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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Web Editing Software and Templates For School Web Sites

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Web Page Editors Web page editing software is one of the easiest ways to create and maintain the pages of your web site. Web page editors allow you to create a web page the same way you would create a document in a word processor.

 

Web Editing Software and Free Web Templates

Web page editing software is one of the easiest ways to create and maintain the pages of your web site. Web page editors allow you to create a web page the same way you would create a document in a word processor. You can easily change the size, shape, and color of fonts on the page as well as add photos, tables, and javascript applets just by clicking and dragging them into place. While Dreamweaver is often considered the pinnacle in web page editing software there are other, less expensive, options including several free or shareware editing software packages. All web page editing software packages allow you to create templates for your web site that can easily be copied from page to page to give your site a clean, uniform appearance.

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Links To Web Editor Software

 

Dreamweaver Software Box Dreamweaver ($200 school price)- The granddaddy of web page editing software but also one of the most expensive. Highly extensible and fairly easy to use.

 

 

 

nvu_screenshotNVU (FREE)- Pronounced "n-view" this web editor came on the scene several years ago and is open source, free software. With the free price tag comes the downside of only having email or community forum based support for problems or questions.

 

 

 

goliveboxAdobe Go Live ($80)- Another commercial web page editor that has a strong following. Some schools may qualify for the free Adobe software donation program. Check with your IT person at your school for more information or visit the Gifts In Kind web site.

 

 

 

 

 

Free Web Templates:

The upside to using a free web template is that you can find some very nice and very useful pre-made designs. The downside to using a free web template is that several dozen or even several hundred other sites may be using the same free web template. You have to weigh originality versus convenience when using a free web template as well as whether or not you want to have to leave the copyright notice on the bottom of each page as many free web template designers require. Most free web template designers also produce low cost commercial templates which allow you to remove the copyright notice.

Many free template sites are also offering Flash based templates as well. Flash graphics are nice and can add value to your site if they are done properly, but stay away from templates that repeat the same animation over and over again. Your users will thank you.

Another downside to using some free web templates (especially the flash templates) is page size. Not many free template designers seem to take bandwidth into consideration when creating their templates. Remember the suggested rule that each page should be less than 100K and preferably less than 50K including all of the images and text displayed on the page.

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