, it is difficult to find ways to keep our students engaged and motivated. We can become so absorbed with getting our students to do well that we may forget to actually tell them when they do well. It may seem small, but simply acknowledging when a student does what is asked of them can keep them motivated to keep doing it.

Sound trap is an online Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that one can use to create loops and tracks online. One doesn't need to download any software to install sound trap, it is typically online and is a very good resource for teaching creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking (4 Cs). I like sound trap because it enables students and teachers to continue work anywhere any time (in and outside the classroom). Teachers can easily add projects and invite students to work on the project any time anywhere. The fact that one can invite another person to work on the same project and/or even record a track together is mesmerizing. With sound trap, it is easy to record any instrument, download a track, and best of all, you can record using a microphone and/or use the free loops, MIDI, and effects that come with the software. A school has to purchase the software and add students to start using it. However, the software has a one month free trial which teachers can try out with their students before purchasing.

This is a discussion by New York Times columnist, David Brooks, and Kathy Fletcher, and the director of Turnaround Arts Initiative about the important work that Turnaround Arts does through the strategic use of the arts. The discussion talks about how music facilitates brain development, why certain things in music leave people fascinated, and what magic music brings to emotion. The discussion also unfolds how the arts, and music education in particular opens the student's mind to memorisation. David Brooks says "Students understand better when topics are introduced through music". I agree with that because most students become more alert when a topic is introduced through song and it fosters the interest of students. Therefore we need arts to succeed in education. A lot of artists came from struggling backgrounds so when they talk to children that would like to succeed in the music world but are frightened that they'll never make it, they tell them "I know what you are going through but you can make it". This encourages those children to push on and excel in the arts. Kathy Fletcher says music boosts critical thinking and confidence which is ideal for students and they end up excelling in all other fields. The arts connect us all through music in a way that music created is shared all around the world. Partnerships are created to perform music and people come together to listen to music. This makes us one.

Great questions to ask in an interview for a music teacher position.

This website contains PDFs of music that is available for free to download in the United States. The music is public domain or available via a Creative Commons license. There is also an option to purchase some music. While bandmusicpdf.org is strictly for wind band music, IMSLP contains music for band and orchestra, as well as vocal and other instrumental works. This is very helpful with finding older music or replacing parts, especially with music that is out of print.

The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is a great site to find timeless works of instrumental and vocal music. The site is free to use, but membership is available. The public domain site is easy to navigate and provides scores and recordings out thousands of composers and their music. Make sure not to click on advertisements and download something on accident in the free version. This site is a great resource for educators to find musical works from great composers that are no longer in print, and they is free.

IMSLP is a website where anyone can search music that is no longer under copyright law. Here you can find music from a symphony score to a Beethoven piano piece. This resource can be used by growing student-run ensembles that wish to perform classical music. I use this website when I want to practice bassoon repertoire or when I need to find another piece to practice on piano. This is also a great resource to show students how to properly find music with educated keyword searches through a public domain.

This podcast is hosted by three middle school band directors in Texas. They conduct their podcast in between classes, and they discuss the ins and outs of band in their middle school classes. They provide several resources to use in sectional classes in middle school band and offer advice.

This website is for a podcast I have been listening to for a few years. The podcast is very interesting an informative. It give a different perspective on teaching band. Though I don't teach in a similar situation, things can be applied to my situation.

This podcast covers three band directors that all work in the same middle school. This discuss all different types of things but it is interesting to listen to how the three work together with their different classes. I have listen to this podcast in the past and their are even times she records her lessons with her students.