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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

15 Fun Videos for Music Class

I tend to avoid showing full-length movies in my classes, even when I'm out with a sub. I just find my students watch TV and movies so many other places in their life that they truly aren't interested. But for a quick break, an example of a musical concept I'm teaching, a wind-down activity at the end of class, or just a funny momemt to share, I have found lots of great uses for short video clips from YouTube! Today I want to share some of my favorite music-related (and school-appropriate) videos to share with my students in class.


Over the last few years I've found some favorite videos that are
  • entertaining for my elementary and middle school students, 
  • encourage students to think about music in a new way,
  • reflect a variety of backgrounds of musicians and musical genres,
  • are appropriate for even my youngest students,
  • and are short enough to take very little class time.
Of course the internet is an endless source of material- I could keep going and going for days and days with videos like this, but these are some representative favorites!




















These little videos are frivolous is many ways but I've come to realize just how important they can be to my classroom. Often it's one of these videos that will inspire a student to go home and try something themselves (like beatboxing with their recorder), help students to see themselves as musicians regardless of their background, build relationships with students by showing a lighthearted side of music and connecting over a shared sense of humor, help them finally grasp a concept, or introduce them to a new genre or instrument. 

What are some of your favorite videos you've shared with your students? I could probably do 5 more of these posts and still not run out of material.... Here are 15 more videos if you want more ideas! I'd love to see some of your best finds! Leave a link or title in the comments below so we can all find some new videos to love :)


34 comments :

  1. I like to show this video for voice timbre with k-1 I ask is he using a talking or singing voice? High/low https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hjbPszSt5Pc&noapp=1&client=mv-google

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    1. Oh yes! I had forgotten about that voice guy- amazing! And I never would have thought to use it with a lesson on vocal timbre, but that is perfect! Thanks so much for sharing. I will definitely be adding this to my toolbox :)

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  2. These are great! Love the Evolution of Arabic music one! :)

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    1. I LOVE that one and it's especially fun to compare/contrast with the Pentatonix "evolution of music" video :)

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  3. My students love the creativity of OK Go's videos! And one of my students tipped me off to Andrew Huang's videos last year but I had forgotten about him until now... thanks for sharing these links!

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    1. OK Go has some great ones! I am obsessed with Andrew Huang right now- I only just discovered him a few months ago. So many great ones.

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  4. My students LOVED seeing Beethoven's 5th by "Line Riders" as a prep to our yearly field trip to see the symphony. Also a great way to show the use of dynamics.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcBn04IyELc

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  5. Jimmy Fallon and T Roots doing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens, acappella. Second graders listened first to identify the instruments they heard. They were shocked that there were none! All voice produced!!
    ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLAx3VDX7g

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  6. My students LOVE the Line Rider videos and the other videos with the marbles that Doodle Chaos does.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCTyFp0PpHE&t=1s

    Another one that comes to mind right off the bat is the one where the guy makes an electric guitar out of colored pencils.

    A few weeks ago I let different students choose short activities to do and in almost every class from PreK to 6th grade someone chose to watch "Lava."
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh4dTLJ9q9o

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    1. Ah yes, Lava is such a cute one! And definitely the Doodle Chaos videos :)

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  7. These Beethoven cartoon clips are always a hit as well! hopefully you can see my playlist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU-8tKfXMeQ&list=PLGespEDCH6YwpadSxanIjfvnWMCE-5UEG&index=2

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    1. Haha, I had not seen those before- thanks for sharing! Very cute.

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  8. The cello guys – Star Wars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o
    In the Hall of the Mountain King – Pringles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci_2BMqSRb0 (If the pringles cans are all the same size, how does the pitch change?)
    Annie Wu Three Beats for Beatbox Flute (a little long but fun) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUREzucuW8
    Pentatonix – White Winter Hymnal (body percussion), tutorials for each part are linked at the end, and this HS version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs8SgNMNKh0&list=PLQEqi7wqZit1w3v-o1jL1TEtZKtB9cpn9&index=12&t=0s
    Carrot Clarinet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6gBYYxvizs&list=PLQEqi7wqZit2itxihVHUyqrRACWgTrNZ7&index=12&t=0s

    I rely heavily on focus videos to start my classes, as I’m a high school instrumental music teacher re-assigned to general music (Pk-8 split between two schools). When the students enter right after lunch/recess I need these videos to grab their attention quickly and get them to start thinking music!

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    1. Love the pringles video- I had not seen that one! Thanks for sharing these.

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  9. Cymbal Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8ztwNbIsU) and Drum Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2CaX1jwHs), by Gavin Harrison.

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    1. Wow, those are cool! I had never seen those before- thank you for sharing!!

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  10. I have been researching "fresh" ideas for my Music Classroom ALL SUMMER> Because we cannot "sing" in our classes this year because of the Coranavirus19 in 2020 - this has brighten my name. I also used the fun videos on youtube of instruments made from ice. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!

    Debbie Fonner August 9, 2020

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    1. The ice instruments are super cool! I'm so glad you enjoyed these. Best wishes on your school year!

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  11. These videos are so cool, I can't believe I've never seen most of these! Thank you! How do you find your videos?

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    1. I'm so glad you found some new ones to use! I come across them different ways, usually on social media. There is so much great content out there it is hard to sort through it all for sure!

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  12. My kids love Alex Boye’ and his Africanized videos. Totally clean Shake It Off. Let It Go. Roar. But their favorite is his Good Life, made in Ghana.

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    1. We love Alex Boye too! I use "Keep Your Head Up" in class all the time. So much great music!

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  13. How do you use these in your classroom? I'd love to use them, but don't know how to fill up the 45 min. class.

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    1. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I definitely don't use them to "fill" class- I throw these in as examples of a concept we're working on, as an opener at the beginning of class while students are entering, or a quick break at the end of class if the lesson is particularly intense, etc. Some of them you definitely could build lessons around, but I don't tend to do that. You might want to check out my post on "general music lesson planning made awesome" where I share how I plan out my classes for the year if you're looking for ideas for lesson plans!

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  14. Thank you for sharing! I start my weekly music lesson with 'Musician of the Week'. The children LOVE the movie clips. I've even caught them singing a Hebrew song I played them, while walking through the woods on one of our school outings!

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  15. These videos are awesome! Specially AaronGrooves, Medhat Mamdouh, Pentatonix!

    By the way, I love your blog's design!

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  16. I'm not sure if this one has been shared, played by the same musician in the Pringles video on PVC pipes, Snubby J: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D2o8F2MOuI.

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  17. i loved the basketball one is was sooo cooooooll

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  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcaJyzvlrik Lucie Horsch playing the recorder.

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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