Get ready for some fun this April Fool’s Day! 🪄 Your students will think they’re diving into a rhythm play-along featuring Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” — but wait! Just when the beat is flowing and the rhythms are rocking, POOF! 🎶
They’ve been Rickrolled! 🎤🙃
That’s right! Suddenly, Rick Astley’s classic “Never Gonna Give You Up” takes over, turning this into the ultimate musical prank! But don’t worry — it’s all in good fun and totally classroom-safe.
🧡 Why You’ll Love It:
🎵 Simple rhythms using quarter, half, and eighth notes + quarter rests
📣 An intuitive crescendo to keep them musical.
🏫 Perfect for all grade levels.
😂 Guaranteed giggles, groans, and maybe even some spontaneous classroom karaoke!
Your students will hopefully be talking about this one long after the last note fades. Ready to pull off the most fun, musical prank? Click here to watch and join the fun!
👉 Watch the April Fool's Rhythm Play-Along
Happy pranking, maestro! 🎵🎭
With MusicFirst Elementary, you can turn your centers into dynamic, digital musical experiences. Whether you're decoding rhythms, matching instruments, improvising melodies with boomwhackers, or creating ostinato loops, MusicFirst Elementary offers tools that encourage creativity, retrieval practice, and individualized learning. Plus, these centers help assess student progress in one class period! Want to try it? Get a free 30-day trial here: MusicFirst Elementary.
Read More
Bringing back one of my favorites featuring opera, I present a Rhythm and Boomwhacker Play-Along Video featuring the one and only Frederica von Stade, a Far Hills Country Day School alum! Frederica, a seasoned opera star with a voice that wows, is here to jazz up your day. Dive in to discover the play-along video, fun classroom manipulatives, and insider tips on teaching the song. Ready to jam out? Spread the love by tossing a virtual coffee my way at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech/ 🎵☕
Read More
Bring La Vaca Lola to life in your classroom with this engaging movement activity that will have your students singing, moving, and laughing! 🎶🐄 Download the free lesson, grab the recording, and see just how easy it is to energize your music lessons. Plus, unlock 30 days of MusicFirst Elementary for free to explore even more interactive songs and resources—perfect for making music magic happen this week! Click below to get started! 🚀🎵
Read More
Ready to take your Boomwhacker play-alongs to the next level? 🎶 This week, I’ve created the Level 2 version of the popular Sia Steady Beat Play-Along to "Unstoppable", with more challenging rhythms like dotted eighth notes and sixteenth notes, plus an expanded range of Boomwhacker notes! 🥁✨ If you liked the first version, your older elementary students will have a blast with this one—complete with free manipulatives, video play-along options on YouTube, and interactive tools on Soundslice. Click here to get the free resources, teaching tips, and everything you need to bring this dynamic activity to your classroom today! 🎉
Read More
🎉 Bring Math & Music Together this Pi Day! 🎶
Looking for a fun, creative way to celebrate National Pi Day (March 14) with your students? Why not combine the love of music and math in your classroom? Pi Day isn’t just for memorizing numbers or serving pie—it’s a perfect opportunity to explore sound, melody, and rhythm with your students.
I’ve got an engaging Pi Day activity that uses Typatone.com, an online tool that transforms typing into music. It’s a super fun way for students to explore how letters and numbers can create melodies, and it’s the perfect way to introduce them to the magic of combining math with music.
Click here to learn more about how to bring this Pi Day music activity into your classroom!
Read More
🎵 Looking for a fun and meaningful way to celebrate Women’s History Month in your music classroom? Imagine your students performing the music of iconic female artists while mastering steady beats and rhythms! This week, we’re diving into an exciting Sia Boomwhacker Play-Along to her hit song Unstoppable — a perfect blend of music and motivation. Whether you have a full set of boomwhackers or just a few classroom instruments, this activity will have your students engaged, empowered, and eager to learn. Keep reading for teaching tips, creative alternatives, and even more female artist play-alongs! 🎤
Read More
Looking for a fun way to keep your students engaged during Statue in the Park or Dancing Freeze? Statue cards add an exciting visual element, helping students strike creative poses when the music stops! While there are plenty of statue cards available online, finding diverse and relatable images can be a challenge. That’s why I created my own—featuring dancers from all backgrounds to show students that anyone can be a dancer! Want to bring these inclusive statue cards into your classroom? Click to read more and grab your manipulatives! 🎶✨ Watch the video here!
Read More
Looking for a fun, engaging way to teach steady beat and rhythm in your elementary music classroom? The Ella Jenkins Sing, Clap, and Play a Steady Beat Play-Along is the perfect activity to get your students singing, clapping, tapping, and playing instruments — all while exploring the timeless music of the "First Lady of Children's Music," Ella Jenkins. Featuring interactive songs like Caney Mi Macaro, Play Your Instruments, and Pole Pole, this play-along brings music to life through movement, call-and-response, and multicultural rhythms. Plus, you can grab free manipulatives to enhance your lesson! Ready to inspire your students with the magic of Ella’s music? Click "more" to discover the full play-along experience!
Read More
#TechTipTuesday: Celebrate Student Birthdays with YuStudio Sampler!
Looking for a quick, fun way to wrap up music class while introducing music tech? Discover how to use the new sampler feature in YuStudio — part of Music First Elementary — to create personalized, student-recorded soundscapes for birthdays or special days. It’s simple, engaging, and a hit with kids. Click to learn how to make music magic in minutes!
Read More
Are you looking for fresh resources, tech tools, and strategies to enhance your elementary music classroom? This past week at the NJMEA conference, I shared some of my favorite free tech resources, classroom tips for PK and K music, and creative app ideas. Plus, I got to learn from amazing educators like Stephanie Leavell and Dr. Missy Strong. Don’t miss out on these valuable insights and resources—click the link to explore everything I shared and get inspired for your next lesson!
Read More
In my recent session TI:ME/TMEA about how to create play-along videos with free tools, I created a play-along video to Aretha Franklin’s Respect, written by Otis Redding. This is a great video to include in a study of Aretha Franklin, or showcasing women musicians, or studying influential songs from the 1960s.
Read More
If you are attending TMEA this year, please join me in 214D today at 10 am and 3 pm! Learn some wonderful ways to enhance your classroom with new ideas and activities that involve technology, moving to music, performing, and more!
Read More
Although Earth Day is not yet here, it is always important to keep the 3Rs in mind. In particular, we refer to the principles of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Jack Johnson's song of the same name is composed of two basic chords - C and G. The C chord is a great starting point for beginners on the ukulele. This song can be a valuable tool for students to learn G.
Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
Read More
I have used moises.ai (https://studio.moises.ai/) for over a year now, but today was the first time I decided to experiment with the Voice Studio. This plugin transforms the timbre of an original vocal recording to mirror the style of one of their AI voice models.
Read More
🎶 Are you looking for a fun, interactive way to review musical concepts with your students? JeopardyLabs is a fantastic online tool that lets you easily create and customize your own Jeopardy-style games—perfect for reinforcing music theory, instruments, composers, and more! You can build a game from scratch or search for existing templates (like “musical instruments”) and tweak them to fit your classroom needs. Best of all, it’s free to use, with a lifetime membership option for just $20 if you want to save and edit games effortlessly. Watch this video to see how you can bring Jeopardy Labs into your music classroom today! 🎵✨ Resource: https://jeopardylabs.com/
🎶 Celebrate John Williams’ 93rd Birthday with a Rhythm Play-Along! 🎉
Looking for a fun and engaging way to bring epic movie music into your music classroom? This rhythm play-along medley features themes from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and more—perfect for reinforcing rhythms, dynamics, and articulation in an interactive way! Plus, grab FREE rhythm manipulatives to help your students succeed. Click below to learn more and get started! 🚀🥁👇
Read More
Bring Movie Magic to Your Music Class with YuStudio’s New Game-Themed Videos
Attention music educators! If you’re looking for innovative ways to captivate your upper elementary students, you’re in for a treat. MusicFirst Elementary, powered by Charanga, has recently added exciting updates to YuStudio, its web-based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) designed for young musicians. The newest feature? Five computer-themed video games your students can compose soundtracks for, including car racing, basketball, flight simulators, and more.
Imagine your students crafting sound effects for a Hogwarts adventure or adding dramatic melodies to a high-speed car race. These bite-sized videos, ranging from 19 seconds to just over a minute, are perfect for teaching composition, sound alignment, and creative scoring techniques.
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step guide to incorporating these videos into your classroom, complete with tips for aligning sound effects, creating background tracks, and adding melodies. Whether your students are just starting or ready for a challenge, YuStudio makes it simple to bring their musical ideas to life.
Click through to explore how these videos can transform your music lessons into cinematic experiences your students will never forget! 🎶
Read More
Celebrate Lunar New Year in Your Music Classroom with Engaging Play-Alongs!
The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, and on January 29, we’ll welcome the Year of the Snake—a time to embrace wisdom, intuition, and new beginnings. To bring this festive tradition into your elementary music classroom, I’ve created a variety of play-along resources designed to strengthen musical skills while celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Lunar New Year.
From a steady beat play-along for preschoolers and kindergartners featuring the beloved song Gong Xi to Boomwhacker and xylophone play-alongs at varying tempos, there’s something for every age and skill level. These resources, developed with tools like Flat.io and PlayXylo, will have your students clapping, tapping, and playing along with joy.
Ready to enhance your Lunar New Year celebrations? Click through to explore these interactive musical activities and make this holiday unforgettable for your students! 🎶
Read More
