Last month I listed the benefits of adding a lab to your lesson and provided a general overview of lab ideas. This month I will list and describe specific pedagogical software (programs designed specifically for student learning of musical concepts) that I use throughout the year.
Generally, software can become an immediate favorite with me and my students, seem to date itself quite quickly, or seem useful but with limitations. Most of the programs I own fall into the following categories:
Can I Play It Again? (Games that Teach)
Piano Wizard
http://www.pianowizard.com/ This unique game is reminiscent of Guitar Hero but provides excellent sequential steps to reading from the grand staff, hands alone and hands
together. The success of the program lies in how well it disguises learning with graphics, animation and action. Students with NO prior piano experience can easily play this game–it is loved by students of all levels.
Groovy Shapes (ages 5-7), Groovy Jungle (ages 7-9) and Groovy City (ages9-11)
www.sibelius.com/products/groovy/shapes.html The set of three programs offers lessons in music notation and terminology and then provides unique ways to create and compose with the material covered in each lesson. The graphics captivate students and the inspirational format for making original compositions lures them into the world of musical creativity. These programs allow input from a MIDI keyboard for further creative options.
Do I Have To? (Lessons that Teach)
Children’s Music Journey Vols 1-3
http://www.adventus.com/store/childrens-music-journey/ This series is a marvelous teaching program for elementary pianists (preschool to 8?). The curriculum is designed with diligently- sequenced steps to learning and applying reading and composition skills. Students enjoy meeting their various on-screen “teachers” (famous composers) and listening to their famous compositions while learning the rudimentary basics.
Alfred’s Essentials of Music
http://www.alfred.com/Products/Essentials-of-Music-Theory-Software-Version-20-CD-ROM-Student-Version-Complete-Volume–00-18833.aspx Even though students may consider these a little dry, the lessons cover essentials and are great tools. If a new concept is being taught during a lesson, I will assign lessons from this software to reinforce what was taught–never hurts for students to hear explanations from a different “teacher”.
Music Ace
http://www.harmonicvision.com/mamfact.htm Although the voice of “Maestro Max ” in this tutorial program is funny to some, it can be annoying to others. However, the Maestro carefully covers the fundamental components of music with interactive lessons, ear training and challenging games.
Can I Beat My Score? (Drills to Master)
Alfred Interactive Musician
http://www.alfred.com/sub_software/aim/aim.htm This program is carefully leveled to test every aspect of reading and ear training. Quite exhaustive, I use it when specific concepts need mastering such as pitch and rhythm reading, chord identification…
Early Music Skills
http://www.ecsmedia.com/indivprods/museks.shtml All my beginning students must master the drills of this program. Basic but crucial to reading skills, the students are asked to identify line and space notes, line and space numbers, note heads moving up and down, then note heads stepping or skipping up and down.
Music Learning Community.com
http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/ A fabulous subscription website with games to accommodate beginning to intermediate music theory. This has become of staple in my studio because of the variety of games drilling specific and essential concepts that I cover in lessons. Ex: games that ask to identify only bass space pitches or only treble line pitches.
Note Speller
http://www.ecsmedia.com/indivprods/musnotspel.shtml Once students know the names of lines and spaces and ledgers of the grand staff, spelling words of various lengths in different clefs (ledger lines too!) helps them to master pitch reading.
Music Skill Builder
http://www.ecsmedia.com/indivprods/MusicSkillBuilder.shtml This includes drills that can be tailor-made to fit a specific concept. Ex: identifying note and rest values up to 32nd notes, major and minor scales, inverted chords…
Auralia
http://www.sibelius.com/products/auralia/index.html I could spend a lifetime with Auralia and probably never master all the ear training options available. The lesson syllabi provide ample groundwork for anyone moving into college-level theory and ear-training class. Although quite advanced, I use some of the exercises with younger students as well. One of my favorites is a drill designed to help identify a large range of rhythmic styles from the “cha-cha” to “rock ballad”.
Two Extremely Helpful Resources to Consider When Setting up a Lab and Purchasing Software:
ECS: Electronic Courseware Systems http://www.ecsmedia.com/products/prodmusic.shtml
Keys to Imagination http://www.keystoimagination.com/
This is only a partial list of the software I have encountered over the years. Many helpful software reviews have been included in the Music Teacher’s Helper blog which I hope to use in the near future such as Piano Marvel. One more thing–one program that is ideal for those hard to please middle schoolers: Garage Band.
Would love to hear of your favorites!
Next Month: Part 3 (the last part)–Lab assignments beyond the software
If anyone is interested in learning guitar lessons, do visit Metal guitar lessons
Leila-
I have been totally inspired by your last two entries. I am right now in the throws of expanding my studio from 15 students to 20+ for next Fall. I am caught (as I am sure you understand) between wanting to get more involved in teaching but without tipping the balance out of wack. I still play a number of gigs around NYC and tour occasionally etc. I love your ideas about making a larger commitment to my students through the addition of a lab. It seems like a great way to reinforce my work with them as well as expand my business. One Q…how many students at a time are working in your lab? And are they on computers while you are teaching another student? How do you balance that.
Thanks again for all your thoughts. Super helpful.
Nate Shaw
Glad to hear it is helpful Nate, I schedule two students within one hour. One student completes a lab assignment while the other is having a lesson with me at the piano. The computer is in the same room where I teach at the piano so I always have my eye on the student equipped with headphones at the computer. I will often need to move the “computer” student to another activity. The student at the piano is usually given a tricky section to practice while I assist with the other student. At times I begin the lesson with both of them by the piano to review the concept(s) to be covered during the computer session. This is a great way for students to make peers, have fun and encourage each other. Very handy for siblings when they can arrive and leave at the same time, too. You do need to adjust to dividing your time slightly while teaching but it has definitely been worth the effort to add the lab!
I just wanted to share how we handle lab supervision at our school, and it works really well. We have 4 computer stations, and each student’s lab time is scheduled either before or after their lesson. There is always a trained lab assistant present to assist with setting up and explaining the assignments. Most of the time we have 4 students in the lab (never more.) By having the lab in a separate room and having a trained lab assistant the teacher can focus solely on the student they are teaching at the moment.
It’s so great when you ask a student how they knew about a certain music symbol or theory and they excited say “I learned it in the lab!”