Choral Wiki/Choral Public Domain Library

ChoralWiki is now where the Choral Public Domain Library is located.  The site contains thousands of pieces of public domain choral music in a variety of voicings.  Arrangements may be downloaded directly from the site and music can be searched for by either title, composer or keyword. I highly recommend listening to a piece before downloading as some arrangements are better than others.  If you decide to register you can even submit your own arrangement or edit one already there.


ChoralWiki

Musica International Database of choral music

Musica International is a searchable database for choral literature that can be searched by either title or composer.  When title of piece is clicked details are provided about publishing date, publisher, composer, and voicing.  There is an option to see the full text of the piece.  Some pieces also have an second option to copy and paste text into a separate gadget that will provide pronunciation in hyper articulation.  The gadget works well but the "voice" sounds scary!


Musica International

Jazz in America

This is the site for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.  There are great resources for jazz lessons as well as lesson plans for grades 5, 8, and 11.   Some of the resources available are timelines, style sheets for the different types of jazz, and a glossary of jazz terms.  The style sheets are very detailed and helps to clarify the differences between similar styles.



Jazz in America

The Science of Music

This website is geared for the older elementary to middle level student and examines what music is through science.  There are interactive online exhibits where a composition can be created using "kitchen sink-o-pation", a step re-mix where a rap rhythm and dance are created, and dot mixer that composes using dots.  Another section has movies that demonstrate the science behind music and interactive questions like "Why does my singing sound so great in the shower?".  I had a lot of fun playing with the step re-mix!


Science of Music

Federal Government Education Resources

This site has an extensive collection of links to high quality educational websites in all areas.  The music section contains a variety of topics.  Some of the ones I found interesting was one with music of the Omaha tribe including one song that was taken from a wax cylinder made in the 1890's and another that highlighted the lives and contributions of American composers.





 Federal Educational Resources

Prezi Presentations

Tired of the same old Power Point presentations?  Try Prezi!  Prezi is a web-based presentation program that adds a new dimension to sharing information.  It's a little difficult to describe.  All the elements for the presentation are placed on one page.  You choose your starting point and then link all the other elements and add how you want them to be shown.  You can zoom in or out, rotate, and a lot of other fun things.  There is also a way to import your already created Power Point presentations.  Best of all the basic version is free!  There are also two options for paid services that add a few more bells and whistles.  It's fun to work with and really grabs the attention of students.

Prezi

Dallas Symphony Orchestra for Kids

This is a website has some really great resources for elementary music.  There's information on composers, theory, compositions, and the orchestra all in a kid friendly, fun format.  There's also a section that has some lesson plans and ideas.  My favorite is the game "Beethoven's Baseball".  You get to choose five composers for your team, each time Beethoven pitches, a question about a composer appears.  It's really a lot of fun and I even learned a few things.







DSO Kids