Chrissy Ricker
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My Favorite Free Online Resources for Students

3/23/2020

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PictureA cute cat picture just for fun...Maggie says hello!
Well, this last month has been a doozy, hasn't it? 

If you are like me, you may be working overtime to adjust to an entirely new way of teaching and to find resources to help you and your students during this difficult time of transition.

Let's work together! Today I am sharing links to some of my favorite free resources from around the web that I hope will help you and your students.

Click on the links below to visit these websites. Many of these sites have been around for a long time, and I have greatly appreciated the creators' generosity in providing helpful, free materials for teachers like me!

Free Sheet Music
  • G Major Music Theory: Gilbert DeBenedetti has arranged lots of free, public domain sheet music and has it here sorted by level. Also check out his theory worksheets (great for high school students and adults). 
  • Making Music Fun: a mix of paid and free sheet music arranged by Andy Fling. Music for other instruments available here too!
  • Freebies at Piano Pronto: Piano Pronto Publishing has several "forever freebies" here on their website. They will be rolling out free, studio-licensed pieces a few times a week for the next two months. You can sign up for their newsletter to make sure you don't miss any of the free releases!
  • IMSLP (the International Music Score Library Project): if you teach lots of classical music, this site is a great resource. Many public domain classical pieces (published before 1923) can be found here--you just have to dig around a bit.

Free Worksheets and Printables
  • Making Music Fun: a mix of paid and free materials by Andy Fling--includes some great note naming worksheets and puzzles!
  • Susan Paradis Teaching Resources: many great resources, especially for young beginners.
  • My Fun Piano Studio: cute, colorful worksheets featuring a variety of music theory topics.
  • Color in My Piano: Joy Morin has lots of great resources here, and also many helpful articles on her website.

Online Games and Quizzes
  • MusicTheory.net: look under "Exercises" for a variety of free theory quizzes. If you want to use these exercises offline, you can also purchase their app "Tenuto."
  • Music Tech Teacher: lots of fun quizzes and games designed by school instrumental music teacher Karen Garrett. There are also free printable worksheets, too.
  • Classics for Kids: worksheets, quizzes, podcasts, and listening activities to teach students about famous composers.
  • Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids Page: More fun resources for kids, and some cool interactive activities featuring instruments of the orchestra!

Resources for Online Teaching
Are you teaching online for the first time and not sure how to get started? Here are a couple of video tutorials I found helpful for getting myself and my students ready to go online using Zoom:
  • How to set up online lessons using Zoom (YouTube tutorial for teachers by Glory St. Germain): HERE
  • How to prepare for online lessons using Zoom (YouTube tutorial for students by Anne Crosby Gaudet): HERE
  • And finally, a big thank you to Melissa Willis, a piano teacher who has been teaching online lessons for several years and recently uploaded lots of helpful videos discussing the activities she uses with her students. These are great inspiration for those of us working to adapt our teaching to an online format for the first time. Her YouTube channel can be found HERE.
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And, of course, you can always find all of my own free teaching materials and sheet music HERE. I will be updating this page regularly with resources I am creating for my own students.

Do you have any additional free resources you would recommend? Any helpful tutorials or videos you would like to share? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below! 
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    Chrissy Ricker is a pianist, teacher, and composer from North Carolina. These are her thoughts on teaching, composing, and all things music.


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