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

Science and Music Performance

I found this experiment by a Canadian psychologist to be very interesting.  The conclusion was that the emotional hold felt by the listener of a piano performance can be reduced to three things: how long the note is held, how loudly the note is played, and pedal positions.  This is something that musicians know, but at least in my case, can sometimes forget!





Timing Is Key To Music's Emotional Hold

Virginia Chamber Orchestra General Music Resources

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra has produced a series of educational programs that can be used at all levels.  These were originally offered via television to schools in Virginia and are now available on the web site through George Mason University's Capitol Connections.  There are four programs but only three offer the free streaming video.  Student Activity guides are also available to download.

I'm currently using Wonders of Geography: A Musical Atlas of America with my special needs music class.  The student activity guide was a little too advanced for this group of learners so I have tweaked the ideas to meet the needs of my students.  They have enjoyed taking a virtual trip around the U.S. and the music associated with the different regions gave me a chance to incorporate the elements of music that we had just studied.    I'm planning on using The Musical Side of Thomas Jefferson for our next unit.  It's a great way to get some cross curricular teaching in!


Virginia Chamber Orchestra Home Page

Source for Jazz Videos

I was searching for some clips to show my 6th grade general music classes during our upcoming unit on jazz and came across this site. I really like that I can go to the directory and find the artist I need quickly and that there are no comments to worry about. It has also helped me discover some performances I didn't know about.  The Chick Corea/Makoto Ozone performance of Mozart's Double Concerto is awesome!

I like using the clips with my lessons to bring these people to life for my students. Just listening to a recording is good and necessary, but there's something special about getting to see a great like Louis Armstrong perform their own music.

Jazz On the Tube

Bicycle Built for Two

Once I got used to the commands, this was a pretty easy program to work with. I just purchased Finale 2011 and am going through the learning curve. Noteflight was much simpler, doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it did a nice job.

My district is encouraging teachers to use Haiku, a web based learning management system, to communicate with our students, post assignments, keep in touch with parents, and use for some of our lesson presentations. One of the features that can be added to Haiku is Noteflight. Now that I have had a chance to explore and "play" with the program, I can see where it would be an asset on my Haiku page. I would be able to create assignments for my students or have them compose their own music. I'm planning on sharing the idea with the other music teachers in my building at our next meeting and hopefully we can start the next school year with it in place.

General Music Resources

As a general music teacher, I'm always looking for something I can add to my lessons to keep them interesting and keep my students engaged.  This week I discovered Music Ed Magic.  It has some interesting short articles on music technology, music history, jazz, music teaching, free sheet music downloads and lots more.

Music Ed Magic

Jazz Lessons and Resources

Since April is Jazz Appreciation Month, here is a website that has some great resources for lessons on jazz.  I like to pick out pieces from the information available and put my lessons together, but there are full lesson plans there as well.  My favorite part of the site is the recordings that are available.  There is a pretty good representation of the different areas and it's easier than dragging all my CD's to school or loading up my i-pod.


NEA Jazz in the Schools

Safe Listening

This very short article by MENC talks about the effects of prolonged noise exposure and gives a few suggestions to help protect hearing.  This is a something that is often overlooked as we get busy.  It's important not only for our students but also for ourselves.  I lost the hearing in one ear due to a medical problem so saving what I have left is always a priority for me.

http://www.menc.org/v/band/would-you-repeat-that/

You Tube

In my general music classes I like to use You Tube to bring the musician we're discussing to life for my students. For example, in a lesson last week we were learning about "non-traditional" composers and their works.  Instead of just talking about John Cage's 4'33" we watched a You Tube clip which brought the piece to life for the students and led to some interesting discussions.

My problem with You Tube has always been that some of the comments that are posted are really not appropriate for the classroom.  This short clip shows two different ways to make the comments disappear.
http://mustech.net/2011/02/09/hide-youtube-comments-tutorial

It worked great on my personal PC and I can't wait to try it on the Mac at school.