Apr 24, 2020
Is your child keen to learn about instruments? While you may not have access to OPL’s Sunlife Musical Instrument Lending Library just now, there are many (many!) fantastic music-learning resources available online. In this post, I’ve focused on websites that help children learn about classical music and the orchestra through interactive activities.
Symphony-Orchestra websites are excellent places to find first-class music resources. Most symphony-orchestra sites have an education page, where content varies from community outreach information, to simple, text-based resource materials, to highly interactive games. Among the most interactive sites is SFS Kids from the San Francisco Symphony, which offers facts in game format, including opportunities to conduct, compose, and learn about individual instruments and composers. In Canada, the ArtsAlive Music page, from the National Arts Centre, offers a wealth of music resources in English and French, including listening options for individual instruments, teaching kits about classical composers, interactive quizzes, and an excellent composition game. During Covid-19 closures, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Learning at Home page is providing a printable music activity each week. And don’t miss Carnegie Hall’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra interactive Listening Adventure, DSO Kids Learn and Listen page from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, or the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s Éducation page.
There are many strong educational websites for children, beyond the symphony-orchestra category. ClassicsforKids, with its embedded listening activities, weekly quizzes, and learning-from-home resources is a comprehensive learning site. In French, iMusic for Kids: L’école joyeusement musicale offers learning videos and teaching ideas, and the printable Fiches – écoutes musicales from Laclassedemallory.net can be used as lesson plans for listening to music (check out Naxos Music Library via OPL to hunt for recordings). Fun instrument learning games exist on many general games websites, too. For example, try out: Orchestra from musicgames.net and 50 instruments de musique from lululataupe.com.
Finally, don’t forget about video-format music lessons available through the Toutapprendre databases via OPL’s website.
We’d love to hear about your favourite site or app for music learning – let us know! All the best for your “home school” listening and learning adventures!
Blog post contributed by Rebekah from our Cumberland Branch.