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”. More…

Robert Stuart Thompson’s Italian language learning text, Operatic Italian, promises to become an invaluable textbook for aspiring operatic singers, voice teachers, coaches and conductors.  Pulling operatic libretti from Mozart to Verdi, Thomson introduces the student to word-for-word translation, grammatical concepts, and the natural pronunciation and cadence of the language, while unfolding this intricate language in a practical and applicable manner.

Thomson’s main premise for using libretti as source material is that the language of the libretto is filled with literary, poetic and old-fashioned vocabulary devices.  The current language learning paradigm found in university language courses aims to teach the student vocabulary and grammar to survive and thrive in that particular modern country.   Basic themes include food, travel, and paying for a bus ticket.  While practical information for the average Italian learner, music students would be hard-pressed to find an opera entitled Dovè la mia valigia? with which to apply this knowledge.

Operatic Italian is well organized and direct, introducing each libretto example with it’s corresponding musical score, IPA translation, English word-for-word translation, and marked accents for atypical words.  Thomson’s goals for the student are to 1) recognize parts of speech 2) understand verb tenses and their functions 3) develop an understanding of grammar peculiarities found in literature.  Chapter topics of particular interest to the music student include pronunciation and developing an Italian accent, understanding what is lost in translation from Italian to English, what to appreciate in libretti, and Dante’s influence on Italian literature (opera libretti included).

Operatic Italian would make a fantastic textbook for a conservatory or university where opera students are required to develop a working knowledge of this language.  This text also would serve as a fantastic source for seasoned musicians or opera-lovers to deepen their understanding of the language from a literary standpoint, and bridge the gap from their rudimentary knowledge of Italian to a fuller understanding of the richness and depth found in classic Italian literature.

You have heard of Piano Marvel, the revolutionary software that guarantees to improve your students sight reading, ear training, rhythm training and technical skills. We have worked with them to bring you a special offer which will allow all of your students to use Piano Marvel for free until October of 2010 under your account. The first 400 teachers to contact Piano Marvel will be accepted for this promotional opportunity. More…

Need curriculum for teaching the creative stuff?       Have favorite resources to share?

• Over the next few months, I’d love your help in compiling a list of  resources for teaching music creativity. My own experience has been that it is difficult to find adequate materials in the areas of  improvisation and composition curricula, and I would love to know about  resources you use to inspire your students in their music creativity!  I will share some of my favorites. As you can see, many of them are my own, developed for use in my own teaching and then published for others. They have been successful!  But, I would really value your suggestions as well! Please add your favorites by comment, and I will amend the list as we go!

Here’s just a start…as I am on vacation as I write this, so I may be able to add more upon returning to my studio after the New Year!

Resources for Music Creativity –

Places to Start, and Were to Find Them

Imagery and Stories

Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (all levels) – Amazon

Crazy Staves by C. Schumann (beg/int) – Piacere Music

Flip for Improvisation “Jr” and “Original” (beg/int) by C. Schumann – Piacere Music
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In one of my recent blogs, I reviewed a program called “Eek Shark”, designed to help young children learn how to read music. (For more info, see http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/software-review-eek-shark/ )  This blog reviews Jayde Musica, a software package that is well suited for older students and adults who want to learn how to read notation.

To recap from my previous blog, I’ve found that teaching reading can be made more fun by using selected software programs. This allows the student to drill note reading away from their instrument.  After drilling for 10 or 15 minutes with the software, the student usually moves on to practicing reading with their instrument.  Often, the student will find note reading with their instrument to be significantly easier after some short drills with the software.

In Jayde Musica, notes advance from the right to left. You must name the note before it touches the left side of the screen. You can use your mouse to enter your answers or use the numbers on your keyboard.

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After reading strongly positive reviews of Windows & from techies this spring, I eagerly pre-ordered my copy of Windows 7 Professional.  Those of you who know me, know that I got a new computer in April (I refused Vista & had XP pre-installed by the computer company).  From the first, it was problematic.  I reinstalled my entire system in July, and then my computer crashed in August and I had to reinstall again.  AAACK!  There were still many problems.  That’s when it occurred to me that Windows XP is 8 years old.  In computer years, that’s amazingly ancient.  Physical computers that old barely run current programs.  So, given the good reviews & my poor experience (after 8 years of steady use) with XP on my new system, I decided, I’m gonna JUMP in!!

But, because re-installing my XP would take 3-4 days each time, I decided I needed to do my homework.    I started by going to Microsoft’s website and follow their directions on Upgrading from XP to Win7.  After consideration, I decided that, since XP doesn’t directly upgrade to Win7 (as Vista is supposed to do), I would do a complete “clean install” and wipe my hard drive, while upgrading to the 64-bit version (reasons why found here). More…

My six year-old daughter has recently been using a program called Piano Marvel to learn to play the piano. Piano Marvel is very professional, but fun software that teaches anyone (not just kids) how to play the piano.

If you’ve ever played Guitar Hero, you know the idea. Piano Marvel is just as fun, but actually teaches you to play the piano. It shows music to play on a grand staff, it starts counting and then you play. Every note you get right turns green. Wrong notes get a red x placed on the staff exactly where you played it. And at the end of the piece, you get a score (0-100) based on how many notes you got right. When you get a high enough score, you start earning trophies. Very fun.

My daughter has already learned how to play whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes, and can read A through E on the grand staff! She is turning into a pretty decent sight reader!

And what’s most impressive is that I have hardly had to teach her anything. I have stepped in to help with technique and answer questions, but for the most part, she is teaching herself through the software, and having a blast doing it. I can’t tell you how many times she’s shouted with enthusiasm, “Daddy, I got a gold trophie!!!!” More…

For string players and teachers, Connie Sunday offers a book in which she has written and collected many essays of interest to the string player and teacher.  This book is available online, in paperback via Amazon, in electronic book on Kindle, or on Mobipocket for reading on a PDA or Blackberry.

Online, it’s part of Connie’s amazing webpage which is primarily commercial, selling instruments, books, and supplies.  The website is so full of information, free materials, links to sources for puchasing supplies or buying books and magazines, that it can’t fail to be of interest to all string teachers, if only to get them thinking about what’s out there.

Connie’s book starts out with the history of the violin, and addresses questions about ornamentation and many other topics.  It includes FAQs about violins and violas, including More…

Very young children sometimes have a difficult time learning how to read music. Their attention is diverted from the sound the instrument makes (and the physical act of making that sound), to trying to read symbolic representations of those sounds from a sheet of paper. Some students start spending a great deal of time “in their head” trying to process the notation.   They may stop listening to the sounds they create due to the internal chatter of that processing.

I’ve found that teaching reading can be made more fun by using selected software programs. This allows the student to drill note reading away from their instrument. The student can practice note reading with fun drills that they look forward to.  After drilling for 10 or 15 minutes with the software, the student can move on to practicing reading with their instrument.

One program I use was introduced to me by one of my students. “Eek! Shark” (makingmusicfun.net) is a fantastic web-based program for teaching very young students. However, I have found that many “young at heart” teenagers really enjoy using “Eek! Shark” as well.

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This week I taught my first lesson on the Ashbury Music Hall website.

Musician David Gottesman has come up with a way for private studio teachers to reach out to students who want to have lessons, but have problems with time/availability.  David and I initially connected via Twitter in the spring @ashburymusich and @dgottesman.  I have created several videos (to go with a 10-week lesson outline).  My biggest concerns was whether or not I would have direct contact with the student, and how easy it would be to tailor each lesson to students.

I have spent several hours on the phone with David (and Justin Flores, his right-hand man) working out a way for me to feel like this was something I could feel comfortable doing (and actually be able to help students!).  Emails have been flying.

My experience has been positive overall.  It’s definitely an experiment, but one, because of Dave’s willingness to work with me and help me tweak the system to fit my teaching style, that I think will be a success, as long as we can spread the word and keep working out technical difficulties. More…