YouTube Play-Along Channels & Playlists for music teachers
What to consider
There are lots of play-along channels out there that are great for using in a classroom with students. Whether it’s playing a ukulele, recorder, boomwhackers, body percussion or even just for a bit of fun, we’ve got something for you in this list of Youtube play-along channels.
The best play-along channels have just one simple thing: on-screen graphic or traditional notations!
Each of the channels below has strengths in different areas and you may find that you may want to try out a couple of different channels to meet the needs of your students.
Here are 15 great play-along Youtube channels that will encourage lots of fun and learning. Your students will be begging to play again and again!
Ukulele
1. Ukulele Tenor
This channel is a wonderful educational resource for all things ukulele related.
2. Cynthia Lin Music
Cynthia Lin creates tutorial videos for the ukulele and hosts monthly live jam sessions!
3. Ukulaliens – Ukulele Club
This channel has play along videos and tutorials for beginner -intermediate ukulele players.
4. DrJillReese
Dr. Jill Reese is a professor of music education at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Her channel is home to many ukulele play-along videos.
Recorder
5. Visual Musical Minds
Nathan Walby, the creator of Visual Musical Minds, started this channel as a flipped-classroom project for his elementary music classes. It’s now home to warm up videos, play-along videos, and much more!
6. Sarah Jeffery / Team Recorder
Sarah Jeffery, a classically trained musician based in Amsterdam, has a goal… to make music lessons accessible for all. She shares beginner recorder lessons, more in-depth tutorials and has lots of fun!
7. Recorder teacher – Karen Barton
Karen Barton, Director of Kent Youth recorders, Director of Kent Music Summer School Recorder Course and Head of Medway Towns Music Centre, explores different aspects of teaching ensemble work.
Boomwhackers
8. Musication
“music+education+gamification = musication”
This channel comes to us from Jan Vink, who is a primary music teacher in the Netherlands.
He creates visual playalongs for boomwhackers, (body-) percussion and handbells for primary education.
9. Music in School
This channel is a great resource for Boomwhackers activities, play-alongs, and useful tips.
10. Boomwhackers! HarvardTHUD
This playlist is from THUD, a student-run organization at Harvard College. Some of their featured songs are the Star Wars Medley, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Toto’s Africa, just to name a few!
Body percussion
11. Tutorials
This playlist comes to us from Santi Serratosa López. She shares her body percussion choreography for a number of modern songs.
12. Body Percussion Songs
This playlist shares different examples of students warming up and performing body percussion.
Just for Fun
13. Rhythmic Resources
This playlist is from Debbie O’Shea at Crescendo Music Education. These videos are a great resource for many activities in your classroom.
14. Singing Games and Dances
This playlist is from Aileen Miracle from Mrs. Miracle’s Music Room.
15. Music classroom games
This playlist is a collection of engaging music games for older students.
What channel/s do you watch?
Do you use any Youtube play-along channels with your students? Do you love any channels or playlists that aren’t on this list? Let me know in the comments below.
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Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
3 Comments
I use the musication YouTube and additional PDF information on their site a lot with my young students. They love it and it is so easy to adapt to differentiate learning experiences.
I’ve heard good things about their videos with young students 🙂
Ukulele play-along – https://www.youtube.com/user/andyramos69/