Music Pages - Freebies for Teachers and Students

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Music (Music Intro Page)

Freebies for Music Folks (includes links to online flash cards and theory games, free (and not free) music available online, FAQ for String Players, Circle of Fifths/Circle of Fourths, Certificate of Participation, Practice Records and more for students, teachers, and directors)

Publishers (includes information about online, digital print music as well as traditional printed music sources)

Music Associations

Music Syllabus-- Trouble thinking of a song for a student to play? Check out one of these.

Special Needs Music Students Assistance

Celtic Music in Chicago

Favorite Performers

Mariachia

Instruments:
Accordian
Bagpipes
Brass
Drums/Percussion
Guitar
Piano
- Method Books
- Solos for Students
Strings
- String Methods
- Violin Solos
- Viola Solos
-Cello Solos
- Bass Solos
- String Duets
- String Trios
- String Quartets
- String Quintets
Woodwinds

Places Carla Teaches

As music teachers, we have first hand knowledge and experience with our students and the parents of our students (if they are young). As we use the method books, we discover that sometimes things are missing for some students so we invent or create our own teaching tools. Here are some things I've created for my students or their parents and some resources others have told me about. I hope that you'll find them helpful.

Circle of Fifths/Circle of Fourths pdf file. One Circle of Fifths per page. This file will take a long time to load if you are on a dial up connection. It has graphics of staffs with the key signatures. You might want to download the pdf file to your hard drive so you will know for sure when it is finished.

Circle of Fifths/Circles of Fourths pdf file. Two copies per page.

Metronome Markings pdf file. This page can but cut into smaller pages for different students.

If you'd like, please donate to the site so the site can be maintained and other free materials can be provided.

Online Music Flash Cards
Smith Creek Music Flash Cards -- includes Notes on the staff, Key Signatures, Intervals, and Musical Terms.

Flash Cards for Various Instruments
Flash Cards for most instruments and general music (including jazz chords, rhythm, and more -- cost involved -- Strings (Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass). Winds. A bit pricey -- $10.98 and up. (Carla has cards for Violin first position.)

If you'd like to make your own flash cards using my pdf files, you are welcome to do so.

1. Please download the pdf files. PDF file for Violin Flash Cards. First Position.

2. Purchase the pre-scored post card (four cards per page) card stock paper or buy label paper and 4 X 6 blank index cards. These supplies are available from office supply stores and, sometimes, other stores general merchandise stores.

3. Put the card stock or labels in your printer tray.

4. If you are printing on the card stock, print the odd number pages first. Then, remove the card stock. To ensure that you are printing on the correct side of the paper and in the correct orientation, print a test page. When you understand how your printer prints the pdf file, insert the card stock so your printer will print on the blank side in the proper orientation.

If you are printing on label paper, you can print the whole file at the same time. You'll need to cut the label paper and paste the labels on the 4 X 6 index cards. (This could be used as an activity with the student to help him/her start to learn the notes)

(If you don't know music notes, look at the last two pages of the pdf file. Only one of those cards has a single note on it so you should be able to figure out how the pages need to be feed into your printer from those last two pages.)

5. If you'd like, please donate to the site so the site can be maintained and other free materials can be provided.

Music Composition Software
Probably the most used music composition software something from the Sieblius Products.

Here's a web page that reviews some of the available packages. For beginning students who are not yet writing scores for orchestras or anything extremely complex, the less expensive (or free package mentioned below) will be fine. Should the student become very interested in composition, you might want to look at a professional composer's package, like the one in the Sieblius product line.

I've been using a "free" package, called Anvil. If you only use the notation software and do not want or need a printout of what you've entered, you can download the free software. If you want to print out the music, there's a charge for the printing feature add on.

The neat thing about Anvil is students can input their music by selecting the piano keys or the appropriate frets on a guitar diagram. This software without the printing feature can be helpful for students who want to hear or play the music at a slower tempo so they can practice with the computer.

CDs that come with music books usually play the pieces at performance tempo; sometimes, they will have a rehearsal speed. Unless the student has an expensive CD player that can slow down the music without changing the pitch, practicing with the CD becomes very difficult. After the student enters the music into Anvil (which is probably a good way to become very familiar with the music -- maybe even an aid to memorizing), students can specify whichever tempo(s) are correct for them. As students learn the music, they can increase the tempo.

The bad thing about freeware is lack of support and good documentation. Anvil has a user's guide but so far I've not been able to download it because the link isn't working. So, if you don't mind figuring things out for yourself and like free, give Anvil a try.

Free Classical Music
Rowy.Net ( http://www.rowy.net/Download_Sheet_Music.html )

Classical Digital Music (for a fee)
Find Classical Sheet Music to download instantly at Virtual Sheet Music ^® (includes pdfs and sometimes MIDI files)

Digital Music

Sheet Music Direct -- Hal Leonard publications

Freehand Music

Rycun Music -- Current Composers

Music from Australia

8notes

Free Music
Music Aviva -- has mostly folk and music in public domain (i.e., not under copyright).
Fiddle Music -- Here's a like to fiddle music I downloaded.

Mel Bay sites for free music and lessons:
Fiddle Sessions
Guitar People
Guitar Sessions
Bass Sessions
Mandolin Sessions
Banjo Sessions
Creative Keyboard
Dulcimer Sessions
Harmonic Sessions
Percussion Sessions
How to Practice (Woodshed)

Free Games to Learn Notes
Treble Clef -- Game is a little flaky. A musical Concentration (matching) game. Students need to remember the placement of a note or note name and match it to the proper note name or note. If there are more than one note that matches more than one note name, only the programmed pair will match.

Base Clef -- Game is a little flaky. A musical Concentration (matching) game. Students need to remember the placement of a note or note name and match it to the proper note name or note. If there are more than one note that matches more than one note name, only the programmed pair will match.

Online Theory Games
Alfred Publishing -- http://www.alfred.com--select link (on the left) to the Fun Zone

Theory Web Sites
Music Theory -- Ricci Adams' Music Theory web site that Internet users learn and practice music theory online. Check out the Trainers for his version of online flash cards!

Theory and More -- Teachers and Students
Practice Spot -- Lots of free music information and knowledge here! Teachers can use (for a limited number of students) some software to organize their studio. Students can use dictionaries and other resources to learn about music. Students and teachers can print theory worksheets. Excellent resource. Check out the free tools.

8notes music theory lessons also has other music tools -- online metronome, quizes, games, etc.

Just for String Players

I recommend Austin's Violin Shop for rental instruments and your string needs.

When students are starting to play a string instrument, I usually do a few things to their instruments to help them get started.

Finger positions on the violin aids
One thing I do is put tape on the neck of the instrument so they know where to place their fingers for certain notes. You can use a commercially available tape (which won't hurt the finish of the instrument) or a product called Don't Fret. Don't Fret is a removable decal that shows were each half step is on the instrument.

Finger positions on the bow aids
Some times students have a hard time keeping their right hand on the bow in the proper position or complain that it hurts to hold the bow properly. In these cases, I place the pencil finger grips (available at any office supply store) on the bow. (Because you need to take the screw out and remove the frog, I don't suggest children do this because they could tangle up the horse hair.) I put one of the grips on the stick above the frog. If students are having a hard time keeping their little fingers on the stick, I cut a grip so that it fits between the frog and the screw. (It's nice if the grip here has some texture so the student's finger doesn't slide.) A commercially available product, Bowmaster, does the same thing in a more professional looking way. It's also more expensive.

Bowing aids
Teaching students to bow straight -- with the bow always parallel to the bridge and fingerboard -- is often a challenge. During a lesson, I often rest my hands on the instrument so students know when their bows are not moving in the most efficient way. Although I haven't yet tried them, there are a few products that attach to the instrument so the student can work on improving bowing technical at home. The products are the Tone Shaper, Bow Tracker, and Bow Right. If you order the Bow Tracker or Bow Right, you'll need to know the size of your instrument.

Another bowing aid is the BowStopper. This is a small clip on device that snaps on the students bow to encourage the student to play in a certain section of the bow.

Tempo Tape is a tape that can be placed on music to highlight the sections a student should be practicing.

Resources for info on stringed instruments (and more)
String Works University -- has articles on total qualities of string brands, Wolf tones on the cello and how to eliminate them, bridge placement, care and maintenance of string instruments, and more.

Acoustics of music links: Violin Guitar Brass Instruments Saxophone Clarinet Flute Didgeridoo

Just for Teachers
Participation Certificate pdf file. If you feel like handwriting names and dates, you can print this for students attending recitals and other performances.

Participation Certificate Publisher file. You can download the file and edit it -- if you have Microsoft Publisher -- to customize it for your students.

Alpha Web site (Music Teaching.com) for Teachers to check out. Certificate generator, student scheduler, feedback sheets, theory worksheets, and other neat stuff.

Student Information Sheet Word document. You can use this to gather information about your new students. If you have Word, you can download this file and change it as you wish.

Student Information Sheet pdf file. (If you don't have Word, you can download this file, print it, and use it.)

Practice Sheets/Records pdf file file. Instead of buying those student record books, print this file and use the printout to jot down assignments. Students can record their practice times. (I use carbon paper and a blank sheet of paper with this form. I keep the carbon copy so I have a record of what the student was supposed to practice -- when they forget to bring it back.)

Practice Sheets Publisher file. If you have Publisher, you can change the practice sheet for your own use.

FAQ for Strings pdf file
For parents of string students and beginning string students, I created a file that contains frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers. I hope this will help parents and beginning students feel more comfortable around stringed instruments. Please feel free to download the pdf file and share the information with your students and their parents.

The value of music education

Just for Directors
Resources for Directors

630.802.4706