Dec 15 2009
Looking for Holiday Gift Ideas for your Student?
Smart Music would make a great gift for all students. Smart Music is a software program that allows students the opportunity to practice their music with professional accompaniment tracks. Both our Concert Music and the Method Books that we use to teach our students are on Smart Music. Students can use the program to practice their parts in the concert music so that they can play them accurately and easily. This means less time in class drilling individual parts and more time spent on putting the music together (which is the fun part of rehearsal!).
Smart Music evaluates the student’s performance giving instant feedback. The program scores the student’s performance and sends the score directly to us. All of the tests from the Essential Elements Method Book will be conducted on the Smart Music program next semester.
Why have the program at home? Students with the program on their home computer will have more opportunities to take their tests. With the large number of students in our classes, it currently takes 2-3 weeks to test everyone on just one line from the book. That means students only get one shot. Students who have the program at home can practice the test as many times as they need to and only submit to us their highest score.
Smart Music motivates students to practice. It is more fun to practice with professional accompaniments, than to play by yourself. It is like a game, where students want to keep trying on an assignment until they score a 100. Along the way, students develop greater skill. The kids get better on their instrument and they will want to practice more often and for longer periods of time. And the more they practice, the better they sound. And the better they sound, the more fun it is to play!
To purchase a subscription, go to smartmusic.com. Because we are a member of the Cobb County School System, students receive a discount of almost 40% – $18.50 for a one year subscription instead of $30. More than one student can use the subscription, so if you have two students in Band, they can both use the program. All three of our High Schools use the program.
No responses yet