Amy M. Burns

Elementary Music Technology and Integration

Amy M. Burns has taught PreK-grade 4 general music for over 25 years at Far Hills Country Day School (FH) (https://www.fhcds.org/). She also teaches grade 5 instrumental class, directs the FH Modern Band, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory, having served as director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on integrating technology into the elementary music classroom. She has presented many sessions on the topic, including four keynote addresses in TX, IN, St. Maarten, and AU. She is the recipient of the 2005 Technology in Music Education (TI:ME) Teacher of the Year, the 2016 New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA) Master Music Teacher, the 2016 Governor’s Leader in Arts Education, the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year, and the 2026 NJMEA Distinguished Service Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), is available from Oxford University Press (OUP) and Amazon. Burns is also the Community Coordinator for Midnight Music (MMC) at https://midnightmusic.com/, the General Music Chair for NJMEA Board of Directors, and the Elementary Music Consultant for MusicFirst (https://www.musicfirst.com/), a company built by music educators for music educators, dedicated to helping music teachers and their students make the most of technology in the classroom.

Looking for my YouTube Channel or the manipulatives for my Play-Along Videos? Click the social feed buttons below!

Want a Quick Rhythm Activity Featuring Iconic Female Bands?

March 08, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

March is an exciting time in the music classroom! In the States, we celebrate both Women's History Month and Music In Our Schools Month—a perfect opportunity to highlight influential women in music while reinforcing rhythm skills with engaging activities.

To celebrate, I created a rhythm play-along video and a body percussion play-along built around a medley of songs performed by four iconic all-female groups spanning four decades of popular music. These activities help students practice reading and performing rhythms while connecting to music history in a fun, energetic way.

Students practice and perform rhythms using:

  • Whole notes

  • Half notes

  • Quarter notes

  • Eighth notes

  • Quarter rests

The play-along format makes this activity ideal for whole-class participation, centers, or quick rhythmic warm-ups.

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❓ Where Can I Find Quality Music Images for Canva (Without Creating It All From Scratch)

March 03, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

If you use Canva for Education to design manipulatives, certificates, bulletin boards, slide decks, or play-along visuals, you already know how powerful it can be.

But here’s the real question many music educators ask:

Where do I find ready-to-use notation, chord symbols, solfège hand signs, dynamics, and instrument diagrams — all in one place?

Instead of recreating quarter notes and chord charts every single time, you can build your own music image library inside Canva in just a few minutes.

Watch how to do this here, or keep reading...

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Need a Play-Along for the Lunar New Year?

February 16, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

If you’re looking for an engaging way to celebrate Lunar New Year while reinforcing steady beat, rhythm reading, and instrument technique, I have three ready-to-use Gong Xi play-alongs for your elementary music classroom.

This song holds a special place in my heart. A former 老师 (Lǎoshī – Mandarin teacher) at our school taught it to our students years ago, and they loved it so much that it has become part of our annual tradition. These play-alongs grew out of that shared experience.

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Need a No-Prep Winter Movement Lesson for Elementary Music?

February 01, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

I’m excited to share a new YouTube scarf play-along designed especially for elementary music teachers. This video pairs expressive movement with “Winter: I. Allegro non molto” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Anastasiya Petryshak.

▶️ Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/qbzFQlCaMmU

What students will experience

This play-along guides students through a clear, age-appropriate sequence of movement phrases while listening to Vivaldi’s dramatic winter soundscape. With scarves in hand, students explore:

  • Non-locomotor and locomotor movement

  • Short vs. long articulated motions

  • High and low levels

  • Circular and wavy pathways

  • A short freestyle section that encourages choice-making and musical expression

  • Personal space awareness throughout

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Stuck on Improvisation? Add a Backbeat!

January 20, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of both presenting at and attending the Elementary Music Summit: January Refresh hosted by That Music Teacher
👉 https://www.thatmusicteacher.com/summit

One of my favorite parts of attending professional development like this is how it either introduces brand-new ideas or gently reminds me of strategies I once loved—but somehow let slip away. This summit did exactly that.

One idea that truly reignited my creativity was creating and improvising with a backbeat.

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How I Teach a Rhythm Play-Along in My Elementary Music Classroom

January 13, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

How I Teach a Rhythm Play-Along in My Elementary Music Classroom

(Featuring “Sing About Martin”)

I thought I would share a behind-the-scenes look at how I use a simple rhythm play-along video in my elementary music classroom—one that’s easy to implement, flexible across grade levels, and perfect for review or assessment.

This week, my students are singing “Sing About Martin” by Miss Jackie Weissman, and I created a play-along video that works for multiple developmental levels within the same lesson.

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Any info, student examples, pictures, graphics, etc, may be used with permission. Please contact me personally before using any info, student examples, pictures, graphics, etc.