I am grateful to people who share their work without selfishness and not for money. Fair use and Creative Commons have made the life of us music educators easy.There are lots of resources for Creative Commons and Other Copyright friendly media available to use in class.

MuseScore is a music composition and notation software used to write/notate music. It requires the user to download and install the application on their system. This application is easily accessible and is free of charge. It is a software that is updated almost every month to make the features better. Muse Score has an easy to use interface and is a good tool to use in class for children to write down their simple compositions. Students are able to play back their compositions to their classmates, print them out, and/or even share them online. While using MuseScore, students learn many different musical concepts like dynamics, timbre, form, texture, structure, melody, repetition, phrasing, rhythm, tone, to mention but a few. MuseScore enhances the musicianship of students.

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.

Note pair is an online music game designed to help children read music notes easily and quickly. This game helps children learn to read music notes step by step, at their own pace. A child listens to a note, and tries to match it to a similar note. This ear training computer game lets you learn music notes and their pitches. Students and pupils who play a musical instrument as a child have a better verbal memory than those with no music training. Aural listening skills enhance brain development and students who listen more to music are calm, critical thinkers, and confident. Introducing such a game as a lesson starter even for classes that are not learning music fosters concentration and interest of the learners. Their brain becomes alert and ready to take in any information.

Soundation is a Digital Audio Workstation similar to sound trap though soundation appears more professional, and the effects are more sophisticated. With soundation, students learn to do recording, editing, mixing, instrument patches, and MIDI input. Soundation is good for university level whereas Soundtrap's simplicity is good for middle and high school. Like soundtrap, it has a free one month trial with limited accessibility and to access the full premium, one has to pay. Soundation helps students acquire the 4Cs i.e Collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. It is a good resource for teaching studio composition and for enhancing the musicianship of non traditional music students.

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.

Auralia5 and Musition5 are very good soft wares for a music classroom. Auralia is for ear training, while Musition is for music theory. These softwares enhance a student's musicianship through very interesting activities of listening, composing, notating music, and sight reading/playing. A school has to purchase the software, though it is cloud based. The teacher adds students to different classes in the groups so that when assignments are set, they are easily submitted to the class where they belong. Teachers can create and assign worksheets, tests, and courses, and grade his/her students online as well. Tracking allows the teachers to run exams with high quality content that students love. Reports are also created in the software and parents can access their children's performance. Auralia and Musition are perfect for students of all ages and abilities. Auralia has a clean, easy to use interface designed to keep students focused on their essential ear training task.

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.

Music notation softwares like Finale and Sibelius are quite costly for students to purchase and use. Flat.io is a free online music notation software that allows you to notate music online, and share it with your friends in the cloud. It is collaborative in a way that people get to comment on your music, and you also get to comment on other people's compositions. All you need is to sign up with either google, facebook, or with your email address. It is a good resource for teachers to set notation assignments, and while students do the assignments, they learn many concepts in music such as tempo, speed, dynamics, phrasing, structure, to mention but a few.

SmartMusic is music learning software for music teachers and students. It makes music learning easy and fun. Students can continue their learning outside school. Teachers can also assess students outside the school wall. Smart music is good for rehearsals because a student can rehearse at home when the teacher is listening in and correcting him/her from anywhere else. It is easy to access and a good resource for music classes.

Children like games. They find it easy to play with toys, building blocks, and puppets. Children require an experience of creative play with music to enhance their understanding of musical concepts. This website's sketch pad and rhythm band games foster children's understanding of pitch, rhythm, and melody. Aural listening is a good tool for children to understand music. By listening, they get an experience of how an instrument sounds, what pitch sounds high or low, and how a melody sounds. This enhances their musicianship before they get into the details of these aspects of music.