Low Cost MusicTechnology Options For The Music Education Classroom
Low Cost MusicTechnology Options For The Music Education Classroom

Finding ways to stretch your budget in a music classroom is always important and even more so when trying to purchase high tech electronics, software, and other materials.  This article provides an updated list of dozens of different low cost or free alternatives to expensive music education products.  It includes such categories as music notation software, drill design software, special needs hardware, and many more.

 

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The Star Spangled Banner- Free Sheet Music For Band Inst.
The Star Spangled Banner- Free Sheet Music For Band Inst.

This document contains sheet music for all common instruments to play The Star Spangled Banner, also known as the sheet music to the National Anthem of the United States of America. You can view the sheet music online or download the individual parts arranged for all common concert band instruments.  If you do not see your instrument listed please scroll to the bottom of the page and try one of the the other instruments.  Most musicians will be able to find at least one instrumental part that matches their range and preferred key signature.  If you are seeking a simple piano version of the song please select from the voice, trumpet, or alto saxophone versions.

 

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Using Plickers as an Assessment Tool in the Music Education Classroom
Using Plickers as an Assessment Tool in the Music Education Classroom

Music, band, choir, and orchestra classrooms can be huge and assessing the knowledge and retention of individual students in such a large class can be daunting.  Plickers are one of several solutions that can be adapted to work in large groups, making the act of assessing a student’s understanding a little easier and a whole lot faster.  

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Is Marching Band A Sport? Pros, Cons, and a Reality Check
Is Marching Band A Sport? Pros, Cons, and a Reality Check

In recent years the question of whether or not marching band is a sport has been brought up time and time again for various reasons and by various groups.  On one side you have the YES crowd who says that marching band is competitive, physically demanding, and every bit as much a team event as any traditional sporting event.  On the other side of the coin are those who say no, that marching band is NOT a sport and it is a musical pursuit that happens to involve coordinated movements.  Both sides are right, but to make a final decision we need to look deeper into the facts.  Read on to find out what they are!

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Portable Digital Audio Recorder Buying Guide With Reviews
Portable Digital Audio Recorder Buying Guide With Reviews

Scroll down to view the comparison chart of over a dozen different portable digital audio recorders.

Buying a portable digital audio recorder is a major decision.  The balance between price, features, and quality is a fine line that has many different options to choose from.  There are dozens of different models of portable digital audio recorders, some of which have drastically different sets of features yet sell for roughly the same price.  This easy to read head to head comparison chart and guide to many of the more popular portable digital audio recorders is intended to help potential buyers more easily see these differences and make an educated buying decision.

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Apps and More for the Choral Classroom
Apps and More for the Choral Classroom

The number of apps, software, and gadgets available for use in the music classroom continues to grow each year but finding things that can actually be beneficial to your classes grows more and more difficult as well.  We spoke with Dr. Christopher Russell, Director of Choirs at Oltman Middle School in St. Paul Park, Minnesota to get his must-have list of apps.

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Music Composer Research Database

Details

The MusicEdMagic Music Composer Database is intended to be a starting point for students, teachers, and music lovers in general to research and learn about their favorite historical and current composers.  The Music Composer Database does not provide all of the information necessary to complete a homework assignment, but it does provide graphical, interactive information in a variety of formats that can help you visualize the relationships between the dozens of famous composers from medieval times to the current composers of today. 

The database is made possible through software developed by students and faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology named Exhibit and Timeline .  Special thanks should be extended to Mason Tang of MIT for showing me the way through some tough technical challenges on this project.

Enter_The_Database.jpg 
 


If this is your first time using the database please read on for further instructions.

Using the Music Composer Database:  Timeline View

When you first open the database your computer will load the Exhibit software and download the database in which the composer information is stored.  Depending on your connection this may take a minute or two.  Once loaded you should see the Timeline View including all of the composers listed in the database.

Composer Timeline View

By click/dragging the two horizontal bars of the timeline you can move forward and backward through history to see where your selected composer fits into music history.  Clicking on a composer opens a small popup that tells you a brief amount of information about the composer including dates of birth, death, and the locations of the same.  It also includes a very brief biography of the composer and other information as necessary.

On the right side of the Timeline window are selection boxes.  If you wish to limit the composers displayed on the Timeline to a specific era or to composers who wrote in a specific genre of music you can activate or deactivate the items using these boxes.  

 

 

 

 

 

Using the Music Composer Database:  Full Information View 

For a more complete view of a composer's life and additional references (books, audio files, and web links) click on the Wiew All Information link at the top of the Exhibit window.  This will switch the Exhibit to a view of vertical tiles, each one with the complete information available about that specific composer.  Again you can limit the composers displayed using the selector boxes in the right column, or you can also sort the list by last name, era, birthdate, or other criteria using the selector links at the top of the tile view window.


View All Composer Information

 

Using the Music Composer Database:  Map View

The last view possible with this music composer database is the Map View.  Using geographical data and the Google Maps API you can visually see the geographical relationships between as many or as few composers as you wish.  Zoom in or out of the map as much as you wish or overlay current satellite images and road labels.

Composer Map View

This music composer database is a work in progress.  More composers are being added regularly, and improvements to the interface are ongoing.  See below for a list of references used to create this database as well as a changelog detailing work done to the database and the Exhibit itself.

Current Composers Listed In This Database:

  • Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
  • Bela Bartok
  • Ludwig Van Beethoven
  • Leonard Bernstein
  • Alexander Borodin
  • John Cage
  • Giacomo Carissimi
  • Frederick Chopin
  • Aaron Copland
  • Jean-Baptiste de Lully
  • Claude Debussy
  • Josquin des Prez
  • Guillaume Dufay
  • John Dunstable
  • Daniel Emmett
  • George Gershwin
  • Phillip Glass
  • Percy Aldrich Grainger
  • Edvard Grieg
  • Joseph Haydn
  • Paul Hindemith
  • Gustav Holst
  • Charles Ives
  • Franz Liszt
  • Guillaume de Machaut
  • Felix Mendelssohn
  • Claudio Monteverdi
  • Modest Moussorgsky
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Giovanni da Palestrina
  • Henry Purcell
  • Ottorino Respighi
  • Robert Schumann
  • Jan Sibelius
  • John Philip Sousa
  • Richard Strauss
  • Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Frank Ticheli
  • Antonio Vivaldi
  • Karl Maria von Weber
  • Richard Wagner
  • John Towner Williams
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

 

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