Laura Vaughan is a Missouri-based music educator and SmartMusic clinician with years of experience using SmartMusic with both voice and band students. Laura recently sent us an email highlighting her experiences demonstrating the upcoming SmartMusic 2011:

“I just wanted to share that yesterday I did a SmartMusic demo for more than 50 band camp kids at my college [Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO]. I played my flute with a beta version of SmartMusic 2011. Five kids already had SmartMusic subscriptions at home, and about five others use it in their schools – none of the other students had seen it. To say they were ecstatic is an understatement! They liked the new tuner and practice tools setup, and LOVED the capability of looping in their method books. The new feature of clicking anywhere on the music for a start point is HUGE.

They were enthused about the recently played pieces being visible on the Home Screen, the graphics of seeing their 'books,’ and the other new graphics. I had extra brochures with me and they all took one. The kids who had been 'power users' previously were just blown away! They kept asking WHEN the new version would become available! The other music professionals in attendance had not seen SmartMusic for a few years and their unanimous comment was overwhelmingly, 'Every student in band should get a subscription!’

SmartMusic just keeps getting better and better! Thanks to all at MakeMusic who are making this happen!”

Thanks to Laura for her support and for allowing us to share her comments. The latest details on the upcoming release of SmartMusic 2011 can be found here.

Questions or comments? Please let us know by clicking on “Comments” below.

Horn virtuoso J. D. Shaw was a founding member of the Boston Brass, with whom he served as a music director and arranger for 15 years, helping create their signature sound. Today J. D. is the professor of horn and the assistant director of athletic bands at the University of New Mexico. 

J. D. has recorded more than fifteen albums of a wide variety of musical genres. He has performed with the Boston Pops, Missouri Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, and Wichita Symphony Orchestra. His performances have been featured on NPR's "Performance Today" and the CBS "Morning Show."

But in the unique world of drum and bugle corps, he is best known in his role as music arranger and caption head for the acclaimed Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps.

When I learned of J. D.'s use of SmartMusic with the Phantom Regiment, I asked him if he'd share his experience with us and was delighted when he agreed!

"Here at Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps, we are excited to use SmartMusic to keep track of students' progress throughout the winter months even though they might live thousands of miles away. Being able to hear recordings of the students and then offer advice/tips from our staff members has proved to be an invaluable resource.

Not only that, but we are able to immediately identify students' idiosyncrasies and design a tailored pedagogy program to implement during the competitive season. Another charming side-benefit of SmartMusic is that the Gradebook helps me get to know the students better in less time by putting faces to their names.

As an arranger, I simply write my scores in Finale then save them as SmartMusic files. Then I upload them to the SmartMusic server and, from there, my staff and I can design assignments that are both recordable and assessable.

SmartMusic will allow us to achieve new levels of excellence in spite of our members being from all over the globe and limited amount of rehearsal time together. Not only are our students learning a competitive show but we are able to instill strong principles of music education and pedagogy."

Since we so often think of using SmartMusic with the students we see in school during the day, it's an eye-opener to read of J. D.'s account of working through the off-season with performers thousands of miles apart.

On behalf of the entire SmartMusic team I'd like to wish J. D. and the Phantom Regiment the very best for 2010.

The Florida Bandmasters Association, Banddirector.com, and MakeMusic have teamed up to provide a music learning and performance opportunity for the directors and students of Florida. The project will showcase the creative progress of a specially commissioned work by composer Kenneth Amis, and will follow subsequent band rehearsals and master classes, culminating in a student premiere performance of the work via live webcast.

The Florida Commission Project webpage offers some wonderful resources. You can see and hear the commissioned score, which the participating students have titled March of the Corn, and read about the composition process. You can also watch videos of composer Ken Amis and director Neil Jenkins rehearsing the piece with the J. P. Taravella High School Band.

On March 17, 2010, there will be a free webcast, at 7:00 PM Eastern, from the J. P. Taravella High School that will include a live, in-depth composer/band rehearsal, as well as a SmartMusic demonstration/clinic, hosted by MakeMusic's own Dave Hawley. Dave will provide an overview of SmartMusic, with an emphasis on repertoire of special interest to Florida educators. Dave will demonstrate how to access, within SmartMusic, the FMEA list of solo and concert titles as well as Florida-specific scale forms for all-state band auditions. The event will also be simulcast on the Woodwind & Brasswind site.

The concert premier of March of the Corn will occur on May 20, 2010. Additional details can be found at Banddirector.com.

Cathryn "Cathi" Leibinger is the band director at Ransom Everglades Middle School, a private school just south of Miami in Coconut Grove, Florida. MakeMusic's Dave Hawley spoke to Cathi in February 2010.

Dave: How has the SmartMusic Gradebook changed the way you teach?

For me, being able to assign SmartMusic skill tests - which we use as a pass-off system - and have them automatically post in the Gradebook makes things a whole lot easier for me, because the kids just get in the habit of logging in and seeing what they have to do.

And since I don't have to listen to students playing these tests in class, our class time together is devoted to skill development and rehearsal, not testing students individually.

It has made things go much more quickly in terms of skill development - the kids are working on what's appropriate for them. The kids are able to work at their own pace and work on a skill that is appropriate for their level.

Dave: When we think of the Gradebook we think of assessment - the red and green notes - and the recordings that come back to you. Is one of these more important than the other to you?

I think the on-line assessment - the red and green notes - and the associated score are more helpful for the kids because it allows them to know what they've done right or wrong and they consider it almost like a video game. When they see that they've got 85% they want to keep trying and trying to improve that score. My policy is that they have to get 90% or above before they submit an assignment, and I've got a couple kids who refuse to submit anything less than 100% -- so they keep practicing. It's like Guitar Hero but for band. We call it Band Hero!

For me the recording is more valuable. I tell the kids that even if they get 100% on their playing test and all the notes are green, if the slurs aren't good, or the tone quality isn't good, then I have the right to reassign and send it back to them for more work. So I value the recording on my end - they value the assessment on their end.

Dave: How often do you give assignments to your students? And typically what kind of assignments are they?

The beginning band works out of the Essential Elements book. I've highlighted maybe forty songs out of the whole book that they have to go through - in order - and at their own pace. So some kids have already finished book one and they're working on book two, and the rest are spread out in the first book.

The intermediate group does the same pass-off system, but they work out of Essential Elements, book 2. I assign scale tests that they have to pass to get points every week, and I also assign rhythm tests that are automatically generated once a week.

The beginning and intermediate band students also have practice charts which log all the tests that have been assigned, plus anything else they practice that hasn't been assigned but is still within the system, so if they practice a scale or a solo, it logs on their practice chart even though I haven't assigned it.

The advanced band has scale tests and rhythm tests once a week.

Dave: When we spoke recently you mentioned having spoken to some educators who've heard of SmartMusic, but hadn't used it yet. Do you have any sense of what we need to better communicate to these folks to encourage them to try SmartMusic?

I recently explained SmartMusic to someone who said that it sounded like the old Vivace. I explained that it is made by the same company, but that it's become a much more affordable and universal product. I think some people don't know everything that's in SmartMusic. They still see it from the older standpoint of solo accompaniment - they don't know about the accessible method books or assessable concert band assignments.

The three pieces we're doing for FBA are in SmartMusic as well so the kids can practice along with the recording, which I find very valuable - the ability to hear how it fits with everyone else. I guess that people just don't really understand everything that's in there.

I've also heard people say that "I don't know if my kids will pay for it," when I know that the kids could scrape up $30 a year if they were given a chance to see what it was. I have parents and grandparents who see it in action and who want it for themselves -- to help them learn an instrument.

Dave: Some educators are using SmartMusic but haven't made the leap to use the Gradebook as well. Sometimes there's a little gap there, a little chasm of understanding. Do you have a comment or two that might encourage others to try the Gradebook?

Being able to set up assignments in a way that the kids always have something to work on has made questions disappear. "What am I supposed to be working on?" Well, they always have something  to work on. Once you've graded their assignments you can put comments to the kids in their Gradebook. They can log in and check them, and this provides a great way for parents to see and hear what the kids are doing. The Gradebook creates an on-line portfolio. If you have a parent conference if you're doing any sort of audition process or leveling process this portfolio makes it very easy to access what the students have done - to monitor student progress - from anywhere you have Internet access.

Dave: Have you heard any specific comments from parents on this?

They all wish they'd had it when they were in school!

Does the holiday break give you a chance to catch up on your reading, too? I just discovered SmartMusic references in two articles in the October issue of Teaching Music Magazine.

The cover story, "Focus on Repertoire: Finding Your Musical Oasis," offers tips to finding the right repertoire. In it, Matt Frost, band director at Ferguson Middle School in Beaver Creek, Ohio, describes how he found SmartMusic to be "extremely valuable for selecting literature. By using the Impact gradebook feature, I can easily listen to entire recordings sorted by difficulty. Once I find a piece I like I can go into the software and look at each individual part."

There's also a very inspirational article titled "Blind Ambition" about the Ohio State School for the Blind's marching band performing in the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade. 

How cool is that?

In the piece, the OSSB's band director, Carol Agler, explains how most of her students learn primarily by ear, and credits SmartMusic as playing a part in their success: "None of this would have happened without [SmartMusic].  Instead of me trying to teach 11 parts I can give the kids the music using SmartMusic, and those who get it quickly can just sail, and then help the others."

There are also articles on rehearsal preparation and time management for music teachers. While both topics represent perfect opportunities to describe additional benefits of SmartMusic, I understand that would have been a little too much: They would have had to change the name of the magazine to Teaching SmartMusic!

Seriously, it's an excellent issue - check it out if you haven't already.

Remember the classic excuse "my dog ate my homework?" Mischievous kids have always been creative in explaining why they are unable to turn in their work on time. On the other hand, have you ever heard of a parent offering an excuse because their child has turned in extra homework?

A SmartMusic educator recently sent me the following e-mail he received from the parent of a student using SmartMusic at home:

Mr. J,

I have been using David's SmartMusic to practice my clarinet that I recently took out of my closet after 20 years. I didn't realize that my practice time would be recorded in David's practice record. So a portion of his practice time is mine and a portion is his. He has practiced SmartMusic for more that 45 minutes over the past week, but I do not know the exact number. I hope this doesn't mess up the grading.

Julie

I love this e-mail. The fact that SmartMusic inspired a parent to practice for the first time in 20 years is awesome, as is the parent's honesty and concern that her son not get credit for any work he didn't do.

I'm pleased to report there's a free solution to the problem of both a parent and a student sharing a copy of SmartMusic. Check out James Anderson's post here - while he's describing how siblings can share a SmartMusic account, it applies to parents, too.

While I've changed the names to respect the anonymity of all participants, I'd ask that "Mr. J" pass my encouragement on to "Julie." In fact, I think we should encourage more parents to dust off their instruments and make a little music here and there: what a great antidote for the stress that our busy lives create!

Our Repertoire Development Team has been extremely prolific lately, constantly adding to the SmartMusic Library. In addition to legions of band and orchestra titles, they recently added two solo collections of easy tunes that you may wish to share with your students just for fun:

To find them on-line, visit SmartMusic.com and click on Find Music to get here, then under "Solos and Methods," enter "Easy Christmas" or "Movie" in the title field. In SmartMusic 2010, click on Solos, specify your instrument, and scroll to the letter E for "easy."

All titles include music on-screen, are in friendly keys, and allow every student to play the melody. I think the skill level is appropriate for second to third year students and above, so nearly anyone with SmartMusic 2010 can enjoy practicing these pieces today, whether they plan to perform them in front of friends and family or send them recordings made in SmartMusic.

Want to share this news with your students who are using SmartMusic? Download our flyer and post it in your classroom or send it home to parents.

Happy holidays!