lessons

Teacher Theresa Sharp created this PDF resource.  The pages provide teachers with public domain songs, activities, and assessments for teaching the element ti. For each grade level there are links to videos, editable worksheets, and differentiated lesson ideas for teaching synchronously and asynchronously. Download the PDF for free right here!

Price: Free

Link

BrainPOP is perfect for elementary general music teachers. Topics include basic note reading, scales, and harmony as well as famous musicians and instrument families.  Each topic comes with several interactive activities/games and a video lesson. Some activities and lessons are free, but the teacher account has access to full lesson plans with standards.

Price: Limited free access, paid subscription for full access

Link: BrainPOP

Lauren Marcinkowski’s “Music at Home Bingo” provides students a non-digital activity to enrich their musical experiences. This PDF includes multiple sheets for different ages of learners as well as multiple days’ worth of lessons. With the included instructions, both teachers and parents can administer this activity.

Price: Free

Music at Home Bingo

ETM partners music teachers with schools and parents so that music is part of every students’ life. Their website details how their program works and what resources/services they provide. Their “Think Like a Musician” music education video series provides tips and tricks for improving technical accuracy.

Price: Free (donations accepted)

Links: Education Through Music Online

Teachers Pay Teachers is the world’s most popular online marketplace for original educational resources with more than four million resources available for use. It features ideas for every topic: lesson plans, worksheets, games, and other activities for any age.

Price: Free and paid resources

Link: Teachers Pay Teachers

Julies Greenroom is a music and performance arts based TV series for Pre-K to early Elementary audience. Hosted by Julie Andrews, the show has a puppet/human cast and guest artists. The cast represents a variety of disciplines from Stomp to ballet. This link goes to the Youtube station that has shorter segments of the longer shows. The full show can be viewed by anyone with a Netflix subscription.

Price: Free with Youtube; Longer shows need Netflix Subscription

Link: Julie’s Greenroom

Facetime with Composers is for elementary music educators looking for quality online resources for their students. Students can “Facetime” with a number of famous composers throughout history and learn more about their compositional style in an approachable manner. Each lesson focuses on a different composer and is five dollars a lesson. Bundles are also available where one can buy several lessons for cheaper.

Price: Lessons are $5.00 each

Link: Facetime with Composers

Students looking to learn acoustic or electric guitar, bass, and/or ukulele should know about this website! This website has over 2.5k online video lessons (and counting!) taught by professional musicians in addition to many different songs they can learn. These lessons are customizable so students can play for as long as they’d like. Students can also track their progress as well as the skills they learn. This site is more appropriate for secondary-age students but could have applications for upper elementary as well.

Price: Free during COVID19

Link: Fender Play

This video offers a sample elementary-level french horn masterclass. If you want a customized masterclass series for your band students, fill out the request form on this site. As always, MSL helpers are available to fill any need or vision you have for elementary through secondary videos on all instruments.

Price: Free Always

Link: Music Service Learning Sample Masterclass Video 

This computer application allows students to improvise, learn, and compose music with their computer keyboard. It is perfect for allowing students to compose and share music in a time when many of them are away from friends and peers. Teachers can utilize this for lessons or enrichment. The site includes some lesson plans as well! aQWERTYon allows for export into other audio programs like Soundtrap and Ableton.

Price: Always Free

Link: aQWERTYon

The ACDA Facebook Group provides choral educators with a place to post and view comments, videos, and lessons ideas. Posts are geared towards high school and collegiate teachers but some videos and posts include middle school lessons and songs.

Price: Free

Link: American Choral Director’s Association Facebook Group

This website gives ideas for elementary music and links to other resources. Included in this resource are links to a Facebook page to ask questions, a list of ideas for hands on dances and movement, Chrome music lab, The New Victory Theater in NYC, and YouTube videos of lesson ideas from other teachers.

Price: Free Always

Link: O For Tuna Orff

Sound Innovations Online by Alfred Music provides an online platform for instrumental students of all ages to access practice resources.  SI lesson books are the virtual companion. Within SI Online, there are play-along tracks, masterclasses, supplemental pages, and extra repertoire for students so they can engage with their practicing at home in different ways. Students can access SI Online by entering a product code from their physical book. This site can be accessed via computer, tablet, and mobile device.

Price: Free through Smart Music during COVID-19

Link: Sound Innovations Online

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Academy YouTube posts jazz lessons and videos on developing a practice routine. These are led by members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In addition, the JALC YouTube posts full concerts performed by the ensemble.

Price: Always Free

Link: JALC Jazz Academy on YouTube

This is an ideal resource for those teachers seeking to teach online lessons. This YouTube presentation by Terry B. Ewell addresses the setup of equipment, software configurations, and other helpful hints for successful online lessons for one-on-one music instruction.

Price: Always Free

This is an ideal resource for keyboard or piano teachers looking for online learning resources. This app is designed for building successful sight-reading skills on piano, including different exercises to build skills without the presence of a teacher. The provided lessons and supplemental books work on memory, speed, accuracy, tempo, and continuity.

Price: Free always (Four supplemental books for $14.99 each)

Link: Read Ahead App

This is an ideal resource for keyboard or piano teachers looking for online learning resources. Students can use this to build successful sight-reading skills on piano without the presence of a teacher. Lessons and books work on memory, speed, accuracy, tempo, and continuity.

Price: Free always (Four supplemental books for $14.99 each)

Link: Read Ahead App

This is an ideal resource for keyboard or piano teachers looking for online learning resources. This app is designed for building successful sight-reading skills on piano, including different exercises to build skills without the presence of a teacher. The provided lessons and supplemental books work on memory, speed, accuracy, tempo, and continuity.

Price: Free always (Four supplemental books for $14.99 each)

Link: Read Ahead App