Friday, April 10, 2015
Technology & Practice
Of all the topics covered this week, I found the reading on technology and practice to be both the most interesting and the most informative. Some of what was said was somewhat intuitive to me, such as the finding that students generally prefer to practice with an accompaniment. Personally, I can remember being a student in junior high and high school and hating practicing the saxophone most of the time. Looking back on it, I enjoyed playing in school so much because being able to hear other instruments and other parts made the experience more immersive and enjoyable. In college a discovered play-along CDs and recordings that provided a professional rhythm section to the student as he/she played the melody and improvised. This however was (and largely still is) only confined to jazz standards and well-known/popular songs. SmartMusic, however, seems to be remedying this somewhat through their library of accompaniments for popular method books, solos, and band/orchestra/choir pieces. I must admit that I have never had the opportunity to use SmartMusic, and many of the features seem well-suited to teaching instrumental and choral music. I truly believe that many music students would have a far greater motivation to practice (and enjoy it) if they could practice along with an accompaniment. Also, being able to actually get feedback about a piece of music immediately may lead to better and more accurate self-assessment by students. This program would also be helpful in teaching students how to effectively practice. Almost every student that I have ever taught simply runs through an entire piece without spending time and "woodshedding" a difficult part. When I have them loop a part that is difficult at a slower tempo, they react as though they have never even considered such an idea. Having a looping function makes this go beyond school and into their practice routine at home.
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I, along with you, have never had the opportunity to use SmartMusic. I always play my own accompaniments and create my recordings. However, I have learned that using SmartMusic might help aid me in having certain students, like my all state and solo and ensemble students, be able to practice music on their own without my supervision. In my school district, we have had to develop standardized tests for music classes. These tests are multiple-choice and are typically based on musical theory. Our argument has been that we need to have more performance based assessments. SmartMusic would definitely be a good tool to help us develop more performance based assessments.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I enjoyed reading this.
As a kid, most of my practice was done in the band room with the rest of the kids or (once they built them) the practice rooms. This was because I play the same instrument as my father and i hated playing in front of him... completely irrational and to this day my biggest regret. I always thought he'd try to make me a professional musician (and all I wanted to do was have fun) and here I am today, a professional musician. I wonder if the Smartmusic software, had it been available at the time, would have made a difference? Would I have been more inclined to practice at home and would that feedback have made me want to ask for help from my dad?
ReplyDeleteFor my students, with the recorder, Woodshedding seems to be the hardest thing for them to grasp. They want instance gratification and anything that forces them to work is the most horrible experience of their lives! In a "my teacher is going to spoon feed this to me because I have to do well on the standardized test or the teacher will loose their job" society, forcing kids to learn on their own is a battle. I think having Smartmusic, which can almost be seen as a video game in many ways, might be a good way to blend the woodsheding and the instance gratification that technology has given us.
Great post! Thanks :-)