Free Apps For Young Composers

I have found two more free apps that allow young students to explore music composition.




Tune Train
The first app is called Tune Train. There are 10 musical worlds available to explore.  Each world features a different musical style.


 
 
On each beat, you see people high and low. They essentially outline a chord. You use the train to draw a path and select people/notes you want in your

Nutcracker Resources

I have been teaching the Nutcracker for many years and my resources continue to grow!

 

The Story

My favorite book to share is a pop-up book that I got on sale one year in February for $3.99. Unfortunately, it is currently out of print. If you happen to see it in a used bookstore, snatch it up! Here is the full information:

The Nutcracker: A Magical Pop-up Adventure

Denchfield, Nick

Music Centers

During the week of Thanksgiving Break, I didn't want to start a lesson or unit when I wouldn't see all the classes of the week. So, we experimented with music centers. I have 50 minute classes, so I chose 4 centers. It took about 10 minutes to explain the games and then students travelled in groups and had about 10 minutes at each center. They seemed to enjoy them, so I will definitely try this

Buzz, Ollie, Luke, and Lori

I see my students once a week for 50 minutes. Yes, even kindergarten! There have been some recent conversations on a Facebook Music Teacher board concerning lesson planning when you have kindergarteners for an extended time. This post will share a few of my tips when lesson planning for kindergarten.

I usually try to plan 3 different activities for my kindergarten classes in order to keep their 

Music Proficiency Packs

Do you have any of Artie Almeida's Music Proficiency Packs? 
I have 3, so far, and the students love them!

Pack #1--Rhythm Rockets

Each card features 8 simple rhythms with ta, titi, and quarter rests. You can use these as a class activity, small group, or partners. Someone counts a rhythm and then another student identifies the rhythm by moving their clothespin next to the correct rhythm. You

The Power of Tonic

I'm just sharing an amazing video that I pinned months ago. During lesson planning with my student teacher, this video came to my mind. I found it on my Pinterest board and watched it again. Take a look at the video below:




It still blows my mind. I can't wait to incorporate these activities with my younger classes, perhaps in the first or last 5 minutes of the class. Many of you know I am

110 Free Music Education Apps

I've had the iPad for about 3 months and have downloaded many free music apps. I have organized them into the following folders so that all the music apps can be found on one screen. The folders are shown in the screenshot below:





 

Listening

1) Classical Lite
2) SPCO (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra)
3) NPR Music
4) Pandora
5) Classical Music For Babies
6) iLuvMozart
7) Classical 1
8)

Halloween Music Door

We always have a trick or treat night where the students get to parade through the hallways in the costumes and trick or treat. Each teacher sits outside their door giving away treats. This year, out PTO decided to give prizes (gift cards to a store of out choice) for the teacher with he best decorated door and the best costume. Well, thanks to Pinterest, everyone had really cute doors. So, I

Monkey Drum App

Monkey Drum-Free App

This is another FREE app that I think will be very useful in the music classroom. The main menu allows you to pick 2 ways to play. This is how the menu looks on an iPhone or iPod. When you click on the center image, you enter the most basic type of play. Here, you can play rhythms and melodies on instruments and when you pause or finish your phrase, the monkey will be a

Leap Back Home to Me

I love using children's literature in the classroom. Last spring, when browsing the book fair, this book immediately caught my attention. The title, "Leap Back Home to Me," made me think of how we call the pitch "do" home base. A few weeks ago, this book was used in a second grade lesson to introduce melodic improvisation, phrasing, and ending a phrase on "do."



Even though I had been

Magnetic Hand Signs

Good bye, old hand signs! You have served me well for 7 years . Even though you were laminated, your thin pink paper is still curled on the edges and show years of use. You have been ripped by students who did not treat you with respect, and taped back together with care. But, the time has come for us to part.







Hello, new hand signs! I look forward to using you in many lessons! I

To Stop the Train

To Stop The Train is an easy round for children to learn. It can be found on page 280 of Arvida Steen's "Exploring Orff: A Teacher's Guide." Arvida suggests adding movement to visually enhance the round, although she doesn't describe any specific gestures. 

Dr. Robert Amchin, head of the music education department at the University of Louisville, has often included this round in his

Flipchart Download: Welcome Back Class

For several years, I have used this unit with my 4th and 5th graders to review the musical elements, notation, and get them ready for the school year. I have recently uploaded the flipchart to Promethean Planet, but you could totally teach this lesson even if you did not have an interactive white board. (I taught this unit for a couple years before we ever had this technology!) A few of the

Interactive Music Flipcharts

In May, I blogged about Technology In the Music Classroom. I talked about many wonderful tools we acquired during a construction renovation, including the interactive white boards. We have Promethean ActivBoards which run on ActivInspire Software. In this post, I will share some flipcharts that I have submitted to Promethean Planet and are available for free download. There are brief