Music Fun
Musical Instruments
Membranophones? Aerophones? How about strings? Percussion? You need not be a music instructor to benefit from a packet of 24 worksheets that introduce aspiring musicians to the various instrument families.
Curated OER
Applying Music to Literature
Kids explore music, history, culture, and literature in a multi-faceted lesson plan. They discuss how both historical and cultural contexts shape music, art, and literature, and then apply these concepts as they engage in a listening...
Curated OER
Rock Music
Students create percussion instruments using limestone and other rocks. They use instruments to perform a song.
Curated OER
Percussion Instruments and Pitch
Learners play string instruments to discover how the pitch changes on various string instruments. In this pitch lesson, students listen to video clips and play an online music game. Learners become familiar with music vocabulary.
Curated OER
Percussion Fast and Cheap
Learners explore percussion. In this percussion lesson, students examine body percussion, drumstick percussion, beaters percussion, drum percussion, stick percussion, washboard percussion, and shaker percussion by using everyday objects...
Curated OER
Percussion Family Lesson Plan
Students gain an appreciation for percussion instruments. They can identify the instruments by sight and sound and associate them with different musical styles. Using Microsoft Musical Instruments, students hear other percussion...
Curated OER
World Percussion Instruments
Fourth graders study percussion instruments from various world cultures. In this percussion instruments instructional activity, 4th graders listen to percussive sound sources, learn playing techniques, and create compositions for...
Curated OER
Percussion Terms
In this music worksheet, students locate 16 percussion instruments and terms. The word search includes 14 percussion instruments and two performance terms.
Other
Discover Eso: Percussion Instruments: Harp
Contains information on the harp. Students learn about the history and qualities of the instrument and can listen to audio excerpts of the harp being played.
The Orchestra
The Orchestra: A User's Manual Percussion
A terrific resource covering many aspects of the percussion. Most explanations are made with video and audio clips of members of the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids
This interactive site offers students resource for learning about composers, their works, the logistics of orchestra seating, the functions of different instruments, and the like.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Orchestra Seating Chart: Baroque, Classical, Romantic
See how the number of orchestra members increased from the Baroque period through the Classical, up to the Romantic. You can print each orchestra seating chart.
Georgia State University
Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Musical Instruments
Homepage for a hypertext about the different families of musical instruments. From this page, users can retrieve information on a the acoustics of a variety of specific instruments: stringed instruments, woodwind instruments, brass...
Other
Drumatix: Vintage & Collectable Drum Center
This site offers vintage and collectable drum products for sale. Lots of images! (Takes a while to load)
Other
Online Mallet Lessons
This site contains numerous tips and suggestions dealing with many facets of playing the vibraphone and marimba. Although much of the information is jazz oriented, some is general enough that it could easily be applied to xylophone and...
Other
Drum Bum: A Drum Lessons Database
Providing "Over 400 free Lessons and Tabs," this resource includes learning ideas and information for everyone from the drum novice to the expert. In addition to including lessons on a wide range of instruments, this resource includes...
Quia
Quia: Dear Mr. Henshaw: Parts of a Friendly Letter
A fill-in-the-blank music game on percussion instruments. The student is able to check their answer after each of the 10 questions.
Other
Vic Firth: Educator's Resource Library
This website is a cornucopia of resources for percussion instruction. There are videos, audiocasts, podcasts, interviews with talented percussionists. Please check out this website is you are interested in any aspect of percussion.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: Message Drums
How did various cultures communicate before the invention of the telephone, email or telegraph? Discover the use of message drums in this lesson plan.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Xylophone
The xylophone is a percussion instrument that is tuned and has a keyboard shape. Use this resource to learn more about it and the other instruments in the percussion family. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear the xylophone by...
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Triangle
Use this resource to learn about the percussion family of the orchestra. The triangle is part of this group of instruments. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear the triangle on its own and with the orchestra.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Timpani
Have you ever wondered what those big bowl shaped drums were? They are timpani. Use this resource to learn more about them and the percussion family of the orchestra. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the timpani play...
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Chimes
The chimes are the tall tube looking things in the orchestra. Read more about percussion instruments, the chimes in particular. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the chimes on their own and with the orchestra.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Castanets
Castanets are a percussion instruments. Read more about them at this resource. Use this resource to learn more about the percussion family of the orchestra. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear castanets play with the orchestra.