Listening Exercise: Bells

Bells! Bells! Bells! Even insturments with the same name can have very different sounds. Try our Name That Bell quiz to test your ears!

Activities & ExperimentsShanan ColvinAugust 13, 2024bells, jingle bells, listening exercises, ear trainingComment

Mini Music Lesson: Drum Legends

Let’s rock and roll through the alphabet of drumming icons!

Mini Music Lesson: Drum Circle

Grab a drum, learn the rhythms and you can Jam Too!

One Sweet Song

The people of Italy take to their balconies and unite in song even though COVID-19 has tried to keep them apart.

Look Listen LearnShanan ColvinFebruary 26, 2024music, elementary music, lesson plans, videos, playlist, reading music, SEL, Italy, COVID-19, opera, ensembles, community concertsComment

Harlem's Little Blackbird

A little girl with big dreams and a big voice to match conquers the word during the Harlem Renaissance.

Look Listen LearnShanan ColvinJanuary 25, 2024music, elementary music, lesson plans, videos, playlist, reading music, SEL, jazz, Harlem Renaissance, New York CityComment

Mini Music Lesson: Avant-Garde Composition

Use composition blocks to create your very own piece of avant-garde music!

Mini Music LessonsShanan ColvinDecember 20, 2023music, John Cage, avant-garde, composition, elementary music, music lessons, classroom instrumentsComment

The Story Orchestra: The Planets

Blast off on an adventure through space! The soundtrack? The Planets by Gustav Holst, of course!

Mini Music Lesson: Sea Shanties

Sailors and songs! Learn why music was so important to getting word done at sea!

Mini Music LessonsShanan ColvinOctober 24, 2023music, shanty, chanty, chantey, sailors, pirates, ships, work songsComment

The Note Who Faced the Music

Half Note believes the staff is better off without her. How will they make her believe the composer needs her just as much as all the other notes?

Look Listen LearnShanan ColvinSeptember 21, 2023music, elementary music, lesson plans, videos, playlist, Italy, Solfege, music notation, reading music, notes, rhythm, SELComment

12 Bar Blues on the Harmonica

The 12-Bar Blues on harmonica made easy! For kids and grownups!

Mini Music LessonsShanan ColvinAugust 22, 2023music, harmonica, blues, music lessons, music theory Comment

Yellow Dog Blues

We’ve got the Blues! The Mississippi Blues Trail, to be exact. Join Bo Willie on his journey to find his pup Yellow Dog and experience the sights and sounds this historic trail has to offer.

La Guitarrista

A broken, old guitar gets a second chance to shine and make a guitarrista out of a little girl with a big dream

The First Notes: The Story of DO, RE, MI

Before there was DO, RE, MI, there was UT, RE, MI and the young Italian monk who created the basis for the system that singers around the world recognize and use as a way to learn music.

Let The Beat Drop!

Keep and match a steady beat while practicing the basics of beat matching!

Mini Music LessonsShanan ColvinMay 25, 2023hip-hop, beat matching, dj, radio, music, pop cultureComment

Sampled and Mixed

Hear how musicians can make entirely new songs using music from other artists!

Music and PlaylistsShanan ColvinMay 24, 2023hip-hop, sampling, mixing, cover songs, playlist, fugees, kanye west, Ray charlesComment

Make Your Own Ocean Drum

Bring the sound of the ocean to your fingertips!

Activities & ExperimentsShanan ColvinMay 7, 2023ocean, piano, craft, DIY, drum, percussionComment

The Girl Who Heard the Music

How Pianist Mahani Teave took 80,000 bottles from the ocean and turned them into Rapa Nui’s first music school.

Look Listen LearnShanan ColvinApril 23, 2023music, elementary music, lesson plans, videos, playlist, women's history, piano, AAPI, ocean, crickets, islandComment

Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza

Let’s hear it for the girls! The girls of Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band are heading to a town near you! Get ready for good music and good times!

Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music

Mister Rogers discovered how he could use music to “turn sadness into sunshine” and for more than 50 years, that is exactly what he did for children (and grown-ups!) all over the world.

Box Guitar

With just a few simple materials, you can rock out on your very own box guitar!

Activities & ExperimentsShanan ColvinJanuary 28, 2023guitar, crafts, instruments, activitiesComment

Books, music, crafts and FUN!

Inspiring a love of learning through music and reading!