So much has changed in the 19 years since I started teaching music. My favorite change is probably the addition of technology. How did I ever teach without a projector and a wealth of resources at my fingertips?
I would like to share three free digital resources that I use often.
Carnegie Hall Listening Adventures-Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
This is the best website I have found for teaching the instruments of the orchestra. It covers the instrument families, each individual instrument and how they relate to others in the same family, and how they are played. It starts with an interactive introduction and then moves into a series of games.
The main character in the game is a girl named Violet. She has been given the job of finding all of the instruments of the orchestra, which have escaped into the wild. She first goes through the instrument book, which gives a brief overview of the instrument families, their place in the orchestra, and the ranges of the instruments in the family. The book also has information on Benjamin Britten and his composition, "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." All of the music in the game is based on this work.
After Violet goes through the book, she has to figure out the secret code to the keypad on the garage. This is a game where the students choose which instruments belong in each family. After the code is unlocked, the safari can begin. The instruments change enough to be a challenge and to get the kids excited.
After the garage is unlocked Violet begins her safari.
Each stop takes her to a new instrument. She refers to the book again and goes
over how the instrument is played. She will cover range, the type of reed or
mouthpiece, and the ways it can be played. You can skip this if you don’t want to go into that much detail,
or if it isn’t appropriate for the grade you are using this with. I don’t
usually go through the book with the younger kids, but the older ones like it.
You can also adjust the amount of time it takes by using or not using the book.
Each game has a different element. It might be
identifying parts of the instrument, determining which notes are highest or
lowest, or matching pitches. It really is very well rounded and covers many
musical elements. You can provide different levels of support depending on the
age of your students. Once an instrument has been found, Violet receives an
instrument sticker and the students have to place it in the correct spot on the
orchestra seating chart.
Depending on how much detail you go into, this could
be done in one class period or several. I like how it is customizable.
To save your progress for classes, you will need to create an account. It
doesn’t require an email. You just have to think of a user name and password. I
usually do an account for each class so their progress is automatically saved and you don’t have to keep track of which class
ended where in the game.
I very highly recommend this. You can find it here. This website requires Adobe Flash Player.
Music K8 Concept Videos
Music K8 Magazine/Plank Road Publishing has posted several concept videos on YouTube. My kids love these and ask for them often. They are silly and entertaining, and provide great illustrations about music concepts in a way that helps the kids remember them.
My students' favorite is the Presto Largo Song. A turtle and a rabbit have a race, and one runs presto, while the other walks largo. I have the kids stand and either walk or jog in place along with the characters. I am a firm believer that moving to music helps solidify understanding of musical concepts much faster.
Another favorite is the Forte Piano Song. I have the kids stand when it is forte and get small when the song is piano. Then they really make the biggest or smallest shape they can on fortissimo and pianissimo. Of course, they also enjoy showing what a crescendo looks like with their movement.
The Music K8 videos include some videos about note values and pitch names, as well as some music symbol videos and a couple silly songs that are just for fun. You can check them out here.
Sound Uncovered
This is an app for the iPad and is a great tool to use with your older students. Your science teachers will love you for using it too! It is all about the science of sound, and has many interactive activities that your students will find engaging.
This app has so many activities. Here are just a few examples of activities within the app:
- Tell how old someone is based on what pitch they can hear
- See how your eyes influence what your ears interpret
- Listen to the melodies that have been inverted, played backwards, etc.
- Change the type of scale and see how it changes the melody
- Guess what is making a sound
This app can be downloaded in the App Store (iPad only).
There are so many resources that I am looking forward to sharing with you in further blog posts. I hope you enjoy using them with your kiddos in your classroom.
