videos

The “Composers for Kids” playlist provides descriptions, fun facts, and biographies of composers. The videos vary in ways of presenting information; this playlist includes lectures as well as animations. Videos range in length from two to twenty minutes. Most videos will appeal to younger students, but some are suited for secondary-age students as well.

Price: Free

Link: Composers for Kids on YouTube

Ideal for general music classes of any level, this YouTube playlist provides descriptions and biographies of composers. Contents range from short, animated videos covering information about a single composer to two-hour-long audiobook readings and everything in between. This playlist draws content from several creators/sources, so a wide range of material is available!

Price: Free

Link: Composers for Children YouTube Playlist

YouTube Description:

“Five Minute Mozart is focused on providing quality music theory education for music students and independent learners through condensed, easy-to-understand video lessons.

Browse our collection of music theory educational videos, piano tutorials of classical favorites, and short composer biographies introducing you to some of histories greatest musical minds.

Music theory made easy,

Five Minute Mozart”

Price: Free

YouTube Link: Five Minute Mozart on YouTube

Website Link: fiveminutemozart.com

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

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

Julie’s 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.

YouTube description:

“Join Fizz, Riley, Peri, Spike, and Hank, as they explore the magic of the performing arts under the mentorship and teaching of theater legend Julie Andrews. Together, Ms. Julie and her assistant Gus team up with some very special guests to help the Greenies learn about the creative workings of the different performing arts.”

Price: Free with Youtube; Longer shows require Netflix Subscription

Link: Julie’s Greenroom

Choir Baton is an Instagram page that promotes choral music education, and general musicianship tips. Featuring podcast episodes, warm-up ideas, and other teaching resources, Choir Baton is a one-stop-shop for all things choir.

Price: Free

Link: Choir Baton

Face Time with Composers is for elementary music educators looking for quality online resources for their students. Students can “Face Time” with famous composers and learn more about their compositional style. Each lesson focuses on one composer, while bundles including multiple composers are also available for purchase.

From the creator:

“If you are looking for a new, fresh, and fun way to introduce composers to your students, look no further! Face Time with Composers offers your students a humorous, factual, and fun way to get to know famous composers. After watching this goofy and informative video, your students won’t forget the composer they just learned about!”

Price: Lessons are $5-12 each

Link: Facetime with Composers

Singing_with_Ms_Sadie is for anyone looking for experience with general music in elementary schools. This account posts short video clips of singing lesson tips, fun musical games, singing echo songs, and more.

Price: Free

Link: Singing_with_Ms_Sadie Instagram

Fender Play is for musicians looking to learn acoustic or electric guitar, bass, and/or ukulele. This website has over 2.5k online video lessons taught by professional musicians along with hundreds of different songs to learn. These lessons are customizable, and students can track their progress as well as the skills they learn.

Price: Free trial available, paid subscription

Link: Fender Play

Ideal for younger students as an introduction to jazz, this resource provides different articles and videos on the style of jazz and famous jazz musicians. The introductory video, “What’s Jazz?”, features audio examples and an explanation of the cultural history and unique musical components of jazz. Biographic videos provide background on Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker.

Price: Free

Link: Jazz Artist Biographies for Kids

The Shed is a website offering online classes in music technology, guitar, band and music theory. The site also has PDF worksheets, lead sheets, quizzes, and videos covering subject including harmony, melody, rhythm, and jazz. There are a wide variety of free resources that teach general and specific aspects of musicianship.

Price: Free (premium subscription available)

Link: The Shed

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. While this resource was published during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the resources attached are useful in remote learning settings.

Price: Free

Link: O For Tuna Orff

Mr. S Orff Music Educator is an Instagram page run by Matthew Stensrud, an elementary school music teacher and certified Orff Schulwerk clinician, with links to his website which provides additional links to other services such as YouTube videos and webinars. There are also links to a patron page where you can pay for lesson plans at any time, and his website includes access to a plethora of Orff-related educational resources.

Price: Free

Link: Mr. S | Orff Music Educator @mistersorff

Smithsonian Music provides general music teachers an online museum of World Music. Teachers can browse lesson plans, playlists, albums, and more by genre, geography, or artist. They also provide free podcasts, playlists, games, and lesson plans about world music for K-12 with four different levels.

Price: Free

Link: Smithsonian Music 

This free site is perfect for creating interactive videos in any music class. Choosing from online video sources like YouTube, teachers can add closed captioning, questions, notes, voice overs, and more. Students can view the videos and submit their responses on the website.

Price: Free for first 20 video lessons, paid subscription required after

Link: Edpuzzle

This an incredibly comprehensive website in music for students grades K-5. Having won many awards, the contents of this site include lesson plans for teachers, games for kids, guides for parents, and book reviews among many other resources. All lesson plans link National Standards and use a variety of teaching methodologies including Orff, Dalcroze and Kodaly.  The website also provides links to their podcast and radio broadcasts.

From the website:

“90.9 WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical music radio station, created Classics for Kids® as an entertaining, informative introduction to classical music for elementary school children. The six-minute radio program, also available as a podcast, explains classical music, composers, and terminology in easy-to-understand language that’s designed to appeal to audiences of all ages. The interactive multimedia website classicsforkids.com is a fun, engaging tool for teachers, parents, and kids. It’s full of information about music, including composer biographies, a dictionary of terms, guides to instruments from around the world, games, archives of all the Classics for Kids® podcasts, and much, much more.

The website also provides free, user-friendly materials to integrate music education into the curriculum. In addition to lesson plans, there are pages to explore rhythm, history, composition, and other aspects of music. All of that makes classicsforkids.com a valuable resource for classroom teachers and homeschoolers.”

Price: Free

Link: Classics for Kids

Czarina’s Little Upbeat Music Class focuses on elementary general music that connects real world events and the classroom. Teachers use lessons by showing videos of influential men and women in the community and reminding students that they are part of a community. Student then reflect and create music based on what they learned. Through Czarina’s link in her bio, teachers can donate funds to receive additional materials.

Price: Free always with additional paid resources available

Link: Czarina’s Little Upbeat Music Class on Instagram