1. A Playlist per Prep! 

You probably teach more than one class each day, and probably teach multiple ability levels of students, too! Save your “teacher brain” some energy and create a playlist you can quickly open up for each of your classes. This will save you time searching for the correct titles during class, and will be a great place for you to save music for future lessons! 

2. A “Practice these before…” Playlist!

With the ability to share a Playlist in just a couple of clicks, you can make clever use of them with students. Prepare a playlist of things students should practice BEFORE completing an assignment for you. This gets them doing some guided yet individual practice with things you have hand selected. With a Playlist like this, you can select things from multiple method books, exercises, or selections of music for truly limitless and custom possibilities! Using this kind of Playlist and checking in on your Class Analytics will give you some great insight to your students’ practice habits and help you to guide them appropriately!

3. Student Created Playlists 

Encouraging students to explore the Music Catalog gives them an opportunity to discover new favorite pieces of music and get excited about practicing. Have them create their own Playlists within some parameters to share with you and their peers. Here are a few ideas: 

• Students create a Playlist of things they want to play at upcoming concerts
• Find every version of Hot Cross Buns (or any other common beginner level title) 
• Superhero or Movie Themes
• “Student Name’s” Greatest Hits (full of their favorite pieces performed over their time in your program) 
• Mood Playlists to share with the class – “Songs to play/sing when you are happy, sad, bored, determined, etc.” 

4. Concert Repertoire Playlist

Creating and sharing a simple Playlist of your upcoming concert or performance music makes it easy for students to find it all in one place! 

5. Warm Ups/Exercises Playlist

Create a playlist of warm ups and/or other exercises that you’d like students to work through on a consistent basis. You can even add things you have uploaded or created in the Compose tool to a Playlist to share! Make sure to show students how to access your Playlists during class time on your projector screen—in no time it will become second nature to them to open them up when they go to practice! 

6. Teacher Playlist of Pieces for Future Use

Use a Playlist (or several) to map out and plan what you are going to do with students in the coming months or even years! Saving titles directly to a Playlist within SmartMusic will allow you super easy access when you are ready to assign them to students or peruse them again to choose what to perform next. You’re sure to find tons of great material in our incredible Music Catalog that includes HUNDREDS of festival appropriate pieces! 

7. Improv or Excerpt Playlist

Your young jazzers can practice their improv skills on loop (and with great professional accompaniment) when you share a playlist of charts with solo sections appropriate for their instrument and ability level. You can also share improv tracks and any custom made exercises in this kind of Playlist. Be sure to demonstrate how to use the Loop tool live in class on your projector to make it easiest for your students to practice specific measures efficiently! This idea would also work well for any other instrument/voice specific etudes or excerpts of any genre!

8. Choose Your Solo Playlist

Help students choose an appropriate solo for themselves by creating some Playlists for them to access. You can truly differentiate your instruction by creating as many Playlists as is appropriate for you to offer each of your unique students some great solo options. Since creating a Playlist is so simple, your time will be efficiently spent! 

9. Sight Reading Playlists

Compile your own custom created Sight Reading Builder exercises into a comprehensive Playlist for students to practice their reading skills with! You can use your creativity to title the Playlists and exercises to clearly define the skills that will be practiced with them, and can always add lines from method books or other exercises to reinforce specific concepts.

10. Themed “for fun” Playlists

Encourage your students to practice during breaks, holidays, or any day by compiling some themed Playlists for them to explore. You could even have them join in by creating their own themed Playlists to share! 

As you can see, Playlists within SmartMusic are flexible enough to fit many needs, are ultra-shareable, and are a best-practice way to stay organized!

The post 10 Ways to Use SmartMusic Playlists in Your Teaching appeared first on SmartMusic.

General Recording Tips

• All users should begin by standing one arm’s length away from their device.
  
• It’s important to remember that the quality of the microphone that the manufacturer built into the device will impact how well a recording is assessed. Try these steps to set up your environment for a great recording: Setting up to record
  

Woodwinds (Excluding Saxophone)

• Students playing these instruments should experiment with standing a bit closer to their device so they are picked up accurately by the microphone.
  

Brass & Saxophone

• Students playing these instruments should experiment with standing a bit farther from their device and/or turning 30° to 45° away from the device, thus enabling the student to still read the music while not overwhelming the microphone.
  

Non-Pitched Percussion Instruments (Excluding Drum Pads)

• Students playing these instruments should experiment with standing a bit farther from their device and/or turning 30° to 45° away from the device, thus enabling the student to still read the music while not overwhelming the microphone.
  
• Users playing a snare drum should turn off the snares. Leaving them on will confuse SmartMusic’s assessment.
  

Drum Pads & Pitched Percussion

• Students should experiment with standing a bit closer to their device with these instruments so that they are picked up accurately by the microphone.
  

Voice

• Vocalists should experiment with standing a bit closer to their device so they are picked up accurately by the mic.
  

Strings

• Students should experiment with standing a bit closer to their device with these instruments so that they are picked up accurately by the microphone.
  

Low-Register Instruments (Upright Bass, Low Brass, etc.)

• Students playing a low register instrument may need to experiment with distance from their device in both directions depending on the room and the volume at which the student is playing.
  

Click here for more SmartMusic Tips

The post Tips for Recording Various Instruments in SmartMusic appeared first on SmartMusic.

With the launch of the new Playlist sharing feature comes the ability to also share Sight Reading Builder content through a sharing link. This means that teachers can share custom sight-reading exercises as individual outlines or through Playlists—skipping the assignment process altogether. Even better, these outlines can be shared publicly, meaning students without a SmartMusic account can improve their skills by accessing free sight-reading content, generating unlimited exercises, and receiving assessment.

Try it out!

Click the links below to access Sight Reading Builder exercises that we’ve created and shared. Students can select their instrument or part from the dropdown menu at the top of the Practice app, and generate an infinite number of new exercises using the Generate New (circular arrow) icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

String Orchestra Level 1 Exercises

Concert Band Level 1 Exercises

SATB Level 1 Exercises

Here’s how it works:

To learn how to create a Sight Reading Builder outline, click here.
To learn how to create a Playlist, click here.

1. Create a Sight Reading Builder outline.
   
2. Choose which way to share:
   
   • Share through a public link:
     
     • Go to your Content Manager.
       
     • Select the Sight Reading Builder outline that you want to share.
       
     • Click on the share icon.
       
     • Either copy the public link or send it directly via email.
       
   • Share through a SmartMusic Playlist:
     
     • After you have created your Sight Reading Builder outlines, navigate to My Library.
       
     • Go to My Created Content on the left panel.
       
     • Click and drag your Sight Reading Builder outline into the Playlist on the left hand panel, or click on the more menu options icon and choose “Add to Playlist.”
       
     • Share your SmartMusic Playlist with others.
       

The post Skip the Assigner and Share Sight Reading Builder Exercises appeared first on SmartMusic.

Teachers using SmartMusic can track student progress with a built-in Gradebook where they can access student recordings, assignments, performance scores, and practice analytics. 

In addition to supporting individual practice, SmartMusic can also be extremely effective in the classroom. Best of all, it can be used for both purposes FOR FREE, without a time limit. Here’s how.

Getting SmartMusic for Free

Today, you can instantly create a free teacher account online by completing a short form. If you plan to use SmartMusic with students, simply answer the question “Will you be teaching with SmartMusic?” with a “YES.”

Once you complete the form, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click on the link in this email and you are ready to log in and arrive here:

Check out the icons in the upper right corner. Select the Begin Teacher Trial button to experience the full breadth of SmartMusic’s library and features FREE for 30 days. The graduation cap icon will bring you to SmartMusic Academy, where you can find free, short-form videos and other resources to help you get started with your account and make the most out of your SmartMusic experience. 

At the far right is the navigation icon (it looks like a grid of nine squares). Click on this icon to expand a menu and choose where you want to go next within the app. Your options look like this:

For now, click on Find Music.

Using SmartMusic for Free in the Classroom 

Here are a few ways you could start using your free SmartMusic account in the classroom today. 

From Find Music, search for Sound Innovations. From here you can click on your choice of Sound Innovations, Book 1 for either band or orchestra. Simply click Open, specify an Instrument and a “Movement” (which in this case is a line from the book), then click Open again to view the selected line in the Practice App. You might display this line on your whiteboard in class, having students follow the cursor and clap the rhythms.

For another example, return to Find Music, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on Free Selections. Find an appropriate piece for your ensemble, then display the music on screen while discussing musical form. 

Pro Tip! Play a game of statutes in class: If you display a piece with an ABA form, have kids move, clap, or dance during the A section, then freeze, becoming statutes in the B section. Because SmartMusic’s accompaniments are recordings of professional musicians, they can also serve as models for young performers to emulate.

Finally, if your students will use SmartMusic, too, you might choose a piece to perform on your primary instrument, demonstrating to students how to use SmartMusic and how the assessment works. You can also show students how to do things like display fingerings for unfamiliar notes.

Using SmartMusic for Free to Drive Practice 

Next, let’s look at how you can use SmartMusic to drive individual practice. 

At the basic level, the SmartMusic assessment loop looks like this:

• Teachers assign high-quality music to their students.
  
• Students practice with professional accompaniment and receive immediate feedback.
  
• Teachers see and hear student-submitted performances and provide additional feedback.
  
• Teachers document student progress as objective data to be shared with both parents and administrators.
  

Imagine looking into an electronic gradebook and hearing your students play the correct notes and rhythms before a new piece is introduced in class. Now you and your students can do all of that, and more, with SmartMusic for free. 

To see how, return to the navigation icon and choose Home.

This is your Home page. Once you’ve created classes, they will appear here. To create a class, click on the + sign (where the squiggly, dotted arrow is pointing) and choose “Create a Class.” When asked “Who is funding this class?” choose “No one.” This will create a class that is free for anyone to join.

When you are given a class code, make a note of it.

Enrolling Students

To get students enrolled, send them an email instructing them to go to https://admin.smartmusic.com/join and to enter the class code you just received. For more details, including an email template you can use, and a reminder of what your class code is, check out this Help Center article. 

Again, this enrollment is free for students, and because it is web-based, it can be done both on personal and shared devices, including iPads, Chromebooks, and computers. The only requirement is that you and your students use the Chrome browser.

Setup Your Grading Calendar

Next, set up a Grading Scale and Calendar for your class. Once you indicate your grading periods and preferences, SmartMusic can calculate correct grades for each of your students within any time period.

To do so, return to the navigation icon and choose Class Tools. Then select your class, choose Create new grading scale or Import a predefined grading scale and follow the prompts. 

When done, select Create new grading calendar and follow those prompts.

Create Assignments

Now you can create and send assignments to your students. 

Again, everything described so far can be done for free. One thing that sets a paid subscription apart from using SmartMusic for free is full access to the SmartMusic repertoire library. With a free account, you can only assign music from a smaller collection of repertoire. This includes essential items like state scales, exercises, and a small subset of ensemble, solo, and method titles.

As we’ve seen above, one remarkable resource that is included for free is Sound Innovations, Book 1 for both band and orchestra. If this is your method, using SmartMusic for free with your beginning students seems like a no-brainer. Even if it isn’t your method, you might consider creating assignments from the book to explore what SmartMusic could offer your program.

Here’s how you’d do it:

From the navigation icon select Find Music and search for Sound Innovations. Note that Book 1 for both the band and orchestra are marked FREE. Pick one, click Assign, pick a “Movement,” and hit the Assign button. Follow the prompts on screen to set up and schedule the assignment for your class.

Grading Assignments

Whenever you log into SmartMusic, you arrive at the Home page, where you can instantly see if students have completed assignments since your last visit.

When they have, a blue dot appears next to Assignments in any given class. Simply click on this dot to begin grading.

From the Gradebook you can review each student’s best performance score on any assignment and hear a recording of the associated performance. You can also comment on the performance, change the grade, and make other adjustments as you would in any other gradebook.

SmartMusic Has Two Kinds of Free

With all the above available for free, you might wonder why any teacher would purchase a subscription.

First, a paid subscription includes full access to the entire SmartMusic library. This includes thousands of solos, ensemble titles, and more than 175 method books. A paid subscription also provides access to Sight Reading Builder.

Even though these and other premium features are not included in a free SmartMusic account, you can try them at no cost for 30 days with a Trial subscription. To do so, simply log into your free account and click the green Begin Teacher Trial button at the top of the page.

Whether you explore the trial or simply stick with your free account, we hope you take advantage of all the free resources SmartMusic offers you and your students. 

Create Your Free Account Today

The post How to Use SmartMusic for Free appeared first on SmartMusic.

Users with the Print add-on are also able to print out the majority of the marching band titles. With printed titles, students can easily take their music outdoors with them for rehearsals on the field or in the stands without risk to their smart devices.

To learn more about what the Print add-on offers, click here or Get A Quote.

To find the Marching Band category in the Search app:

1. Expand Categories in the filters section on the left side of the screen
   
2. Select Band & Orchestra
3. Select Marching Band within that category

Highlights from the Marching Band Category

The marching band category features popular tunes in both the interactive and digital formats. Here are some of our top titles.

Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors, Part 1
Available in the Digital Sheet Music Library
From publisher, Alfred Music, this title is designed to be fun and accessible for performers and audience members, while still being rich in musical opportunities. It works well as both the opener to a full marching show, or as a great pep band or stand tune. 

24 K Magic: As Recorded by Bruno Mars
Available in the Digital Sheet Music Library
The title track from the GRAMMY® Award-winning album by Bruno Mars also won a GRAMMY for record of the year in 2018. Reminiscent of the 80s R&B/funk sound, Brian Scott’s hip arrangement is perfect for the stands or drill team performance.

Together As One
Available as a free interactive title
Together As One is a fully arranged, designed, and choreographed marching band performance that is available for free to any school and director exploring field show options through June 2022. SmartMusic is proud to offer this complete show from Varsity and RWS Music Company as part of our interactive collection. 

For more information about field staging and choreography, visit the Together As One Varsity page.

The post Explore Popular Marching and Pep Band Titles with the New Marching Band Category appeared first on SmartMusic.

Active Learning with SmartMusic

First, it’s important to remember that SmartMusic can be broken up into these three basic categories:

Practice Tools

SmartMusic gives you and your students access to vital practice tools—a tuner, metronome, and essential content including exercises, sight-reading tools, and select state scales. Additionally, custom content can be added and assigned to fit your needs via the Compose tool.

Feedback

SmartMusic immediately shows students the pitches and rhythms that they hit or miss via the red, yellow, and green note assessment. With this, students know what to work on to get the correct notes and rhythms. The comments box also provides an opportunity for teachers to provide personalized feedback, keeping the communication between teachers and students active at all times. It is here that you truly begin to work on the artistry of performance.

Guided Practice

Templates for assignments and rubrics make managing SmartMusic easy so teachers have more time to listen to their students’ best takes and offer personalized feedback.

General Setup Tips

• Require students to enter your email in their profile’s backup email field. This way, if a student forgets their password, you can help them regain access.
  
• Decide how to split your classes: you can create one class per ensemble, one class per instrument/voice type, by day of the week, or mastery level.
  
• Ensure your microphone settings are appropriate. Type ‘microphone settings’ in the help search box in the SmartMusic app to get all the information you need.
  
• Use the Chrome browser on all devices (except iPads, where you’ll use Safari). For more, see our specifications page.
  

Practical Tips

Model, model, model: This may seem very basic, but if you want your students to succeed using SmartMusic, you should demonstrate how it behaves, where the tools are, and how to get the best recordings. Having SmartMusic open during class at all times also provides you with everything you need, at a moment’s notice. When that teachable moment occurs, your resource is there! If you’re teaching virtually, be sure to share your screen so that students can follow along. When they see you using it, you are giving it value.

Automatic practice loop tempo increase: Show students how to loop specific measures of a song or exercise, and how to utilize the increase ____ beats per minute (BPM) feature. Depending on the piece, you may need to turn off the accompaniment when slowing down the music. Have students report back to you in the comments box with a description of what this practice tool and experience was like.

Rename your assignments: You are not obligated to use the default name that is pre-filled when you create a new assignment. Change the name—especially if you send many assignments from the same method book or piece. Decide on a naming format that makes sense to you, and rename the assignment to make it easier for you to manage your Gradebook. Make sure to rename before scheduling as you won’t be able to edit the name of the assignment after.

Assignment Creation Tips

Method book assignments: We all have the desire to assign all of the lines from a method book, asking students to progress through each exercise. While each line of music is important, pick the most important culminating line for your assignment that encompasses all of the preceding information and work from the page or chapter. Do not assign every line in the book as this will flood your Gradebook and the students’ assignments. 

For example, if you’d like to assign line 18 from a method book, note in the assignment instructions: Before working on this piece to be submitted, practice lines 1-17 over the next several days. When you feel you are doing well with those lines, begin looking at the piece I have assigned for you to submit. I will be checking the practice analytics to ensure you are doing the assignments.

Also, let the students know that the grade is dependent on doing the preparatory work in addition to submitting the final performance. 

Units: Build units of assignments to help you keep organized. Units won’t save you time when creating an assignment, rather they allow you to group assignments to save you time in the future. Units are great for tasks like sight-reading proficiencies, scale tests, required band pieces, etc.

One of the powerful ways of using Units is to create a performance assignment. Create a separate assignment for each piece of a performance, then lump them all into a Unit and assign the Unit to your students. Units can be reassigned and used year over year.

Scheduling multiple sight-reading assignments: Create a sight-reading assignment in Sight Reading Builder choosing parameters that fit your teaching needs, then select auto-generate. Sight Reading Builder will generate a new sight-reading exercise for each of your students based on your criteria. Every time you assign this assignment, a new sight-reading example is generated. Label the assignment so you know what criteria were used. 

Comments box: Require your students to use it from day one! Make sure you model by giving comments back for each of your students based on your criteria. You can be encouraging your students anytime, anywhere, without other students in the room. 

Create a summer practice class: You can assign material like warm-ups, exercises, method books, ensemble music you can play, etc. Nothing should be turned in so the students can’t “finish” the assignments. Try experimenting with material they don’t normally play in class or rehearsals, such as popular music.

Add practice incentive with basic, advanced, and mastery tempos: In your assignment instructions, indicate the tempos that will equate to basic, advanced, and mastery tempos. Schedule the assignment with the tempo options set to “At Least” or “Any.”

Utilize Rubrics: To encourage proper practice, rubrics are a powerful method for focusing students on details and informing them up front what exactly will be assessed. Rubrics can help organize and address individual skills and techniques such as articulations, dynamics, or intonation.

Create practice-only assignments: Date practice-only assignments for the end of the grading period so they appear at the bottom of your assignments, and explain to the student that they won’t be included in your overall grading process. Be sure to label them “DO NOT SUBMIT.” This is an opportunity for you to send out pieces that you’re considering, or to reward students for pieces that you notice them playing based on practice analytics.

Stay Consistent: Create assignments on the same day each week. Create due dates at the same time each week to keep both you and your students organized. Routines benefit everyone!

Creating assignments for percussionists: When teaching percussionists to roll, consider writing out the assignment you are planning on giving in Compose, substituting sixteenth notes in place of the roll.

Creative Assignment Suggestions

Warm-ups as long term assignments: Giving students exercise assignments to practice daily can yield remarkable results. One example is Long Tones:

• Assign the exercise Lo-Fi Long Tones Bb
  
• Instructions to include:
  
  • Play this exercise daily.
    
  • Listen to the accompaniment a couple of times before recording yourself.
    
  • Save the very first recording to your desktop and label it “First-day LoFi [your name].”
    
  • The day before the assignment is due, record yourself one more time, and before submitting, writing in the comment box what the experience was like for you and whether you hear anything differently, referencing the first-day recording.
    

Suzuki for all: Utilize the entire Suzuki library with your students. Violin 1-3 International Editions feature Hilary Hahn performing these classic melodies that all students should be exposed to. Instrumental and vocal students can play and sing along with a professional artist. While you are looking at the violin method, explore the other Suzuki methods and see what may be adaptable for your students.

Small ensemble titles: Utilize the small ensemble library with your students. One on a part fosters independent skill growth and makes it easier for students to hear their parts, which will contribute to the overall improvement of your larger ensembles. 

Watch the SmartMusic Connect Session!

The post Why Didn’t I Think of That? Hacks for Teaching with SmartMusic appeared first on SmartMusic.

What is Find Music?

Find Music is SmartMusic’s app for exploring and searching for content. There are two ways to discover content in SmartMusic’s catalog. The first is through the Explore page which offers a carousel of featured titles and easy access to different categories and genres within the catalog. This page is a great resource for discovering new content.

The second way is through the Search page.  In the Search page, you can use a set of filters and keywords to display content that matches what you’re looking for. 

There are a few ways to access the Find Music app:

• Within the SmartMusic platform: Click the app picker (or waffle) icon and then select Find Music
  
• From the SmartMusic.com website: Enter your keywords into the search box and click the magnifying glass
  
• From the Homepage of the SmartMusic platform: Searching keywords in the search box or clicking on selections from the Content panel
  

Viewing Your Search Results

When you search for a keyword or apply a set of filters, Find Music will display a list of titles that match your search. This view gives you the follow pieces of information:

• Title – the title of the work 
  
• Instrument – which instruments are listed for this title; “Various” will display if the title is for multiple instruments
  
• Composer – the composer of the title; “Various” will display if there were multiple composers and/or arrangers 
  
• Publisher – the publisher for the title
  
• Difficulty – the difficulty of the titles as determined by the publisher or J.W. Pepper
  

Clicking on a title will allow you to view additional details including the full list of instruments, all composers and arrangers, the genre, and category. From this detailed view, you can also add titles to your Favorites list. Favorites can be accessed from the Home page and allow you to easily save, organize, and access your favorite titles. 

To learn more about using Favorites, check out: New Favorites List Feature in SmartMusic.

Columns can also be sorted ascending or descending by clicking on the column header. This will sort the titles on each page, and you move between pages using the arrows at the bottom of the list of titles.

Understanding the Available Filters

On the left side of the search page is a set of filters that will help you narrow down your search. These filters are additive, meaning that when using multiple filters a title will only display if it matches all of the filters set. Let’s look at an example:

If the genre is “Jazz” and the difficulty is “Very Easy,” your search results will show titles that are both in the Jazz genre and marked as “Very Easy.” It will not give results that are in the jazz genre but not marked Very Easy, or vice versa. 

Formats and Features

The first set of filters deal with how the music is presented. The Format filter dictates whether the sheet music is an Interactive title — meaning it can be assigned for practice or assessment, opened in the Practice app, and includes an audio accompaniment — or Digital, meaning it is part of the Digital Sheet Music Library. 

The Features filter includes options for Printable or Full Score. The Full Score option will show titles that include a full score. This is currently only available for titles in the Digital Sheet Music Library. It is not available for interactive titles. 

Selecting the Printable feature will filter down to titles that are available to print if the user has a Print Add-On. Print add-ons are available on bulk orders of 20 subscriptions or more. Each add-on grants an individual the license to print titles for their individual use, but should not be distributed or shared with others–just like photocopies.

Categories and Genres

In the Categories section, you can filter content by groupings such as type of ensemble (Choir, Band, Small Ensemble, etc.) or by a type of pedagogy (Sight Reading, Exercises, Method Books). 

Genres refer to the style, form, and cultural context of a piece. These genres are matched to what’s listed by either the publisher or J.W. Pepper if the publisher has not specified a genre. 

Instruments

The Instruments filter allows you to filter to content that is playable by the instruments you have selected. This filter stacks, so if you have multiple instruments select only content that is playable by all of those instruments will be displayed.

Difficulty

The Difficulty filter helps narrow search results down to a desired difficulty level. The Difficulty level for each title is determined by the level set by the publisher of the piece. If the publisher did not indicate a difficulty level, SmartMusic uses J.W. Pepper to determine the appropriate level. 

The current levels are noted in the search results using a colored dot in the Difficulty column:

• Beginning: Green
  
• Very Easy: Green
  
• Easy: Green
  
• Medium Easy: Orange
  
• Medium: Orange
  
• Medium Advanced: Orange
  
• Advanced: Red
  
• Unrated: Grey
  

What’s Next?

The SmartMusic catalog is still growing! We plan to release thousands of additional titles to the Digital Sheet Music Library as well as continue to convert pieces to Interactive titles before the end of this year. As the library grows, our Find Music will continue to grow as well with the addition of relevant Categories and Genres and new search features. 

This year, we are also introducing Playlists! Playlists are a way to organize and manage lists of titles as well as share them with others. With Playlists, you’ll be able to customize the order of the list, provide details about your playlist, and quickly access playlists through the homepage. You will also be able to share a Playlist out to other SmartMusic users. This can be particularly helpful when preparing for concerts or assigning several titles to be worked on. 

Considering SmartMusic as a classroom solution for the upcoming school year? Generate a custom quote today to see if your school or district qualifies for Bulk Pricing and Print add-ons!

The post Using the Find Music App appeared first on SmartMusic.

Here are 9 ways that music teachers can use SmartMusic as a classroom tool:

1. Project music on-screen to demonstrate musical concepts.

One way of using SmartMusic in the physical classroom is by displaying music on a Smartboard or projector so that all students can view the same piece of music at the same time. Teachers have been known to play exercises on screen while students follow along and count, or hum specific intervals or harmonies. Some teachers also may choose to display an example or line from one of the hundreds of method books available to talk through musical concepts, fingerings, time signatures, dynamics, note values, and much more. 

2. Use SmartMusic as an accompanist during choir and other rehearsals.

Teachers can also take advantage of SmartMusic’s professional accompaniment recordings for students to play or sing along with during rehearsals. Whether working with a soloist, a section, or the entire ensemble, teachers can play the accompaniment track, metronome, or individual parts live in class and walk around the room to listen to individual students or sections and provide immediate, in-person feedback. Choir directors may choose to play just the piano accompaniment, or turn on a specific part, while having students of another section sing against it.

3. Display warm-ups, sight reading exercises, or the rhythm of the day.

In a similar manner to displaying lines from methods on a screen, teachers have also utilized SmartMusic in the classroom by projecting warm-ups, sight reading exercises, or daily rhythms that support the concepts being worked on in a particular rehearsal or class. Students can read or clap together at the beginning of every class or rehearsal prior to the lesson or working on repertoire. 

With plenty of materials to choose from, teachers can generate custom sight reading exercises using Sight Reading Builder, explore SmartMusic’s rhythm exercises category, select a section from a piece of repertoire, or choose specific exercises from a method book. Additionally, teachers may choose to display their own exercises by importing files or notating directly within Compose.

4. Students can print their individual parts from SmartMusic for classroom-only use. 

One problem that music teachers often face is when students forget their music at home. Students with a Print add-on can print additional copies of their own individual parts to keep at home and in the classroom, minimizing opportunities for them to forget their sheet music. Students can also use these printed copies to take notes on during rehearsal, then apply their learnings in their at-home practice whether playing from the physical page, or in the Practice app. 

5. Play recordings to model exemplary performances.

So much of music education is about listening! Whether it’s for choir, band, orchestra, or a general music class, students need to listen to exemplary performances of the music they’re learning to help them understand proper phrasing, articulations, dynamics, and tone, so that they can work toward emulating these sounds. Teachers can display different parts on screen, toggling Accompaniment and/or My Part on and off to hear individual parts isolated and/or within the greater context of the arrangement. Music can also be displayed on screen to discuss the form of a piece.

6. Demonstrate practice techniques and how to use the practice tools available in SmartMusic.

Students are often instructed on how to optimize practice by applying techniques such as slowing the tempo, focusing on specific measures, and repeating sections of music, but with SmartMusic, teachers can show them. Using the Practice app as a visual aid, teachers can demonstrate how to properly apply the various built-in tools within SmartMusic to students’ practice, utilizing the metronome to slow the tempo, and the looping feature to focus on the repetition of specific sections of music. Plus, the Increase by __ BPM feature in Loops takes the guesswork out of building speed: students can set a number of beats per minute which will automatically increase their practice speed in each take.

7. Display the tuner on screen and demonstrate tuning tendencies.

Regardless of subscription status, all music students and teachers have access to our public, digital instrument tuner, with a spectrum of green, yellow, and red areas that provide instant visual feedback on pitch accuracy. Transposed instruments can see both the concert pitch and transposed pitch. This tool can be used in a classroom with a microphone to help students visualize tuning tendencies for their instrument. 

8. Use Compose with a Smartboard to teach, explain, and collaborate on compositions.

For lesson topics on composition, teachers can project SmartMusic’s Compose notation tool on screen and demonstrate composition concepts to the entire classroom, helping to satisfy the Creating National Standard criteria. As a class activity, students can collaborate in creating an original composition, taking turns filling in a blank staff with notes, harmonies, rhythms, dynamics, etc., and then listen to their completed creation, or play along with the music during playback. Our Compose YOURSELF! series can also be utilized as a fun, educational in-class or hybrid learning activity, where each fully-prepared composition lesson includes a listening assignment, a video with a composer, and a composition assignment.

9. Upload your own Finale-created files for exercises, auditions, drills, chamber music, etc.

For teachers who prefer to create their own custom arrangements, assignments, and exercises for students, original music notation files can be uploaded into a Content Library and projected on screen for students to collectively see in class to play or follow along with. Content can also be created directly within SmartMusic, using the built-in Compose music notation tool. The sky’s the limit! 

Conclusion

As schools reopen and teachers make a return to in-person instruction, it is becoming more and more important to have flexible tools readily available that can adapt to both digital and in-person settings. Take advantage of SmartMusic’s digital and print solutions within the context of the classroom to provide accompaniment, play musical examples, display visuals, assist in student comprehension, improve practice techniques, and much more. 

Need more ideas on how to use SmartMusic in the classroom? Join our online community and engage with other music educators who are using SmartMusic and sharing creative teaching solutions with one another.

The post 9 Ways to Use SmartMusic in Your Classroom appeared first on SmartMusic.

These pieces provide complete flexibility of instrumentation and can adapt to a range of ensemble sizes, from larger groups to as few as 4-5 players. Directors can customize pieces for:

• Full band
• String orchestra
• Mix of band and string instruments
• Mix of woodwind and percussion
• Mix of brass and percussion
• Percussion ensembles
• Mixed chamber ensembles
• Most like-instrument ensembles

To search for Flex titles, visit Find Music and search keywords “Flex,” “Flex Band,” or “Flex Ensemble,” or click here.

To open a specific Flex title from your music search, first select the transposition category that aligns with a particular instrument in your ensemble. Then select a corresponding part and click Open. 

Don’t Miss Our Monthly Repertoire Updates

To see the titles that are added each month to the SmartMusic library, including new Flex content, browse our New Repertoire blog posts. We’ll continue to work with publishers around the world to license their music. While popularity is one factor in our prioritization, your input is crucial as well. Are there titles you’d like to see us add to new SmartMusic? Please let us know.

Log in to explore Flex titles, or start a trial today!

The post Flex Focus: Arrangements Designed to Adapt appeared first on SmartMusic.

How does it work?

Upload a MusicXML file from any notation app or create your own content directly in Compose. Then use the new Letter Names (AlphaNotes) feature under the Notes & Symbols side menu.

Simply select the measures or notes you’d like to add Letter Names to, click on the “Notes & Symbols” menu, choose “enable Letter Names (AlphaNotes),” and press “Apply.”

If you have Finale, you can also create your content using the AlphaNotes plugin. 

Then, simply export the document as a MusicXML file. 

Next, log into SmartMusic and open up the Compose app. Import the MusicXML file and save!

From there you can assign it to your students or share it with others to practice.

We hope you enjoy this new feature. Happy note learning to all!

Try Finale Free for 30 Days

Download a 30 day trial version of the latest version of Finale! Create scores, generate parts, play, print, save: whatever you wish.

The post Now You Can Add Letter Names (AlphaNotes) to Noteheads in Compose appeared first on SmartMusic.