Web Resources -

This is a list of web resources that I have found helpful when teaching music to either the elementary or secondary level.

This website offers fun and free games for educators for elementary students, it has many different games for counting, learning the ABCs and also holiday-themed music. All information can be found at their website.

Dream English is actually an english-language resource, however it is just as useful for music teachers as well. This site would be used for younger grades when they are still learning the subtleties of the English language. It offers free resource downloads, as well as a list of new songs that it adds for free download every week.

123listening is an online resource that also allows for online music testing. It offers many different song subjects for learning such as: Adjectives, Animals, Body Parts, Classroom, Colours, Feelings and emotions, etc... There are also sections for those who learn better visually (along with audio). Whats more, all of this is available free of charge.

Free Kids Music: www.freekidsmusic.com

Free Kids Music says it all in its title. It offers a huge list of artists, along with free music for choir, music for kids and music for toddlers. Though because it is free, there are no commercially released songs (no disney, etc) but there are a lot of wonderful resources available.

Kiddidles: kiddidles.com

Kididdles is self proclaimed “the best in children’s music”. It offers 2000 of the most popular children’s songs, as well as : Free Printable music sheets, free lyric sheets, free activity sheets, and reading lessons.

Mama Lisa: mamalisa.com

Mama lisa’s site is very similar to the ones I’ve mentioned above. Free online resource for music. The thing that really differentiates this resource from the others is that mamalisa.com specializes in kids songs from around the world.

Songs for Teaching: www.songsforteaching.com

Songs for teaching would not really be a resource that I would use right away in my classroom, since this site is geared toward generalist education students. Though, I would show this to my colleagues in hope that we can collaborate together and implement the songs in both classrooms. This site includes songs to help learn about: Math, Science, Languages, Social studies, Seasonal songs, special education songs, and life skills songs.

Ever have a song stuck in your head, but can’t remember the title? well, theteachersguide.com has the answer, so long as the song is a song for children. This has a large library which they are working on making into PDF’s for easy reading, and I am very happy that theteachersguide.com has just added a Music section to it’s Lesson Plans and Themes sections.

Sibelius is a music software designed to help compose and arrange music. With it’s multi-capable music playback, students can now hear what their composition would sound like played in every genre, at every speed. Students can use this material with any laptop or PC. It can be bought at www.sibelius.com.

Kid's music Town has a large selection of children's songs, along with their lyrics. They present kids' songs, downloads and lyrics from selected composers and artists, and cover a wide variety of genres within the field of children's music. Like songsforteaching.com, Kids Music Town offers songs about: Family, French songs, Friendship songs, Health and safety, Music appreciation, and many others.

Finale is the alternative to Sibelius. Same use, different company. For those who prefer a different approach to putting music on a computer.

Pro tools 9: kellysmusic.com

I hope to be able to afford Pro tools for my students. Pro tools is a digital audio workstation. Most professional music engineers use Pro tools 9 while they are working on film scoring, television post production. Summer In Paradise by the Beach Boys was one of the first albums recorded, edited and mixed entirely on Pro tools, and I think that this would be a very good resource in helping the students understand the many facets of music: that it isn’t just about your talents in performance.

Garage Band is wonderful program which comes free with any Mac. It’s used for composition techniques, and is a great way to introduce students to the different sounds of instruments and effects. It is very easy to use, and even easier to master. Garage Band can also be used to create a play-along track so that a student can practice at home and not need the full band thee with them.

ChordPhobia v1.5 : www.hitsquad.com

This program is used for those of us who are afraid of ear training (the identification of chords and note intervals). This program addresses that phobia. It caters to beginners and intermediates, and it helps focus on trouble areas for the students, to help solidify their weaknesses and reinforce their strengths.

I love the name of this program. It has everything that an aspiring guitar player would need. It offers to help with: Sight-reading (being able to read notes very quickly), chords and scales, progression creator and player, advanced metronome, perfect pitch, and relative pitch.

The software resource that I would use the most in my class is the music program called “Transcribe!”. As a music student, it is very necessary that I teach transcription to my students (which is the act of copying on paper what someone is playing on a recording). Transcribing is one of the essential elements in music. It allows musicians to train their ears to hear certain patterns and pitches, so that music can be learnt not only through reading from a sheet, but also from playing along with a recording.