Websites/Resources for Elementary Music

Student tools

Tools that can be used by students in music classes with 1:1 devices to help them create music, perform music, respond to music, and connect music with other subjects.

Free and paid resources for students to use in their elementary music classes.

student tools

Create

**Chrome Music Lab**: Check out my **1:1 Devices page** to see ideas for using this in the classroom.

Dr. Musik’s Apps and Games: Check out my 1:1 Devices page to see ideas for using this in the classroom.

**Freddie the Frog Rhythm Builder**: Great way to create, practice, and perform (in a prepare/present/practice approach) sixteenth notes.

**Audacity** - Audacity is a free, easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Easily change the tempo and key of any audio file. You can also remove lyrics from some audio files. In addition, your students can record themselves adding some basic audio effects like reverb, in the classroom or from home (only for laptops).

**Beastbox with Ben Mirin** - Wildlife DJ and beatboxer Ben Mirin travels the world collecting the voices of wild animals that catch his attention. Layering his own beatbox loops with his favorite animal voices, he makes music inspired by the ecosystems he visits.
Your turn to be a wildlife DJ
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has teamed up with Ben Mirin to bring you BeastBox. Make your own music by mixing wild animal voices with beatbox loops and unlock Beast Mode by adding 5 animals from the same ecosystem.

**Blob Chorus** - Who couldn’t love this experiment where the SATB blobs sing when you make them go high and low, as well as forward and backward. It is also wonderful to take them on tour. Or stick with the original.
**Uses:** Have students record the blob chorus with the goal of making them as musical as possible. Here is an example: **https://g.co/arts/FvCHPvu4kXQA6DX69**

**GarageBand**: Tried and true from the early 2000s, this app or software for MAC only lets students create, mix, record, and produce music to share with the world.

**The Whacky Looper** - Allows students to play up to 8 rhythmic patterns at once, and easily create their own compositions.

**Sound Canvas** - Draw pictures, words, letters, numbers, and more for simple cross-curricular connections and musical creations.

**Incredibox**: Students can use the free web-based version, or the paid apps, to have students create music in various styles and beats on their 1:1 devices.

**Screencastify**: Students can screen record their work, such as when they create an incredibox song and share it with the teacher. This works especially well for students who are using Chromebooks.Ask IT to add the Screencastify extension to their Chromebook.

**Beepbox.co**: Students can use this app to create music that can be intuitively shared to other programs such as Bandlab or Soundtrap. You can also show a video game without sound and ask your students to use this site to create music for the game.

Students can compose a video-like sounding composition that will save as a midi file. Then, they can load it when they work in the same program or upload it and open it in Flat, Noteflight, etc.

**Bandlab EDU**: Similar to Soundtrap, but free. The live collaboration is not as smooth as Soundtrap’s and there is no EDU app for iOS devices. But, it is free.

**Basic Pitch** **- T**ry out Basic Pitch, a lightweight yet versatile audio-to-MIDI converter with pitch bend detection. Press record and sing a ditty into your computer. Or drop a recording of any single instrument (piano, guitar, xylophone, you name it). Then get a MIDI version back. Just like that. Download the MIDI file to fine tune and make corrections in your favorite digital audio workstation.
This is wonderful for you to record a line from an instrument, it will turn it into a MIDI format, and you can then put it in a notation app to edit.

**Classics for Kids Compose Your Own Music**: Beginner and Advanced rhythm values and **the ability to share what you create with a link** make this a very successful composition tool.

**Soundtrap**: It is basically GarageBand online that is HTML5 so that you can access it from any platform on a computer and a mobile device. It also has great collaboration capabilities. As stated by Mic Wright of www.thenextweb.com, Soundtrap is “the lovechild of GarageBand and Google Docs. There is a free version for music educators to use for themselves in their classrooms. There is also an EDU version which creates a safe educational environment where the students can login from any computer and can connect with others as they collaborate to create, mix, make, perform, and record music.

**Felix Mendelssohn'sA Midsummer Night's Dream: Music of Two Worlds** - Play around with this composition to create a new one. Drag the dot and create music using a flute, trumpet, or strings.

Notation (I highly recommend Flat or noteflight for #elmused)

•http://www.noteflight.com - online, HTML, notation program that saves in the cloud. It is free, but you can upgrade to have more options. You can also collaborate with others online.

•http://www.scorecloud.com - Download the notation software and the app (Scorecloud Express) that records what you play or sing and notates it immediately.

•https://www.presonus.com/products/Notion

•http://www.sibelius.com

•http://musescore.org - Free music composition and notation software

•https://flat.io/en - Flat online music notation for chrome browsers and chrome books. It is free and you can also collaborate online with other musicians.

•QComposer (https://quavermusic.com/Default.aspx) - You or your students can create a free account, click “Apps”, and click on “QComposer.” You or your students can composer a song and save it for free. You will need Quaver Notes to publish it. However, you can use a screen recording device such as Quicktime to video it and share it with parents.