Noteflight Composition

           Above is my transcription of "A Bicycle Built for Two" using the online music notation program- Noteflight. Noteflight was very easy to use and quite intuitive. Notes on the staff may be entered by using the mouse or by typing the letter name. I liked the fact that I could change the rhythm of a note by holding the mouse button and dragging the note to make the note value longer or shorter. This was convenient because each note value did not have to be preselected before inputting the note. It was easy to add measures to a song by clicking the + symbol at the end of the measure. It was also very easy to add dynamics, lyrics, and chord symbols to a song. The little palette box had all these musical features plus it tells you the shortcut to access them such as typing the letter K in order to input chord symbols. In order to add anything to a particular note such as staccato, slurs, or accidentals you just had to be sure that the particular note was selected. The user guide was also helpful to look up any additional questions about notating the music. The free subscription provides the user with 10 free scores, the use of 15 instrumental parts, and the ability to share and print the scores. For the price of $49.00/year or $7.95/month the user may create unlimited scores, print individual parts, and have access to midi note entry and audio mixing. There is also a teacher, classroom, and studio subscription in which students may be added and have access to all the features of Noteflight.
           It is inconvenient to download any computer program at my school because we have to request administrative access to our computer from the technology specialist, who is usually quite busy. Since Noteflight is an online application that does not require downloading I was able to use it at my school last week. One of my students is currently trying to create an orchestral arrangement of the Metallica song "Orion." On Friday I allowed this student to use my computer and input the musical notation using Noteflight. His response to the program was that it was very easy to use, it was a lot neater than handwriting, and it helped him to hear the music so that he knew what it was going to sound like and if any changes were needed. Since I do not have frequent access to a class set of computers I would use this program at school for students to create their final copy of their compositions.  Not only would it give their compositions a professional look but they would be able to share it with others online and I could print a copy for each student. Also, with the printed copies students could learn to play each other's compositions. Next week I am going to  introduce my students to Noteflight and demonstrate how it works. Interested students will then be able to sign up and explore the program further on their own. In the future I would love to use this program as a composition tool in which students would be able write music for two or more instruments. I will also be using Noteflight myself in order to create tablature songs for my guitar class and simplified orchestral parts for the beginning orchestra classes.

Week 2 Reflection

This week’s reading was interesting because it discussed the creative process and improvisation. Both are achieved by being active and taking initiative and both require practice to improve these skills. Bauer (2014) mentions that Stephen King writes everyday whether he feels motivated to do so or not. Sometimes I practice when I am not particularly in the mood but once I begin playing I usually forget about everything else and I am able to focus and enjoy playing. There is not any magic that happens when people are creating or innovating. Only by doing something will inspiration strike and new ideas will be formed.

As music teachers it is important to give students the time to think and be creative. Each year I give students a composition project to complete. For my beginning instrumental classes they only have to write and perform an 8 measure original song. I give them a rubric so that they can be sure to include musical aspects such as the time signature, key signature, and dynamics. Some students love this assignment and jump right in and start experimenting and writing down ideas. Other students complain that it is too hard or that they don’t know what to write. These students are accustomed to teachers telling them exactly what to do and may not know how to begin. I give these students advice on how to start their compositions and what to do so that their song makes musical sense. Every student has the ability to compose once they are able to get started. Sometimes it’s just that first step that they have to achieve in order to be successful. A fear of failure may also hinder the progress of some students.

I believe this fear of failure and also the possibility of peer (and teacher) criticism also inhibits students’ improvisations as well. I try to create a supportive environment in my classroom so that students will feel comfortable doing new things and because of this they are usually able to overcome this fear. I think because I teach middle school orchestra I do not require my students to improvise that often. I tend to think that this is a skill that high school jazz band students work to improve. I also haven’t experimented much with improvisation myself which is another reason I don’t include it regularly in my lessons. Like it says in the book a reason that teachers may not include improvisation in their lessons is because of their own lack of experience. I regret not having more training in this area and for that reason I have tried to include it in my curriculum. However, without consistent practice and scaffolding of the improvisation lessons students will not likely progress very far. My goal with having students improvise at the middle school level has been to get them more comfortable playing in front of others and have fun doing so. I was also surprised at what the book includes as types of improvisation. I have never considered playing familiar melodies by ear, echo playing rhythms and tonal patterns, or transcribing a solo as forms of improvisation. Some students excel at doing these activities.

Finally, I found it interesting that the reading also mentions “the other 80%” of people that do not have formal musical training but have an interest in music and may have untapped musical talent. The use of technology in multimedia classes may give these students a way to express their musical creativity and give them the tools to be involved in music in ways other than performing. The video this week also showed students at Bay Shore School in NY creating music in a music technology lab that would later be performed by students at a spring concert. This validation of their work shows students that their ideas and compositions are worthwhile and important endeavors. I have also had my own students perform their compositions at school recitals.  I wish I had access to the mobile lab computers at my school more often so that students could use programs such as MuseScore during class to help them write music. I like the idea of what you see is what you get or WYSIWYG that is mentioned in the lecture. My students are able to do this to some extent with paper and pencil because they do have the keyboard, guitar, or string instrument to play while they are writing. I like the fact though, that the use of technology would provide the opportunity for non-instrumentalists to compose music as well. Creating music teaches students to think differently and I believe every student should be given this opportunity.

Reference:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Week I Reflection

            According to the assigned reading for this week technology is an important part of people’s daily lives but the instructional uses for technology are not being implemented to their fullest capacity in the classrooms. Some of the reasons for this are “inadequate budgets and facilities” (Bauer, 2014, p. 9) as well as inadequate training.

 I definitely agree that there is a lack of training for teachers to learn, practice, and become comfortable using new technology. I have been teaching for twelve years and we have never had a technology related professional development training at our school, much less one geared towards music teaching. If expertise is desired in this particular area it is left up to the teacher to either enroll in a program outside of school, such as a graduate class, or to learn about different technologies on their own. The reading for this week also stressed the importance of different types of knowledge that will allow teachers to implement technology successfully in their classroom. This is where professional development training could help teachers. Not only do teachers need to learn how technology works and how to use a new program but also how to effectively implement this technology or program into their instruction in order to better teach their students.

The inadequate facilities and lack of computers are also a problem at my school. I have three desktop computers, one in each practice room, for my students and the band students to share. They have eliminated the computer labs at our school and we now only have a few mobile labs with laptops. In order to use these computers we must sign up for a particular day and time. Priority for these computers is given to the academic teachers so it is very difficult for me to get my request approved. In addition, the computers are not available during the months of April and May due to testing. I used SmartMusic last year as an assessment tool with my students and I assigned particular songs for the students to practice. During class they would take turns using the computers in the practice rooms to record and submit their assessments. This was not an effective way to assess students because it took too much time for each student to login to their account, practice, and record their performance. Also, while they were in the practice rooms they would miss the important instructions and techniques that were being taught during the orchestra rehearsals. I then started using SmartMusic to make recordings of the rehearsals and students would listen to the recordings and make suggestions about how to improve their performance. Bauer mentions that teachers should determine if the benefits outweigh the costs when considering the purchase of a particular technology. When I did consider the cost and benefits I decided not to renew the SmartMusic subscription and instead I used the money to purchase a digital recorder.

If I had access to computers for my students to use on a daily basis I would be much more likely to find pedagogical ways to integrate technology into my lessons in order to teach music concepts more effectively. My dream situation would be to have a midi lab with programs that would enable students to record, compose, and practice music theory concepts in fun and engaging ways. I would love to have my students participate in a world- wide collaborative composition project such as the Rock Our World project that is mentioned in the reading. Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir is another collaborative project that involves people singing together from around the world. I remember seeing one of these performances for the first time online and being entranced by the performance. I hope as we progress through this music technology class I learn ways in which to integrate technology into a classroom with limited resources.

Reference:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

First Blog

Ok, this is my first blog. I just wanted to say hello to everyone and I'm looking forward to reading all of your blogs!