Links
This ever-growing collection of links represents my favorite online music resources in a wide variety of categories. Please let me know if any of the links don’t work!
Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA)
The SAA is the not-for-profit organization that supports, guides and promotes Suzuki education in North, Central and South America. They provide information and services for teachers, parents, educators, and others who are interested in making music education available to all children
This website is an extensive compliation of free online recordings of classical music. Over 6,000 recordings are currently indexed by composer or by instrument. It usually takes a few clicks to get to the actual recording, but the list is very extensive and is a good way to hear a wide variety of songs without needing to purchase lots of recordings.
Classics for Kids is a website that offers musical games, composer information in a variety of formats, a musical dictionary, online radio programs about composers and other musical topics, and listening samples from various time periods. A new composer is featured each month, with a new radio broadcast (5-10 minutes long) each week about the composer and a corresponding activity sheet.
This is the place to come for a posture check up. Compare the online photos with your home practice set-up to determine if your student needs a change in seating to result in a change in sound. The before-and-after photos of common positioning problems are especially helpful.
For a basic overview of music theory and history with simple graphic illustrations, this is the place to go. There is also information about how various kinds of instruments work and a demonstration of how to conduct music in different time signatures. The most fun part of the site is the Flash piano, which can be played with the mouse or the keyboard. The piano can be left up in its own window and used to practice other things on the site (or on other sites, for that matter!)
Gilbert DeBenedetti is a composer and teacher whose website, G Major Music Theory, is a great source for free music at a variety of levels. There are songs he has composed, transcriptions and simplifications of classical songs, and a diverse array of folk music from around the world arranged at many different levels. He also offers some music theory games and instruction. I use many of his arrangements in my teaching.