Are you teaching virtually this fall?  If you’re like me, you’re learning how to use multiple platforms, revamp your curriculum, and trying to find content for instruction on a shoestring budget (or no budget).  Let me help you with some of my favorite digital content for teaching elementary music!

Virtual Classroom Instruments

Let’s start with some classroom instrument apps that you can link to your Digital Classrooms!

• Boomwhackers – I love this app from Music K-8!  Students can click on a boomwhacker to play melodies or chord root harmony.
• Xylophones – This is such a fabulous app on Denise Gagné’s website, MusicPlay!  Students click on the bars to play melodies and they can turn off bars to create pentatonic tunes!
• Drumsets – Want your kids to explore the different sounds of the Drumset?  Then this site is for you!
• Piano – This virtual piano is pretty responsive and easy for students to use.
• Scratch Instruments are instruments created by students learning to code.  You can search for a variety of instruments and link them for students to use.
• Patatap allows students to explore different sounds using their keyboard.
• Groove Pizza is drum sequencer that helps students to create a variety of beats.

Virtual Orchestra Instruments

• Calgary Phil for Kids has videos for instrument families of the orchestra.
• Classics for Kids has a fabulous site for students to see the set-up of the orchestra.
• St. Louis Symphony Online Instrument Playground has a variety of videos of each instrument in the instrument family.

Virtual Games

• Music Play Online is Denise Gagne’s website with a variety of games for elementary music students.
• San Francisco Kid’s Zone has lots of interactive games for students but requires Flash to work.
• PBS Kids has a lot of music games that are perfect for lower elementary students.

Virtual Repertoire

• Jill Trinka’s playlist has a variety of folk song recordings on a YouTube channel.
• SingtoKids is my YouTube channel.  I have a variety of folk songs and chants for elementary students.
• Quaver has a library of videos to teach and reinforce musical concepts.
• Music Play Online is Denise Gagne’s website with a variety of folk songs and grade level curriculum.
• Doodle Chaos is the home of Line Rider videos and more.  I love the videos for showing melodic direction and listening to orchestral masterpieces.

Virtual Children’s Book & Song Stories

• GIA Publications has a variety of John Feierabend’s Song Tales (Kitty Alone, Jennie Jenkins, etc. available online.
• Barefoot Books also has a variety of Song Tale books (If You’re Happy & You Know It, The Animal Boogie)
• The Remarkable Farkle McBride by John LIthgow
• Because by Mo Willems

Virtual Composition & Notation

• Incredibox is a student favorite!  My students love mixing different beats & rhythms!
• Chrome Music Lab is a fantastic app for music exploration or composition.  I have a video with 10 Different Ways to Use Chrome Music Lab on my YouTube Channel.
• Flat.io is a web-based notation program.
• Soundtrap is an online program that students can use to create beats, loops, and more.

Virtual Instrument Play Alongs

• Musication is honestly one of my FAVORITE sites!  They have boomwhacker & percussion play along videos!
• Ukualiens is a fantastic site for ukulele playalongs
• BuckingDrumming.Net has some wonderful bucket drumming play along videos for students.

Relevant YouTube Channels & Videos

• Animusic is another student favorite. They love seeing all of the funky instruments and performances.
• The Piano Guys are beloved by my students.  There are so many great videos to choose from popular tunes to movie music.
• The Carnival of the Animals is a elementary music standard.  I love this video of the Lion!

Tracking Digital Music Content

This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive list, rather just a starting place for music content.  I’ve created a Google Sheet with tabs for each section and columns for each grade level. I’m using the Google Sheet to track what sites I use for which grade levels.  I’m also linking assignments to the sheet so that I know what I’ve covered with students virtually.  Want a copy of this for your own use?  Click here for a copy of my Digital Music Content Google Sheet.

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