In this challenging time, the music education community has been doing what it does best: working together to keep students engaged in deeply meaningful choral, instrumental, and general music projects. Thank you for all you are doing for your students and ensemble members – it is inspiring to witness. Since our team here at Pepper has heard from many of you about what is working for you in these unusual circumstances, we want to share some of these tips for the benefit of all. Here are some of the best resources we’ve found to help keep your students creating, performing and responding.
General Strategies for Teaching Music Virtually
*April 3 Update: Pepper has worked with music publishers to provide a way to share music you purchased with your ensemble members for free online viewing through June 30th. Thanks to our publishing friends for working with us on it! We hope it helps teachers and directors meet their needs. Visit jwpepper.com/sharemusic for more information. Sharing here two short videos that show how it works for students and for teachers and directors.
Whether you’re in a full virtual classroom or a hybrid situation, our Teaching Music Online page includes a number of flexible resources that adhere to both copyright law and educational standards.
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) offered a free webinar on the ins and outs of online music lessons.
To ensure your lessons are standards based, here are some great guides:
National Core Arts Standards for Music Ensembles: Planning and Assessment
National Core Arts Standards for PK-8 General Music: Planning and Assessment
Elementary Music Assessment Kit
Pepper’s Classroom and Choral Editor Tom Dean did a podcast with the Delaware Music Educators Association on distance learning. Listen to it here.
Creating: Virtual Music Projects for Students
There are numerous tools recommended to help students continue creating. One of the most popular is GarageBand. Here are a couple of resources that work hand in hand with GarageBand:
Music Technology Bundle: 7 Mini-Lessons for GarageBand
Music Technology Curriculum: 12 Project Ideas for Middle or High School
For composing projects, here are some helpful tools:
Melody Creation Project
Movie Music Composition Project
Music Composition Worksheet Set
Video Game Music Composition Project
Chord Progression Composition Lessons
There also are a few free apps that can help with creating audio and video projects, such as Audacity and iMovie.
Ways to Perform and Connect When Teaching Music Remotely
One of the biggest challenges is the inability for groups to practice and perform together. Here are some ideas that may help:
Zoom – The time limits for video chats have been removed from Zoom’s free service for any K-12 schools in the United States and several other countries affected by the pandemic. The Royal Academy of Music in Denmark has posted a YouTube video that shows how Zoom’s sound settings can be best utilized for music.
Acapella – This app can be used to record several different students performing, and then their performances are merged into one video
Music Prodigy Unlimited – This assessment software now has a special three month subscription available. The program can be used with any instrument or with voice. It allows a teacher to enter sight-reading exercises or music that the ensemble is working on; then enables students to practice and teachers to assess. It also gives teachers the ability to create polyphonic music. This solution works for all levels K–12.
There are also additional products that work with Music Prodigy that also are offering three month subscriptions, such as:
Bill Swick with Music Prodigy – Guitar
S-Cubed Sight Singing with Music Prodigy
Online Choir Activities
For some great sight-reading and skills practice units for choral singing and resources for solfege, try these options:
Choral Vocal Warm-Up – Video 1
Choral Vocal Warm-Up – Video 2
70-Second Solfege
Super Solfege Seven!
Students also can make time every day to play their instruments or sing with the help of various play-along packs.
Another option is to have students evaluate their own performances using tools like:
Music Performance Self-Evaluation: Choir
Music Performance Self-Evaluation: Band & Orchestra
Creating Virtual Performances
Pepper has shared blogs on the virtual orchestra project conducted by the National String Teachers Consortium as well as the virtual choirs created by Eric Whitacre. These projects can have legal and technical challenges. In response to many requests for more information, Whitacre posted a note that said in part:
“Each time we have made a new virtual choir we have put together the tech that was available at the time to create a platform for recording. We have nothing that is bespoke that we can share. Clearly, the ideal solution is that a tool is created that anyone can use and we’re working on that. There are no guarantees that it will be possible, but it’s our hope that we might be able to put a solution in place that anyone can use – choirs, ensembles, friends, close-by or far-away.”
Pinkzebra is trying to help on the virtual choir front by releasing a free GarageBand template along with a video tutorial. View information about that here.
For copyright questions for any projects, the Music Publishers Association of the United States has created this resource for college students and teachers.
Distance Learning Music Activities
Several years ago, Pepper’s Classroom and Choral Editor Tom Dean worked with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) to create curriculum responding units that work well in an online environment. Those lessons are still a valuable resource today – view them here.
Flipgrid is one of a number of tools that can be used for discussions. Students video their own responses to questions and to other students’ input.
Several symphonic and chamber ensembles are live-streaming upcoming programs. Classic FM is one site helping track the performances. Scroll through this webpage to view a list. Many pop stars and other artists also are streaming performances that can be viewed online.
The Internet Archive has been working to convert hundreds of old vinyl records to digital recordings. This Unlocked Recordings webpage has the tracks that are already completed, including numerous classical music compositions students can listen to.
J.W. Pepper’s website is filled with sample music tracks of popular educational music that students can listen to. Pepper also has a large variety of music videos on our YouTube channel that are available for viewing.
After they listen, students can use worksheets to respond to what they hear. These include:
Music Listening Worksheets Level 2 (grades 7-12)
Music Listening: Compare and Contrast
Music Listening Level One (K-6)
Music Listening Bundle
There also are listening units for world instruments:
World Instruments Listening Unit 1
World Instruments Listening Unit 2
Sakura: Japanese Folk Song Lesson Set
And mystery songs, like Music Mystery Listening Bundle #2
Other Virtual Music Activities
There are numerous other activities and games that can be planned, such as:
- Create a music activity bingo game.
- Plan a concert – have students research info for program notes, etc. by using Pepper’s website. Teachers could pick a theme to get them started.
- Have students make a meme about joining choir, orchestra, or band, or memes based on some other theme.
- Utilize reproducible worksheets, such as these string training ones that can be printed at home, completed, and electronically sent back to teachers.
Other tools:
SmartMusic is offering free premium access through June 30, 2020.
Sight Reading Factory has free student accounts while schools are closed.
Hal Leonard is offering enhanced support for teachers and students who use Essential Elements Interactive, which comes with Essential Elements method books. Users can sign up for accounts for distance learning.
United Sound is offering virtual learning resources for students with special needs.
Other tools include MusicFirst, musictheory.net, Staff Wars, MusicTutor, TonySavvy.com, FlashnoteDerby, Theory.net, stringskills.com, Noteflight, Google Classroom, and Seesaw.
Belt singing expert Erin Guinup, who recently shared tips on Cued In in this video, is working on a six-week series of singing fundamentals for beginning choral singers covering breathing, phonation, diction, etc. These videos will be available to the community for a recommended donation to the Tacoma Refugee Choir.
In addition, J.W. Pepper has a large variety of ePrint sheet music that can be downloaded or viewed on the ePrintGo app.
Online there are an increasing number of positive stories that also can serve as inspiration – ones showcasing the creativity and dedication of teachers everywhere. Stories like this one from WTOL-TV in Ohio highlight innovative teaching. It features music teacher Kelsey Kuszek using a green screen to take her students on adventures.
Please share your ideas in the comments, and thank you for your dedication to our students during a very challenging time!
View Pepper’s Teaching Music Online page
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This was a tremendous help, having so many resources put in one place like this. Thank you!
Thank you for all the info. It will be a big help to me. Jaye Grochowski
Thank you. My community chorus of seniors are trying to rehearse through zoom. It isnt perfect but is a great help in these isolated times. I am glad that we had one rehearsal to pass out the music. They can even go to your site and hear the music.
I understand that there is a time lag in Zoom. How does that work in a choir situation? Can one section sing all together? Can multiple voices sync up?
Most of the choirs we are hearing from are using the “mute” function during rehearsals. The voices will not sync during live video gatherings if the participants are in separate locations. A director or section leader could sing and everyone else on mute can try to follow along individually in their homes. Participants can be unmuted to individually ask questions. It’s not ideal, but people are making it work. Best wishes on your rehearsals!
It’s heartwarming that in such a unique time as this you have worked so quickly to assist music teachers in educating our students. Our principals and superintendents have been so supportive, but don’t understand our curriculum enough to go beyond that. JW Pepper understands, and has been with us in the best of times and stands with us in these uncertain days. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! We really appreciate it and are thankful for teachers like you who are working so hard to keep music education thriving during a time when students may need it the most. Best wishes on your virtual classroom efforts!
This is awesome! Thanks so much for your support of music educators all over the world!!!!
How do I access my music list when the music is ordered under the school’s name not mine?
Theresa: You can email satisfaction@jwpepper.com if you need a different account associated with your login. We’re mostly working remotely right now so email is best. Hopefully our customer service team can help you access your music. Thanks for your question!
This is a magnificent resource. Thank you.