How Can Teachers Use It?
Select pieces from within the system for assignments and include instructions and a deadline. You can assign points to the SmartMusic assessment score and recording evaluation and listen to and evaluate students' performances. The tool offers playing input from both SmartMusic and teachers, who can monitor students' progress over time.
However, registration and setup can be a little confusing. You have to select your school from a list, and there doesn't seem to be a way to manually add students, which could cause issues for transfer students and private music teachers. According to SmartMusic, students add themselves when they sign up and enroll for the class. Kids under 13 who try to register on the site are told a parent or guardian has to contact customer support to sign them up. Registration would be easier for everyone involved if teachers had more control over creating their virtual classroom and student accounts.
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What's It Like?
SmartMusic is an online practice tool that allows students to learn about rhythm, sight reading, and other key music concepts. Music educators can use SmartMusic to assign practice exercises and songs, and monitor individual student progress. Vocalists and musicians who play woodwind, brass, percussion, and string instruments can practice with accompaniment. They can also record each take with an external or computer-based microphone and save it in the system or as an MP3 file on their computer.
SmartMusic users search for music by category and skill level, and can choose from more than 50 instruments ranging from the guitar to the xylophone. Students can hear songs before playing along with music. Other tools, including a tuner to establish pitch, can also help them prepare, and they get immediate feedback. Correct pitches and rhythms are highlighted in green; incorrect ones appear in red.
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Is It Good For Learning?
Students can customize pieces by altering tempo and transposing them to another key. They can access scale, interval, and other exercises and get feedback on how they play some items through SmartMusic's assessment tool, which highlights correct pitches and rhythms in green. A digital tuner and metronome can help kids find the right note and beat. They can also record and play back each performance to assess areas that need improvement. Musicians can save recordings to a computer or within the SmartMusic system for future reference.
SmartMusic doesn’t claim to be a replacement for a music teacher, and educators may want to take note of a few aspects. The tool's still-growing library offers a number of excellent resources, but it doesn't contain thousands of titles for each instrument. Also, SmartMusic doesn't offer sheet music for all of its songs; students will need to purchase it separately to use with some accompaniments. In addition, the tool's ability to evaluate student performance isn't offered with all exercises. The system doesn't provide assessments for guitar, marimba, vibraphone, and acoustic piano; percussion assessment is only available in two types of activities.
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This online practice tool helps students to learn about rhythm, sight-reading, and other key music concepts.
SmartMusic assesses performances, highlighting correct items in green.
Users can search for music by category, skill level, instrument, or name.
Students can record takes as they practice and save them in the system or on their computer.
Additional tools, including a metronome, can help kids understand rhythm and other concepts.
