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My band classroom is quite large to fit all of the instruments, chairs, stands and cubbies for students. I am also fortunate to have a large practice room next to the band room and an office that is big enough to have students practice outside of the main class. While my classes can be large (up to 35 students in one class,) they are divided by types of instruments so that the beginning brass are in one hour and the woodwind and percussion are in another hour. As I stated earlier, these students generally have no prior knowledge of playing an instrument, so it is fun for me to be teaching skills to students for the very first time. This can mean that students who have not had success in other areas can be very successful or students can struggle who normally pick up on things very easily. It’s difficult to predict but very easy to spot at the beginning. All of my students need a great deal of support, practice time at home and troubleshooting so they do not develop bad habits. Currently, I have access to four laptops, one of which stays in the classroom connected to a projector. Using the projector, I currently utilize a music program entitled Sibelius to post rhythms that can be played back for the students. The Smartmusic program would allow my students to play along with the computer to get an immediate assessment. This could be done in the two “practice” rooms with the laptop computers. Ideally, students would have a specific time each week where they could use the technology to improve their skills.
The Smartmusic technology has different learning outcomes for different uses. Some teachers use it for students to practice solo music. Others use it to have students practice warm-ups. During the student’s specific practice time during the week, I would assign parts of our music from class for them to play and record. The recording aspect of the program is extremely important. They can listen to themselves and decide if this is the recording they would like to submit for a grade. Immediately, they will be able to hear if it sounds correct. We will work on tone at the beginning of their studies, so students should know how to correct what is wrong based on what they hear. During class, it is amazing to have students play one note, one at a time. The students can hear that each person sounds a little different. The goal is to have each person sound the same, and this is directly connected to one’s tone. Smartmusic can play the entire piece (all instruments) or just a specific instrument (say, clarinet) using professional musicians. In other words, the students can hear what professionals sound like and emulate what is being heard. Being able to hear a playback is instrumental to their improvement and success with tone. If they can perform the exercise without any problem, students can move on to other abilities of the program. If they have difficulties, they can slow down the music, listen to the recording again, see what notes they miss, and retry the exercise. The wonderful thing about Smartmusic is that it has a collection of thousands of songs in its repertoire so music we play in class will be available to the student. Without recording devices, some students can play for years without really “hearing” what they sound like. It can be a life changing experience.
I believe that the Smartmusic application is the best suited technology for students to learn and appreciate the concept of good tone. As I stated earlier, the technology allows for students to hear themselves, but they can also hear professional musicians playing the same music. I believe that hearing professionals truly embodies the purpose of using technology in a classroom. It provides a goal to strive for, allows students to understand a piece’s true potential, and gives an example for which students can compare. Other technologies can give students a recording of themselves, including iphones, ipods, and audacity.com. Unfortunately, they do not provide a context for the recording and do not offer any feedback to the student. While I believe that Smartmusic is the best technology for the task, I would also like to implement the purchase of new laptops to make the use of the program seamless.
Pedagogically speaking, Smartmusic can be used individually or as a class. Playing with a good tone requires students to understand the fundamentals of their instrument. As a class, the students can work together to practice these fundamentals using functions of the program. For instance, there is a built in tuner function. Playing with a good sound will produce a tone that is also “in tune.” The tuner on Smartmusic will monitor your instrument and tell you if you are in tune, giving you a score after your performance. This can be done individually in class, or you could have groups try to stay in tune altogether. This would require understanding how to play with a good tone and in tune. To scaffold this idea, you could create competitions in class with various exercises. After practicing alone and with groups, the students are given a warm-up exercise that they must play in tune. They will aim for the highest score to earn points for their team. You could play this during class, or offer a weekly challenge for when the students play alone in the practice rooms and put students into teams. This motivation feels like playing rock band or guitar hero and aiming for perfection!
By incorporating a technology as transformational as Smartmusic, there will require great deal of learning initially by the teacher, students and parents. Luckily, there are many resources available through the smartmusic.com website so we can learn together. While browsing this website, I am continually amazed at the capabilities of this technology and appreciate the resources provided for teachers, students and parents. This includes online webinars, lesson plans for teachers, and tutorials for students. These tutorial videos are important to teach students how the program can be used and how to use its different functions. I also believe that the Smartmusic technology is not a means to an end, but a brilliant introduction to the possibilities of music. There are many extensions for the program to further the learning process and motivate students. Simply within the program, there are possibilities to enhance knowledge of musical terms, sightreading, playing by ear, or playing improvisationally in a jazz setting. I also see the program becoming an opportunity for students to uncover more music than they could see in their method books. The program contains thousands of pieces for students to try, including many different varieties and genres of music. In addition, it may give students the impetus to search out other music online. The internet has many fine performances of musicians on youtube.com, NPR Music, or even on professional orchestra’s sites such as the LA Philharmonic. Inspiring students with these performances can teach them what is possible for them, but also demonstrate musical ideas. There are examples of good tone and bad tone through videos, or one can describe musical terms through the use of videos- dynamics, rhythmic figures, etc.
The Smartmusic technology has different learning outcomes for different uses. Some teachers use it for students to practice solo music. Others use it to have students practice warm-ups. During the student’s specific practice time during the week, I would assign parts of our music from class for them to play and record. The recording aspect of the program is extremely important. They can listen to themselves and decide if this is the recording they would like to submit for a grade. Immediately, they will be able to hear if it sounds correct. We will work on tone at the beginning of their studies, so students should know how to correct what is wrong based on what they hear. During class, it is amazing to have students play one note, one at a time. The students can hear that each person sounds a little different. The goal is to have each person sound the same, and this is directly connected to one’s tone. Smartmusic can play the entire piece (all instruments) or just a specific instrument (say, clarinet) using professional musicians. In other words, the students can hear what professionals sound like and emulate what is being heard. Being able to hear a playback is instrumental to their improvement and success with tone. If they can perform the exercise without any problem, students can move on to other abilities of the program. If they have difficulties, they can slow down the music, listen to the recording again, see what notes they miss, and retry the exercise. The wonderful thing about Smartmusic is that it has a collection of thousands of songs in its repertoire so music we play in class will be available to the student. Without recording devices, some students can play for years without really “hearing” what they sound like. It can be a life changing experience.
I believe that the Smartmusic application is the best suited technology for students to learn and appreciate the concept of good tone. As I stated earlier, the technology allows for students to hear themselves, but they can also hear professional musicians playing the same music. I believe that hearing professionals truly embodies the purpose of using technology in a classroom. It provides a goal to strive for, allows students to understand a piece’s true potential, and gives an example for which students can compare. Other technologies can give students a recording of themselves, including iphones, ipods, and audacity.com. Unfortunately, they do not provide a context for the recording and do not offer any feedback to the student. While I believe that Smartmusic is the best technology for the task, I would also like to implement the purchase of new laptops to make the use of the program seamless.
Pedagogically speaking, Smartmusic can be used individually or as a class. Playing with a good tone requires students to understand the fundamentals of their instrument. As a class, the students can work together to practice these fundamentals using functions of the program. For instance, there is a built in tuner function. Playing with a good sound will produce a tone that is also “in tune.” The tuner on Smartmusic will monitor your instrument and tell you if you are in tune, giving you a score after your performance. This can be done individually in class, or you could have groups try to stay in tune altogether. This would require understanding how to play with a good tone and in tune. To scaffold this idea, you could create competitions in class with various exercises. After practicing alone and with groups, the students are given a warm-up exercise that they must play in tune. They will aim for the highest score to earn points for their team. You could play this during class, or offer a weekly challenge for when the students play alone in the practice rooms and put students into teams. This motivation feels like playing rock band or guitar hero and aiming for perfection!
By incorporating a technology as transformational as Smartmusic, there will require great deal of learning initially by the teacher, students and parents. Luckily, there are many resources available through the smartmusic.com website so we can learn together. While browsing this website, I am continually amazed at the capabilities of this technology and appreciate the resources provided for teachers, students and parents. This includes online webinars, lesson plans for teachers, and tutorials for students. These tutorial videos are important to teach students how the program can be used and how to use its different functions. I also believe that the Smartmusic technology is not a means to an end, but a brilliant introduction to the possibilities of music. There are many extensions for the program to further the learning process and motivate students. Simply within the program, there are possibilities to enhance knowledge of musical terms, sightreading, playing by ear, or playing improvisationally in a jazz setting. I also see the program becoming an opportunity for students to uncover more music than they could see in their method books. The program contains thousands of pieces for students to try, including many different varieties and genres of music. In addition, it may give students the impetus to search out other music online. The internet has many fine performances of musicians on youtube.com, NPR Music, or even on professional orchestra’s sites such as the LA Philharmonic. Inspiring students with these performances can teach them what is possible for them, but also demonstrate musical ideas. There are examples of good tone and bad tone through videos, or one can describe musical terms through the use of videos- dynamics, rhythmic figures, etc.