Resources

Autumn Term Resource Ideas

BBC Ten Pieces 3

Ten Pieces III is using a brand new set of classical pieces to engage children aged 7-14 and inspire them to make their own creative responses to the music.

Free teaching resources are now available for all 10 pieces from the Ten Pieces III repertoire to help students explore and get creative with the music over the 2017/18 academic year, including:

Exciting animated short films presented by Naomi Wilkinson and Lemn Sissay
Orchestral and choral performance films
Classroom lesson plans for primary and secondary teachers
Downloadable and simplified instrumental and vocal arrangements
MP3 recordings to listen to and download

Kerry Andrew: No Place Like – Commission for a cappella voice

Mason Bates: Anthology of Fantastic Zoology – Sprite; A Bao A Qu

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Symphony No. 1 in G major – Allegro (1st mvt)

Aaron Copland: Rodeo – Hoe-Down

Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’ – Largo (2nd mvt)

Edward Elgar: ‘Enigma’ Variations – Theme (Enigma), variations 11, 6 & 7

Carl Orff: Carmina burana – ‘O fortuna’

Henry Purcell: Abdelazer – Rondeau

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Waltz of the Flowers; Russian Dance

visit BBC Ten Pieces

Free online resources from Cumbria Music Service for KS1&2

Cumbria Music Service first launched online resources in 2002 as Tuned-in – which quickly won a reputation for imaginative and eclectic ideas approaches to music making in and beyond the classroom. These have now been updated as a free set of online units for teachers and children, designed to stimulate the development of creative ideas – an area of concern for Ofsted (Wider Still and Wider: 2008-2011).

Units contain video, images, audio and ideas for class discussion. Strategies for framing tasks, and encouraging children to shape and structure their own creative responses are suggested in the teacher resources which can be downloaded as pdfs.

visit Cumbria Music Service

Charanga

Cumbria Music Service has teamed up with the UKs leading online music resource, Charanga, to provide exciting curriculum-linked digital resources for primary and secondary teachers.

Your school can sign up for a 30-day free trial, and benefit from a subsidised rate when you register.

Developed in line with the 2014 National Curriculum, and the holistic teaching approach favoured by Ofsted, Musical School can be used as a week by week Scheme or more flexibly through the Freestyle mode. Musical School also includes Music World; a safe online environment created to encourage children who are learning to play instruments and can also be used for sharing homework with pupils. There is support for teachers such as how to handle instruments, how to rehearse to ensure accuracy and control, as well as how to assess performance.
visit Charanga

Sing-up

Going from strength to strength since 2007, Sing Up Membership offers the complete singing solution for your school, with countless songs and resources to place singing at the heart of school life.

Membership gives access to the extensive online resource bank – over 600 songs from pop to curriculum-focused hits, specially arranged for children’s voices. There are hundreds of comprehensive lesson and assembly plans guiding you through the Song Bank, making planning easy and learning fun.
visit Sing-up

Musical Futures

Musical Futures is a movement to reshape music education driven by teachers for teachers.

Musical Futures has a rich collection of guides and resources that you can download for free.
visit Musical Futures

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids

The DSO provides a fun guide to instruments, orchestras and composers.
visit DSO Kids

Miss Ward Music

A fantastic independant source for KS3 with helpful summaries on genres, assessment and areas of study.
visit Miss Ward Music

Starting a school band

Tips and resources for starting a school band
visit Music by Arrangement

Do you have any favourite online resources to share?

National Youth Choirs GB Women Composers resource

NYCGB have ending their year-long 'Women in Song' project, by releasing a list of music by female composers and arrangers to inspire other choirs.

The list is a useful tool for primarily at leaders of youth and community choirs, and gives repertoire ideas and practical information, with 150 suggestions ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Arianna Grande

Get the list on their website now.

Free Online Teacher Resources and Live Workshops

As part of an ongoing partnership between Music for Youth and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), we have commissioned a suite of resources that are aimed at non-specialist teachers and leaders teaching music to 6-11 year olds.

Rhinegold Music Teacher magazine

A great place for fresh ideas and inspiration for the new school year.

Teaching Jazz and Improvisation

National Association for Music Education

Follow this link for some great advice on how to teach improvisation to beginners. And while you're there explore their Music in a Minuet blog.

ABRSM: Libretto - Getting started with jazz

Mark Armstrong reflects on the value of teaching jazz and offers some practical ways to begin.

Classic FM online

Bringing together an eclectic selection of videos, quizzes, guides, quotes, reviews and much more.

Music Education UK

If you want to keep up to date with what's going on in music education right across the country this is an excellent place to start. There are listings for CPD training events and music summer schools alongside the latest news and helpful links.

Women Composers

A wonderful resource with information about often overlooked composers spanning 4 centuries.

Find out more

The music examinations board ABRSM has just launched their new online resource for primary school Classical 100 in partnership with record label Decca and Classic FM.

Classical 100 is a free resource for all primary school teachers looking to engage and inspire their pupils with classical music. Complementing existing teaching resources, this easy-to-use web-based resource sets out to stimulate a child’s lifelong appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of music in all of its forms.

It offers 100 pieces of fantastic music – new and old – designed to whet the appetite and spark a child’s curiosity in music. Crucially, every piece featured has been carefully selected by primary school specialists for teachers to use and draw upon in a variety of settings, whether a school assembly or music lesson.