Peter and the Wolf is work created by Prokofiev that is beloved by children all over the world. Each of the characters in the story is represented by a different instrument. It’s an excellent way to introduce young children to the instruments of the orchestra. At www.Musicplayonline.com we’ve created a Unit with 4 lessons to […]
Tag: Denise Gagne
With Coronavirus cases topping 100,000 worldwide, schools are starting to close and teachers are having to teach their music classes online. There are a variety of ways to do this. One of our Shanghai teachers has been teaching by making videos for her students, posting them on YouTube and sending them the link. Some teachers […]
Every music class is different. The song that might be the favorite of one class of Grade 4 students, another class might not like. If I introduce a song or activity and the students really dislike it, I’ll put it aside for another year. What do I do with the (fortunately very rare) student who says […]
2018-03-09 St Patrick’s Day Lesson Ideas The St. Patrick’s Day Composition, Improvisation Flashcards & Theory Unit is available to download from Teachers Pay Teachers OR use the interactive composition, improvisation, Rhythm Chain and Rhythm erase at www.musicplayonline.com. Musicplayonline has 10+ Irish folk songs and instrumental selections for movement/listening that aren’t included in the TPT version. The […]

Wow! In one week, we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day, seen the start of the Winter Olympics, and started Lunar New Year celebrations – including Chinese New Year on Feb. 15th! We’ve created an entire Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year celebration at www.musicplayonline.com. If you don’t subscribe to the online site, You can download the […]

In this newsletter I’m going to share the process I use to teach ties, using the song Obwisana. When first writing and recording songs for Musicplay in 1999, the internet wasn’t the wealth of information it is today. I asked everyone I knew in Red Deer, Alberta (not a very multicultural city in 1999) if […]
Recorder Mad Minutes

MAD MINUTES – A Great Way to Help Students Develop Note Reading Abilities! Mad Minutes help students develop their note reading ability. Mad minutes were invented by math teachers to help children develop instant recall of math facts. In music, Mad Minutes are timed drills to practice letter names. As the students enter the classroom […]

A recent Facebook asked for help finding a cute song for K-3 students. In this article, I’m giving suggestions for easy and cute holiday concert ideas for your primary (PreK-Grade 3) students. If you choose a song that is already familiar to the students it will be quicker and easier to learn. Some of the […]
Easy Bucket Drumming

Bucket drumming is a really engaging activitiy for your music classes. It’s inexpensive to equip a classroom with buckets and sticks, and they are easy to stack and store, so bucket drumming is an activity that’s accessible to all. Buckets: What kind of buckets should you get? You can use all shapes and sizes of […]
I received a question this week, and think this is a good forum to post my answer. I am very interested in preK-2 curriculum. I was originally interested in the K-2 School Complete Digital Resource Package, and just created a one month sample trial of your on line resources! www.musicplayonline.com . As a new teacher, […]