TOP PICKS | 28 TOOLS
Great Apps, Games, and Websites for Music Education
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Bandimal
Captivating music creation app for young musicians
Bottom line: For iOS-infused preschool and kindergarten classrooms, this could be an excellent intro to electronic music.
Musical Me - by Duck Duck Moose
Lively activities introduce kids to music, rhythm, and instruments
Bottom line: This whimsical app offers kids a variety of ways to make and experience music while boosting their critical-thinking skills.
Sesame Street: Elmo's Musical Monsterpiece
Silly Muppets make learning music fun for young kids
Bottom line: A great intro to music concepts for young kids, but only engages one child at a time.
Easy Music - Give kids an ear for music
Music-exploration app offers great balance of play and guidance
Bottom line: Great, easily accessible approach to building the foundations for musical literacy.
Musical Paint for Kids
Create digital drawings, explore musical tones
Bottom line: With appropriate teacher guidance, this can be an engaging if limited creative experience for pre-K-grade 2 students that cleverly mixes drawing and music creation.
Piano Maestro by JoyTunes
Great sharing features help parents, teachers support piano practice
Bottom line: A cool way to get piano students, their teachers, and their parents on the same page, but it might need tweaking to remove some distractions.
Piano Practice with Wolfie
Stellar piano practice tool supports reflection, persistence
Bottom line: An excellent platform for supporting serious music practice if you can make it logistically work in your classroom.
LOOPIMAL by YATATOY
Dip a toe into DJing with drag-and-drop music app
Bottom line: The intuitive design strikes a nice balance between ease of use and a feeling of unique creative expression.
My First Classical Music App HD
Inviting, interactive app makes learning classical music fun
Bottom line: My First Classical Music App is a great interactive introduction to the Western classical music tradition.
Smithsonian Folkways
Text-centric world music site could use more activities, music
Bottom line: Kids won't hear every tune in its entirety, but Smithsonian Folkways' resources can help them comprehend and appreciate cultural music.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten
Spirited digital re-creation of an educationally sound musical classic
Bottom line: Kids will delight in this wonderful digital update of a classic celebration of orchestral music.
AtPlayMusic Recorder
Well-designed lessons, fun animations teach kids to play the recorder
Bottom line: A fun way to reinforce concepts, but deeper insights about technique and musicianship are best gained in the real world.
GarageBand
Amazingly powerful audio workstation unleashes creativity
Bottom line: There's exceptional functionality in this solid, all-inclusive audio workstation that's fantastic for high-quality, anytime, and anywhere audio recording and sharing.
Math Science Music
Thoughtful tools teach STEM skills through music and creativity
Bottom line: Limited but quality content gives STEM teachers a new toolset for fostering engagement and understanding.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
BrainPop
Clever animated hosts Tim and Moby masterfully tackle complex topics
Bottom line: Cartoon videos in this extensive collection break down ideas in clever and thoughtful ways.
Grades: 4–8
Price: Paid From $220.
Sound Rebound
Make musical contraptions with playful sound and physics sandbox
Bottom line: This engaging and open-ended sandbox app has limited functionality but will engross students for extended periods.
BandBlast - The Music Education Revolution
Games, videos infuse music practice with play and personality
Bottom line: A cool, comprehensive resource for supporting beginning music students.
Sound Shapes
Jazzy music game lets kids design levels and create music
Bottom line: A visually stunning music game that inspires creativity by providing simple but powerful tools to build your own music games to share with others.
Audacity
Free online music-maker also a lesson in open-source software quality
Bottom line: With tons of quality tutorials and help, this free recording site is a real treat for those who don't have access to the branded software.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
Musical Futures
Multimedia-rich magazine highlights free international music curriculum
Bottom line: An exciting launchpad for engagement connects to a vibrant, growing community of music teachers.
iTooch Music
Charming visuals, challenging quizzes build solid musical knowledge
Bottom line: iTooch Music is a terrific reference and review tool for beginning to advanced music students.
The Beatles: Rock Band
Iconic music becomes interactive in this rockin' rhythm game
Bottom line: A fun way for kids to interact with the music of The Beatles without having to master real instruments.
Noteflight
Safe, collaborative space for creating and sharing original music
Bottom line: This useful, well-constructed music composition tool lets classrooms collaborate and comment on student-created songs.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid The Studio version (one website for 75 students) of Noteflight for Teachers, designed for K-12 use, is $95 a year; the Classroom version (one site for up to 250 students) is $195; and the Teacher version (up to five 75-student classrooms) is $295. Users can also sign up for a basic free membership and create up to 10 compositions or subscribe to the premium Noteflight Crescendo version, which lets them write an unlimited amount of pieces, for $49 a year or $7.95 a month. Customized pricing is available for a the Noteflight Campus collegiate version.
The Orchestra
Stellar interactive features bring classical music vibrantly to life
Bottom line: A terrifically designed tool that invites students into the often unwelcoming world of classical music in a way that deepens appreciation and understanding of the complexities and beauties of the art form.
SmartMusic
Music practice tool offers useful exercises but needs fine-tuning
Bottom line: Though assessments aren't in every activity and external factors can make it unpredictable, SmartMusic can still make practice more effective.
Grades: 7–9
Price: $140/year The educator version is $140 a year. Students can use the tool at home for $40 a year per student or at school with a $44-a-year practice room subscription, which provides access on school-owned computers
Auxy Studio - Music & Beat Maker
Loop beats like a pro with stellar music-maker
Bottom line: A stellar, approachable tool for constructing your very own digital beats and tracks.
Flat
Terrific composition tool empowers budding musicians to create, share
Bottom line: An excellent tool for writing and sharing musical creations.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid The regular version is $4.90 per month, but educators can buy licenses for $1.50 each (whether the license is for a student or teacher). License packs begin at 10 for $15.
Soundtrap
Powerful online audio production with built-in collaboration features
Bottom line: Soundtrap is a uniquely collaborative music-production environment, but you'll want to evaluate the privacy issues and what the pricey EDU version offers.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free to Try, Paid 30-day free trial. Afterward, it costs $249 per year for up to 50 students and $474 per year for 100 students. This version includes all the premium features of the consumer version plus extra security and privacy for COPPA compliance and a teacher dashboard.