Amy M. Burns

Elementary Music Technology and Integration

Amy M. Burns has taught PreK-grade 4 general music for over 25 years at Far Hills Country Day School (FH) (https://www.fhcds.org/). She also teaches grade 5 instrument class, directs the FH Philharmonic, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory after being the director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on how to integrate tech into the elementary music classroom. She has presented many sessions on the topic, including four keynote addresses in TX, IN, St. Maarten, and AU. She is the recipient of the 2005 Technology in Music Education (TI:ME) Teacher of the Year, the 2016 New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA) Master Music Teacher, the 2016 Governor’s Leader in Arts Education, and the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), published by Oxford University Press (OUP) is available from OUP and Amazon. Burns is also the Community Coordinator for Midnight Music (MMC) at https://midnightmusic.com/, the General Music Chair for NJMEA Board of Directors, and the Elementary Music Consultant for MusicFirst (https://www.musicfirst.com/), a company built by music educators for music educators, dedicated to helping music teachers and their students make the most of technology in the classroom.

Holiday Rhythm Play-Along Mashup

Here is a rhythm play-along that includes 4/4 meter, whole, half, eighth, dotted quarter, and quarter notes, as well as fermata, repeats, rolls, and quarter rest. It is a mashup of six holiday songs listed below. Check back for a body percussion play-along to accompany this mashup, and eventually teaching materials. Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech.

Music:

  • "All I Want for Christmas is You" written by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff; Performed by Mariah Carey from Merry Christmas (1994) Columbia Records

  • "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" written by Johnny Marks; Performed by LeAnn Rimes from What a Wonderful World (2004) Asylum-CuRB Records

  • "Puppy for Hanukkah" written by Daveed Diggs with William Huston and Jonathan Snipes; Performed by Daveed Diggs (2020) published by Wonderland Music Company “I Have a Little Dreidel,” written by Samuel Goldfarb; Performed by Maccabeats (2018)

  • “Happy Kwanzaa,” Performed by FANOKO SINGERS (2015) CD Baby (on behalf of Fanoko Singers); ASCAP, CD Baby Pro (Publishing), and 2 Music Rights Societies

  • "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine; Performed by Shawn Colvin from Acoustic Christmas (1990)

  • "Blue Christmas" written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson; Performed by Elvis Presley from Elvis's Christmas Album (1964) RCA Victor

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