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Making Music Matter: Resources for Educators

March is Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM), the perfect time to celebrate the vital role of music education in students' lives and in the strength of our school communities. Whether you're looking to energize your existing lessons, introduce students to new musical experiences, or make the case for music education to administrators, we’re sharing a wealth of resources to support you. From lessons to interactives, the following resources are designed to help educators make this month—and every month—a celebration of music in the classroom.

Grades K-12

Virtual Musical Instruments

Explore the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, bongos, and other instruments. Select an instrument, then follow the directions for using the keyboard to play various notes. Create melodies using different notes and rhythms.

Grades 3-12

Flat

Make writing music easy with Flat! Import or create your own musical score by choosing the key signature, time signature, and instrument. Select from keyboard, woodwinds, brass instruments, plucked string instruments, vocals, kazoo, and more.

Grades 2-12

Learn to Play the Piano

Learn to play the piano through a series of video tutorials offered by Hoffman Academy. Participate in more than 100 lessons sequenced to build ability and understanding. Each lesson includes instructions and opportunities for self-paced practice.

Grades 4-12

Noteflight

Noteflight is an online music creation and sharing tool. Create your own music or view and listen to the works of other artists. Use the tools in the program to add notes, notation, and more to your composition. Be sure to check out the user guide!

Grades 3-8

Perfect Pitch

This interactive helps students learn about orchestras through baseball metaphors. Choose an era from baroque through modern times to meet the players, listen to instrument samples, and set your lineup. Return to home plate to navigate the activities.

Grades K-12

Chrome Music Lab

Launched in 2016, Google's Chrome Music Lab was actually inspired by Music in Our Schools Month. Learn music and explore connections between music, science, and art through hands-on experiments and fun interactives like Song Maker and Rhythm.

Grades K-12

Music Games

Experiment and interact with music through games, some of which include tutorial activities and multiplayer options. Play a virtual trombone, try playing a song with Rhythm Race, test your knowledge with Song Trivia, and more.

Grades K-12

Paint With Music

Paint With Music lets students create music simply by painting on the screen. Brushstrokes are translated into musical notes using machine learning, with a choice of instruments and immersive soundscapes—a creative way to connect visual art and music.

Grades K-5

Rhythm Trainer

Check out this rhythm-focused music site that also highlights notation and tempo. Students can tap, clap, and type rhythms while built-in tools like a metronome, drum machine, and rhythm bingo make practice engaging for all skill levels.

Grades K-12

Groove Pizza

Groove Pizza is a drum sequencer app that offers you the opportunity to experiment with drum sounds, rhythms, tempo, and more. Choose one of the specials to begin with a premade pattern, then manipulate different features to create a new sound experience.

Grades K-12

Boomy

Boomy is an AI-powered music creation tool that lets anyone generate original songs in seconds—no musical experience needed. Students simply choose a genre, let the AI compose a track, then customize tempo, instruments, and structure.

Grades K-12

Jamzone

Learn to write music, play instruments, and sing! To start, choose from the links to learn a song, take a lesson, or practice. Select from a song list of popular music and artists to learn to play a song using different instruments.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Join us on Tuesday for our next free OK2Ask virtual workshop and don’t forget to apply for our spring book club by March 13! We're also sharing a Pi Day and music-related blog post, as well as a professional article on music appreciation in literature. Read the details below!