Play+Music

Play Music http://www.playmusic.org/
AUTHORITY


 * This site was built by The American Symphony Orchestra League. This organization was chartered by Congress in 1962, 20 years after it was founded.

INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT


 * This site has a lot of musical content. There is a page of links to other music sites where students can explore music, parents and students can find tips on getting instruments and finding a private teacher, and sites with teacher resources; a FAQs page which answers some of those random questions that students have about instruments, performance, etc; a gazette with music related news and stories, including one about a girl with synaesthesia; an interview with a professional violinist and one with a composer; a page with information on all the instruments of the orchestra and a backstage area where children can meet musicians, go explore what’s going on with the Mars Millennium project, visit a mentor page which has more FAQs, send a greeting card through e-mail, and listen to a jukebox of all the different instruments.
 * The most important feature of this site is the easy navigation through the orchestra. The student can click on an instrumental section, and learn about the instrument. The instruments are described by young people who play them. Students have testimonials on how they produce sound on their instrument.
 * Each instrumental page has a recording by a notable professional artist, for example, the saxophone page has a recording of John Coltrane playing "All of You."
 * Possible National Standards:
 * 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
 * 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

PURPOSE, VIEWPOINT
 * The page’s intent is to educate and inform children. The page is sponsored by grants from both public and private organizations as well as individuals’ contributions. Who gives these donations is not listed. However, both ABC network and Yamaha have supported this group and website. There are two links on the main page: a link to [|Sphinx kids] which is similar to this page and a link to [|Creating Music] where students can compose their own music.
 * Along with educating and informing. The site provides mentoring from High School musicians. The students provide links andn answers to Frequently asked questions.

REPUTATION


 * This site is cited by many elementary schools, home schooling websites, teacher resource sites, sites sponsored by city councils, and sites which have resources for children (e.g. http://www.mamalee.com/).

OVERALL EVALUATION

Rating: ++++
 * This page is fun and very interactive. There are lots of things to explore and it leaves the realm of the normal classroom with its gazette and Mars Millennium Project. These are relevant to music and quite entertaining. The mentor page is not what I had hoped it would be, a place to e-mail questions to musicians, and some pages such as the mentor page are a good bit slower than the others in loading, but overall there are a lot of good resources on this site that go outside the box.
 * Though the site is not very "graphically" appealling it is informational. It is for young children interested in music, and I like that it is full of music(sound), and pictures of those instruments. The most important detail in this website is that is for kids, and in many ways involves children in the construction of this website.

REVIEWED BY Sara Marshall 04/05/2006 Bryan Keith Hannaford 4/1/2008
 * Updated