Classroom Resources

Technology Resources for Bands, Choirs, and Orchestras

Incorporating technology into the music ensemble classroom has become essential. We have gathered a few of our favorite apps and websites for band, choir, and orchestra directors to put to use in their classrooms this school year.

Apps

There is a slew of music-based apps to help with skills and fulfill needs across the board. Whether your focus is ear training, theory sight reading, composition, or recording, there is an app for that. Here are a few of our favorites:

Breathe2Relax – Breathe2Relax teaches diaphragmatic breathing, great for not only playing instruments and singing, but also stress and anxiety management. Musicians of all ages can be prone to anxiety when approaching a performance, so having a tool they already use is helpful.

Coach’s Eye – Coach’s Eye, intended for critiquing athletic performance, can be used for any kind of movement evaluation! With the app, you can provide narration, add drawings, and use slow-mo over video to critique position, posture, vowels, embouchure, timing, etc. The app’s capabilities also allow you to share and send the video critiques.

Better Ears – Better Ears has been around for a while, but it’s consistently a favorite of music teachers. Users can test themselves on interval, scale, chord, pitch, tempo, and key signature recognition, melodic dictation, and sight reading.

Websites

The internet boasts a wide variety of websites that can help augment music education. From examples on YouTube to theory quizzes, you’re likely to find anything your heart desires! Below are just a few of our favorites.

Practice It – A digital practice journal, Practice It allows musicians to create records of their practice time for individual pieces. Teachers can also schedule lessons and oversee progress. Users can also earn “badges” for achieving milestones.

A Web Whiteboard – If you don’t have an interactive white board but want some of the perks, the clean, user-friendly interface of A Web Whiteboard will be very useful!

MusicTheory.net – An oldie but a goody, MusicTheory.net includes theory lessons, exercises, and tools useful for the novice and the pro. The site adds new sections and consistently updates existing modules, consistently giving users fresh options.

We hope you find these useful! What are your favorite ways to utilize technology with your ensembles?

Thanks to Dr. Latasha Nadasdi for her input and assistance.