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 instrument class, directs the FH Philharmonic, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory after being the director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on how to integrate tech 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, and the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), published by Oxford University Press (OUP) is available from 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.

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Want to turn down the volume on those vocals in a vocal track? Here’s your guide to dialing it back!

December 09, 2025  /  Amy M. Burns

Recently, I came across a discussion in one of the elementary music education groups about whether it's acceptable for students to perform with a vocal accompaniment track instead of an instrumental one. The response ultimately depends on the teacher, as each educational context is distinct, and instructors should choose what best supports their students.

One effective compromise is to lower the volume of the lyrics on the accompaniment track. A couple of decades ago, achieving this would have required expensive equipment and technical expertise. However, nowadays, it's possible to accomplish this easily with a free, web-based tool, and I opted for moises.ai.

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Is there a tool that can tell me the key and tempo of a song, show me the lyrics, create a practice track, and work across multiple devices?

November 05, 2025  /  Amy M. Burns

This is the 5th blog post highlighting a tool from Katie's The Ultimate Free Tech Resources Guide 2025-2026. This week, we are exploring moises.ai, a free+ tool found in the AI Stem Splitters Category.   

You can create a free Moises account to explore many of its features, making it a great tool for the classroom. Here are five practical ways to use it in your teaching.

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Color By Notes: Fall Edition

October 21, 2025  /  Amy M. Burns

Greetings from Nashville!


This week, I took some personal days from school to collaborate with the talented team at MusicFirst Elementary (https://www.musicfirstelementary.com/site/) to update and improve our elementary music curriculum. While I’m away, I wanted to share a fun resource I’ve created that you might find useful in your own classroom.

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I’ve put together a set of "Color by Note" pages designed specifically for your younger students. Each page features a key that tells students which note value corresponds to a specific color, and this key remains consistent throughout the packet. There are 10 coloring pages in total, each featuring a different fall theme. One page is Halloween-themed ("Purple People Eater"), so feel free to skip any pages that might not fit with your classroom needs.

Some of the pages are simple, with just two colors, while others are a bit more complex, using up to 7 colors. You can pick and choose the pages based on your available supplies and how much time you want to spend on each activity.

Musical Selections to Pair with the Activity

At the bottom of each coloring page, I’ve suggested a musical selection to pair with the activity. However, feel free to choose your own music based on your students’ preferences or what fits best with your teaching theme. I’ve included two versions of the coloring pages: one with the music suggestions and one without, giving you some flexibility.

Here are the musical suggestions to accompany the coloring pages:

Download the Free PDF File!

You can easily download the free PDF file from my Extras Page. These coloring pages are perfect for those days when you need a quick sub plan or when you want to give your students some time to listen to music while working on a fun, relaxing activity. I hope you find these resources helpful and that they add some extra joy to your fall lessons!

https://buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech/extras

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#techtiptuesday Using Canva's Magic (AI) Tools for Five Little Pumpkins - Song/Embellished Story/Play-Along

October 14, 2025  /  Amy M. Burns

In the past, I researched Canva's AI tools and had it rewrite the song, Five Little Pumpkins, and turn it into a whimsical tale. It was amusing, to say the least. I had fun using Canva to illustrate and record that tale. Most of this video was produced in Canva, with the recording of the song done in Soundtrap, and the final edits to put the three videos together in Final Cut Pro.

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categories / #elmusedtech, Boomwhackers, Elementary, Kindergarten, Play-Along Videos, Preschool, YouTube
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #edtech, #kindergarten, #playalong, #preschool, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elementary, #elmused tech

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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.