Online Resources for Music Educators
Dear Music Educators,
I arrived home to my family farm after my Broadway tour canceled our shows for the next month at the same time that my Mother’s school went to completely remote learning. For the last two weeks, I have been helping her take her entire homeroom curriculum online and I have been thinking about YOU a lot. What are music teachers doing?!
So, I put together a list of resources for you as you prepare for the weeks to come of teaching remotely. I hope that might make your life just a little easier.
Here are some ideas:
· Have your students learn and transcribe a tune by ear! This is could be a small project, very simple, or be blown out into a bigger musical challenge. Plus this teaches the most important real-world musical skills I can think of. Post a recording of the tune you want them to learn on DropBox, Google Drive, and or Facebook (all of these work really well for this.) Have them learn by ear and depending on skill level they might even transcribe the recording. You could also challenge them to come up with a new arrangement of the tune – perhaps put together with friends via Acapella or Garage Band. Have them post or send you a completed picture or finale file of the transcription and a video of them playing the full tune
· Assign a chamber music project over Acapella. This free app lets people create music together but apart. It also requires a lot of musical skill to use it and get each recording right before you send it on to your next collaborator. Here are some particularly innovative uses of it to get you inspired.
· Host a youtube watch party. Use YouTube as a learning resource. There are so many great recordings to watch and many channels devoted to teaching specific instruments. Host watch party’s of specific pieces or performances and discuss later on discussion boards or online in a group video chat setting.
· Bump up individual practice! Have them earn credit for individual practice through practice logs, practice journals, and individual ( or group) contracts. Get students extra motivated with alternative styles – jazz, fiddle, pop, classical, you name it.
· Have students write and design their own curriculum contracts. My mother does this with her 5th-grade students all the time. It is brilliant because it is very motivating and also really instills student lead learning and Internal motivation. Students choose an area of study themselves, design specific goals, and check-in with you along the way. Have them write our a “contract” that you both agree and sign, that details their goals and work processes. Examples: I am going to plan a video concert of pop covers. I am going to study Stephan Grapelli and transcribe 4 or his solos. I am going to write a film score. I am going to plan a solo concert. I am going to learn all about Edgar Myer. I am going to learn all about Celtic Music for cello. I am going to learn how to play heavy metal guitar riffs on viola.
· Create a classroom page where students can share their music projects and collaborations. Set up any platform that is easy for you. Kidblog, google classroom, a private Facebook group for some ideas.
LISTS of RESOURCES :
I created a Video Playlist of fiddle tunes taught by ear:
FIDDLE LESSONS Playlist
#TUNEsday Playlist of videos the relate to my ebook.
I also created a Spotify Playlist for listening inspiration of my favorite fiddlers: “Fiddlers I Love”
Chrisitan Howes – a brilliant musician and founder of Creative Strings who has lots of online lessons and resources. He has also been a voice of help during this time as he is an expert in remote teaching. Check him out for sure! Especially this post about how to “flip” the classroom.
Inspirational musicians doing cool things online:
The Viola Kid : or follow him on Instagram here
Useful Links :
Free Classes from Berklee College of Music on Coursera: The Art of Music Production and many more.
This app is amazing. Use it for chamber music collaborations. It will allow your students to play together remotely. (It is actually a brilliant practice tool)
The Session.org is huge website with PDF of fiddle tunes.
Hit me up if you have any questions or are seeking help. I love to hear from you. Best of luck, and may the force be with you!
-Kiana