While I was student teaching, the students regularly used SmartMusic in lessons. Mostly the program was used for the accompaniment and the student's had their own sheet music so they weren't reading off the computer. This is definitely something I wish I had growing up because when it came to All-State solos, I wasn't used to playing with a piano and when I first started it would always through me off! I think it's great for the students to hear how the piano compliments their performance and there's more than just reading the notes off the page.
As far as Finale, I must say I absolutely love scanning pieces in! What a time saver, considering I'm working on a laptop without the numeric keypad. Using the numbers on top of my laptop is helpful, but nothing compares (in my opinion) to having a numeric keypad to work with when inputting. It's kind of amazing how Finale can read and input music from a sheet of paper you scanned. I can only imagine what deceased composers would think if they only knew what advancements would occur in music technology!
I think the accompaniment aspect of SmartMusic is great! We never had opportunities before the actual solo performance to hear ourselves with piano either. And, of course, it definitely threw me off. The only thing that I don't like is that it teaches the student to follow the piano part. In reality, the piano accompanies the instrument or vocalist, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, but the good thing with SmartMusic is you can set it so the accompaniment actually follows the student's tempo. This probably would only work if a student is advanced enough to take those liberties in the piece, but it's an option that's great when a student is ready and if an actual piano player isn't available at the moment.
DeleteYes I think SmartMusic is great to help kids hear the accompaniment but why not find a recording? I have tons of recordings from solos I played in high school. Listening to all of the interpretations gives students an idea of what they want to do and you learn the accompaniment that way as well. Listening to someone with an amazing sound and technique on both your own instrument and the piano can do wonders for a student.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that SmartMusic does that a recording doesn't is allow the students to use their own interpretations. The accompaniment will adjust to their tempo if it's set as such. Another bonus for the students was it records them as they play and it's really easy to play it back instantly. Recordings are great if you're listening to the instrumental part too, not just the accompaniment like SmartMusic uses, but at the same time if a student is already required to purchase SmartMusic, for some families it's not feasible to buy a recording for every solo or band piece the student has to learn.
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