General OER Information
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| “Finding OER” Research Guide | An in-depth guide on OER from the Mina Rees Library at the CUNY Graduate Center. Includes informational resources, links to searchable databases, guidance for Creative Commons licensing, and much more. |
| “Open Access” Research Guide | An in-depth guide on open access from the Mina Rees Library at the CUNY Graduate Center. Includes information on the principles of open access, tools for finding open access materials, and much more. |
| Building Open Infrastructure at CUNY | Edited collection that features discipline-specific chapters–including music–which survey the state of OER in their field. |
Databases, Musical Examples, Audio Collections
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Music Theory Examples by BI-POC Composers (via Google Sheets) | List of music theory examples by Black, indigenous, and POC composers categorized by musical topic. |
| Music By Women | Database of excerpts and complete musical compositions by women composers. The music is categorized by theoretical concept for use in music education. |
| Expanding the Music Theory Canon | Collection of music theory examples by marginalized composers outside of the traditional Western music canon, including PDFs where possible and supplemental information. |
| Maqam World | Collection of multi-media modules designed to teach the Arabic Maqam modal system. |
| Raga Surabhi | Collection of audio files containing raga snippets, songs, quizzes and other materials related to Carnatic music. |
| Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) | Searchable database of over 60,000 instruments held in public collections. |
| Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection | Searchable database of musical instruments, including visual and sonic representations and written supplemental information. |
| The History of Hip-Hop – NPR | Collection of interviews from the NPR show “Fresh Air” that chronicle key people and events in the history of hip-hop. Interviews conducted and aired in 2005. |
| Radio Garden | Interactive globe that allows users to listen to radio stations around the world. |
| Boulanger Initiative Database | Indexed database of historically under-represented composers and their works, including links to scores and some biographical information. |
| Teoria | Peer-reviewed open-access website with tutorials, exercises, and articles dedicated to the study and practice of music theory and development of aural skills. |
| LSO Play | Interactive performances from the London Symphony Orchestra, including multiple views of the ensemble. |
| Instruments – Philharmonia | Video examples and informational articles on each orchestral instrument. |
| Audio – NASA | Collection of sound recordings from space, from NASA. |
Teaching Guides, Lesson Plans, Syllabuses
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| American Music Course Syllabi – Society for American Music | Compilation of courses and linked syllabi/course descriptions on various genres of American music. |
| Lesson Plan: Stephen Foster, 19th-Century American Popular Song, and the Politics of Race | A college-level lesson plan on Stephen Foster and blackface minstrelsy, including articles, recordings, scores, and activity/discussion prompts. |
| Harlem Renaissance & Music (via Google Docs) | Guide for teaching about the Harlem Renaissance within an introduction to Western Art Music class. |
| Writing in Music – Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College | Step-by-step help for students writing about music and teachers teaching about writing about music. |
| Making a Podcast That Matters – NY Times | Guide for assigning and creating podcasts in the classroom. |
| Teaching with Protest Music – NY Times | Ideas for incorporating protest music into your course, including writing prompts, assignments, and in-class activities. |
| Free Resources for the Classroom – Smithsonian Folkways Recordings | Collection of K-12 lesson plans and activities for folk musics across the world; indexed by location on an interactive map. |
| Teaching Music Theory – Megan Lavengood, Ph.D. | Archive of open-access course websites and teaching videos created by Megan Lavengood at the graduate and undergraduate level. |
| TeachRock – Rock and Roll Forever Foundation | Collection of K-12 lesson plans and activities on the history of US rock. |
| The Blues Classroom – PBS | A collection of interdisciplinary K-12 lesson plans on the blues as a supplement to a PBS documentary series. |
| Music Theory Online Materials – San Francisco Conservatory of Music | Various exercises in harmonization, sight singing, analysis, continuo playing, and more developed for use in SFCM. |
| Perfect Pitch – Kennedy Center | Interactive game that provides overview of musical instruments in the orchestra |
| Tips for Beginners – Austin Symphony Orchestra | FAQ for first-time orchestra attendees, including basic information about the orchestra |
Music Pedagogy Publications
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education | Open-access, peer-reviewed online journal offering critical perspectives on music education. |
| Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy | An open-access collection in six volumes of pedagogical essays on student-centered learning within the college music classroom. |
| Journal of Music History Pedagogy | Open-access, peer-reviewed online journal with articles and reviewed relating to teaching music history at all levels and within all disciplines. |
| Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy | Open-access, peer-reviewed online journal with articles relating to teaching collegiate music theory. |
OER (Open Educational Resources) Texts
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Open Music Commons | OER World Music textbook designed as an edited collection, with independent contributions from GC music students and alumni on a variety of musical practices, peoples, and places. |
| World Music Textbook | Open-access collection of (mostly) ethnomusicological, peer-reviewed articles aimed at the undergraduate reader. |
| Resonances: Engaging Music in its Cultural Context | OER Music Appreciation textbook with thematic chapters; incorporates some folk and popular musical examples. |
| Understanding Music: Past and Present | OER Music Appreciation textbook that provides a chronological history of Western art music and a final chapter on US popular music. |
| Music: Its Language, History, and Culture | OER Music Appreciation textbook with “skeletal” design intended to accompany other course materials, including chapters on jazz, popular music, and Western art music. |
| Open Music Theory | An open-source, interactive, online textbook for college-level music theory courses. |
| Music History Course Notes – Matthew Franke | A textbook blog designed to support courses on Western art music for musically literate undergraduates. |
| Open Access Musicology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 | Open-access edited collection of musicological writing aimed at the undergraduate reader. |
| Multimodal Musicianship | OER book for learning music theory and ear training. Contains multiple modes of content including text, musical examples, audio, video, activities and links to supplemental content. |
Podcasts and Videos
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Afropop Worldwide | Online magazine and podcast dedicated to music from Africa and the African diaspora. |
| CTMD Programs Concerts – Center for Traditional Music and Dance | Youtube channel with audio and video recordings of NYC-based artists performing traditional music and dance across many different genres. |
| The Global Jukebox – Association for Cultural Equity | Interactive map that displays recordings from all over the world. |
| Every Noise | Spatially organized collection of sound samples from countless music genres. |
| “The Birth of American Music” – NY Times | Podcast episode covering the legacy of Black American music within the general concept of American music. |
| “Music Theory and White Supremacy” – Adam Neely | YouTube video exploring the racialized history of “music theory” as a field and concept. Includes interview with Philip Ewell. |
| Sound Field – PBS | YouTube channel with in-depth video essays exploring the history, composition, and culture of various music genres (especially popular). |
| Early Music Sources | Youtube channel that covers early music topics with primary sources and a humorous tone. |
| Switched on Pop | Podcast that features musical analyses and interviews with musicians. |
| Sound Expertise | Podcast featuring in-depth interviews with music scholars. |
| “Basics of Classical” – Seth Monahan | Series of YouTube videos that offer condensed coverage of topics within the traditional music theory sequence. |
| “Exploring Early Music” – Max Ramage | Four 10-minute video lectures on YouTube on early music topics. |
| Conversations in Ethnomusicology | YouTube channel run by the Society for Ethnomusicology; features interview with and lectures by scholars and musicians. |
| Global Coronavirus Playlist | Collectively written Google Doc featuring songs and dances about COVID. |
| “Time Travel Through Music” – Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | 35-minute video on YouTube in which Nicholas McGegan describes historic period music with music by the Philharmonia Baroque. |
| New Sounds – WNYC | Podcast featuring new musical artists across genres |
Other Resource Lists
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Diversity in Music Theory: Teaching Tools – Society for Music Theory | List of resources providing ideas and materials for incorporating racial and ethnic diversity into music theory classrooms. |
| MERLOT Music Collection | Collection of music-related OER uploaded to the MERLOT website. |
| “Music” at OpenEd CUNY | Collection of music-related OER developed at CUNY. |
| Learning and Teaching Resources – Teaching Music History | List of resources for teaching music history; soon to be updated and reformatted |
| The Ultimate List of Online Music Education Games – Cornerstone Confessions | List of online games teaching foundational music concepts. |
| Black Music History Resources – Gavin Lee, PhD, and members of “Decolonizing Ethnomusicology” Facebook group | List of topically organized resources on African and African diasporic music-making across genre, time, and place. |
| Podcasts and Audio Programs – Society for Ethnomusicology | List of ethnomusicology-adjacent podcasts and audio programs, including links and brief descriptions. |
| Music and Social Justice Resources – Society for Ethnomusicology | Repository of materials (news articles, videos, syllabuses, research) addressing the use of music in social justice efforts. |
| Open Culture | Collection of free online courses & other educational media (not music-specific, but has many music-related materials). |
| Kennedy Center Education | Arts education resources from the Kennedy Center. |
| Carnegie Hall African American Music Timeline | A timeline from Carnegie Hall’s online educational resources. |
