Group items tagged

The purpose of iReal Pro is to provide a simple yet high-quality practice resource for musicians. The application creates a customizable and realistic sounding accompanying tracks especially useful for practicing improvisation or jazz standards. Chord charts are used to create backing tracks in a variety of musical styles which can be transposed at the push of a button. The application is inexpensive and can be used on all mobile devices and on Mac OS. Currently it is not available for Windows (but can be used on android devices).

This book is a music education wiki focusing on music education with digital technology. Information in this book unfolds how teachers use technology in music classrooms, the pros and cons of technology, and how to effectively use technology in the classroom. One fascinating information I picked from this book is the use of classroom mobile phones. Almost every student in high school has access to a mobile phone. These mobile phones have a new software called "blue tooth" which enables one to share a file from a phone to a computer or to another person's phone. This tool can be utilised in class during composition, for students to share their compositions and get feedback from each other. These compositions can then be sent to a computer and students edit their compositions using soft wares like Audacity.

Rhythm Syllable Systems - What to use and why! is a blog in which David Row takes a look at the various rhythm syllable counting systems in use today. He gives a thorough explanation of each one as well as providing links for further information about a particular system. He also discusses that none of these systems give instruction or guidance about what to do with rests. Overall, he states that the choice is yours for which system to use with your students.

Apronus Piano is an online piano that works on both touchscreens and with piano keyboards. As opposed to some online keyboard that play C when you press the letter C, D when you press the letter D, it uses the keyboard as close to a piano as possible. The second row of keys corresponds to the white keys on the piano and the number row corresponds to the black keys as they occur (with one or two exceptions). The bottom two rows can be used to play chords. The range of the keyboard can be adjusted to hear different notes. This online piano can be used as extra practice for general music or piano students or as a substitution for a real piano if keyboards are not available but computers are available. It could also be used in conjunction with composition assignments or for choral students to practice vocal lines.

I use this game with my students to help with note names.  This makes naming notes a game and competitive.  It also includes the alto clef and while many worksheets leave out the alto clef.

This website is an excellent tool for reinforcing note reading and fluency. Students can progress through three levels of identifying notes on a staff specific to their instrument. They can work to get faster times and eventually reach the top 50 list.

This site has 3 reinforcement games in it for band students. In order to start the games students select their instrument, it then takes them to the appropriate exercise for the students. The reinforcement games are note identification, fingering reinforcement and music terms.

The IOS App, Tonal Energy, is the #1 used app by musicians. They use it primarily as a tuner and metronome. However it can be used for much more that that. This video explains all of the uses of the app and how it can be especially beneficial for younger musicians.

Technology in Music Education is a blog dedicated to musicians, educators, and researchers sharing multiple ways in which technology is used to enhances music education.

Blog dealing with technology integration in music education

Great information on use of Apple Technology in BCO classrooms

With minor adjustments this can be a great resource to use for the "Composer of the Month." Mozart is not the composer of the month until January, but using this format can be helpful for use when presenting on other composers. 

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.

I have found this website useful countless times!  You can search generally or specifically for pre made presentations for SmartNotebook that you can then download and edit as you wish to fit your own classroom needs.  It could be used in any type of music classroom.

For anyone that has a Smart Board available in their classroom this website it great for finding ways to enhance your music teaching. This website gives available programs and ways that you can use your Smart Board to teach lessons.

A Collection of Music SMART programs that have been created and uploaded for all SMART users to share.

An online marketplace for teachers to buy and sell classroom resources. I have found many free and low cost worksheets, visuals and even lesson plans online. Resources include worksheets for pitch, rhythm, composers, specific songs, like the Star Spangled Banner and so much more. A valuable resource for a teacher who does not want to "recreate the wheel" OR who is creative and likes to "recreate the wheel" and earn a little cash doing it!

Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT), is a great resource for lesson plans, bulletin boards, and so much more! While most resources are free, some you do have to pay for.

This would be a great source for teachers who need the documentation for certain topics. This website provides every grade level, along with every subject being provided. There are lots of information on this source for free, and there are also many sources that are not free. But it depends on what you want or need. The purpose of this sources is to give teachers a wide range of things, that they may need in their classrooms.

Home of Apple's digital audio workstation: Logic Pro X. (also known as GarageBand's older sibling). The site has numerous videos, reviews, links, and demos of the software. The digital audio workstation has become a mainstay for music production because of both the software's accessible, yet ultra-powerful interface, which can be used by both novices, all the way to studio professionals.

This software is a big production, and is something that i use a lot personally. This software will give you the ability to do anything you may need to do. The purpose of this resource would be to show more advanced student more features on how to create, record, mix, and master. This is a more in depth software for more professional users. This would be a software that i would use to implement with more advanced students, who have used other software's.

A cloud-based DAW, free and easy to use. It is very similar to GarageBand, and users with little music knowledge can easily create quality compositions by dragging and dropping loops. Users can compose music, record live instruments and voice tracks, use MIDI controllers, and export projects to many known file types.

Soundtrap is a browser-based DAW that allows users to create and collaborate compositions or podcasts. Soundtrap offers a paid subscription allowing teachers to setup a private classroom and monitor/grade/comment on their students work. This DAW can be used for a plethora of creative tasks in music. It's primary affordance is that it is browser-based and compositions are saved via cloud storage.

Soundtrap is a free, cloud-based DAW, with a library of looped sounds and the ability to enter new audio. Users can also easily collaborate with others, and the program can be accessed via computer, tablet, or cell phone. It provides a user-friendly experience that music students can work with to express creativity through composition.

This website allows music educators to post and collaborate with other educators on their ideas and methods. The content focuses on teaching strategies, music technology programs, reading material for the integration of technology into the music classroom, and articles on continuing education.

This website was developed by music education and technology experts Dr. Joseph M. Pisano and Amy M. Burns. It includes blog posts from both educators, and discusses ideas for incorporating technology into elementary and secondary classrooms. Available music technology, software, and freeware resources are listed. Also included are examples of how this technology is used by children in their classrooms.

This website is a blog focus on the integration of technology in the music classroom. It appears to be a great resource to compliment the topics we have discussed in this course.

This website is a great resource for K-5 music.  There are jokes, games, and information regarding famous composers, including recordings of famous pieces of music.  This can be used by a classroom of kids in a computer lab, or by a teacher for lesson planning.

Classics for Kids is a resources for teachers, parents, and children. It provides lesson plans, music games and interactive links, a podcast, tips for parents, and information about composers, instruments, and music history. The lesson plans (written by my former music education professor, Dr. Kay Edwards) are standards-based and incorporate elements of Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze.

This website is for elementary/general music education. It is a resources for lesson plans on composers, music theory, and music listening.

This program allows the user to record the screen and use a microphone to the recording.  In music classes, students could present composer or instrument projects using this recorder.  Teachers could use this to explain the minor scales while recording the music from a scale sheet.  

Concise list of free apps for music educators, broken down into categories (Tuners, Metronomes, Theory, etc.).

This blog provides information specifically related to the use of iPad's and other apple products to enhance the music education experience. The blog author reviews apps in great detail, and often showcase screenshots and step by step instructions/demonstrations for how to use the app and its relation to educational outcomes.

This blog provides information specifically related to the use of iPad's and other apple products to enhance the music education experience. The blog author reviews apps in great detail, and often showcase screenshots and step by step instructions/demonstrations for how to use the app and its relation to educational outcomes.

(a) The purpose of the resource is to have provide a database of articles and interviews covering an array of musical subjects for use in and outside of the music classroom.(b) This resource covers EVERY national music standard! (c) I would use this site for instructional use in the classroom and outside of the classroom.