Music Technology Ideas for Elementary Students

Maybe you’ve wanted to bring more technology into your elementary music classroom, but you’re needing new ideas. There’s so much amazing technology available to use and it can get overwhelming knowing where to start and what to use with your particular crew of students. In this blog post, you’ll find a full list of music technology ideas for elementary students that you can pick and choose from. There are ideas mentioned for lower, upper, and all elementary students. You know your students better than anyone, so feel free to pull from each of the lists and use them as you see fit. Oh yeah, and you can also listen as I describe what I love about each of these on episode 226 of The Elementary Music Teacher podcast.

Lower Elementary Students

For lower elementary students, here is a list of websites and apps that they can easily use in a classroom setting or even at home as they explore music on their own.

• Seesaw is great for younger students and is a great way for students and parents to keep track of what’s going on. Think of this like a constant Facebook stream with photos and updates.
• Kahoot lets you create fun and interactive lessons for your students. You can play games with them too!
• Class Dojo is another great app where you can stay connected to your students. You can post work, photos, or even share different music assignments with your students.
• Prodigies is a great virtual music curriculum for your preschool and lower elementary aged kiddos.
• My Singing Monsters is an app where students can explore the different monsters creating and making music. I wrote a review about this site here.
• Groove Pizza is a super fun rhythm creator.
• PBS Kids Music Games has so many music games that would be great for your younger students.
• MusicK8 has this whole page of fun stuff your students would love to do.
• Kennedy Center has this game called “Whack-A-Note” that is super fun.

Upper Elementary Students

With your upper elementary students, these websites and apps will help them explore music in a deeper way through collaborating with their peers, composing music, and researching musical elements.

• Showbie is very similar to Seesaw, but it’s aimed more towards older students. It’s great for more individualized feedback.
• Nearpod is pretty similar to Schoology in that it’s a districtwide purchase. It’s very engaging for students and is easy to navigate around.
• Padlet looks like a combination of a web page and Pinterest. It’s basically a way for your students to post what they’re working on and for you to keep it all organized.
• Book Creator is a fantastic site where students can create their own books based around any topic you give them.
• Scratch is a way to create animations and share it with anyone else in a class.
• Musictheory.net is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a virtual way for students to explore and learn more about music theory.
• Flat.io is a way for students to write musical scores online.
• Musescore is another music composition software.
• Quizlet is a great way for students to study any lessons you provide and take a quiz based off of that material.
• GarageBand is mainly for Mac, but is a great composition website and app that older students would love.
• BandLab is definitely for mainly high school students. It’s a site where students can upload videos of music they’ve recorded and share it with others.
• Noteflight is another composition site (and is what I use) that is user friendly and easy to use.
• Acapella is an app where you and/or your students can record different singing or instrument parts. You basically have one person record themselves and then the other parts layer in one at a time until the full recording is made.
• Incredibox is a website or app that allows students to create their own music with the help of beatboxers. This would be a fantastic lesson for upper elementary or secondary students.
• Soundtrap allows students to record and collaborate with one another. They can even edit and mix their recordings as well.
• Mixxx is a free DJ mixing software
• Finale is a music notation software that will mainly benefit your older students.

All Elementary Students

In an elementary music classroom, there are several websites and apps that all of your students will find beneficial.

• Google Classroom is probably the most popular option amongst teachers. Some of your students might already have their own Google classroom login and password, so setting up your own “music classroom” is easy.
• Canvas is another way to have a virtual classroom, but in a more course creation type of way. There is a way to communicate with your students still too.
• Edpuzzle is very similar to Google classroom and Canvas. It’s a great way to have a virtual classroom and stay in touch with your students, give assignments, and assess them.
• Flip is like the SnapChat for educators. Music teachers can use this app for students to share music videos they’ve created, while also being able to add text and emojis.
• WURRLYedu is a website and an app where students can be assigned lessons, record themselves singing, and be assigned a grade. I wrote a review about this site here.
• Solfeg.io is an app that encourages and helps students practice their instruments.
• The San Francisco Orchestra has some fun interactive music games for kids.
• Classics For Kids is another free orchestra website where students can explore and learn about lots of different musical concepts and composers.
• Rhythm Randomizer is a way for your students to practice counting and playing with rhythms even if learning music virtually or from home.
• Chrome Music Lab has so many great music games for any age group.
• BrainPOP is thought of as just being a science or social studies website. But, it actually contains a lot of music lessons as well.

How do you incorporate music technology in your elementary music classroom? Tell me about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post.   I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it too.

P.S.  Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher?  Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!

Also…I wrote a book called “Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music” to help music teachers move forward in your teaching career.  You can get your copy here.