Chromatik and SmartMusic

Chromatik and SmartMusic

Week four was also another exciting TPACK development week with new helping tools for us to explore such as Chromatik and SmartMusic.

Chromatik and SmartMusic are two web-based music software programs that help motivate students to practice and improve without depending on the supervision of parents and teachers. Although both Chromatik and SmartMusic were designed for the same purpose, (motivate and assist learning), in my opinion, SmartMusic is a more school-oriented software than Chromatik.

I have been using SmartMusic for a while now and I find it to be very beneficial for students who are in band or orchestra. Students seem to practice more and perform with a better tone. SmartMusic is not a cost-free software. It is available only with a yearly subscription. Although the subscription could be a drawback for disadvantaged students, I believe that it would still be a worthwhile investment and worth trying to find ways to make it accessible to all students.

SmartMusic comes with accessible sheet music for band and orchestra and interactive accompaniments for most of the popular band and orchestra methods used by many school districts around United States. Bauer (2014) points out that “Researchers have found that students generally prefer to practice with accompaniments. I addition some students believe that practicing with accompaniments allows them to learn music better and to learn it more quickly” (p. 82).

 Available methods and interactive accompaniments are not the only great features SmartMusic has to offer. SmartMusic was developed with the goal to help students play correctly and give helpful feedback, note fingering, and record keeping for practice.  One of the best features that I find very useful for teachers, is the practice-monitoring feature. Teachers monitor practice time of each student and may also use this as an assessment tool. I often use SmartMusic with fourth grade clarinet classes – this allows students to perform solo in front of their peers, and at the same time gives me the chance evaluate students individually. I believe this also helps students get over any stage fright they might have. In general, students have responded to lessons using Smart Music with great excitement. Using SmartMusic has helped me look very good during a couple of observations by a principal and my curriculum coordinator. When I use technology, I always try to find different ways to utilize it to the fullest. According to Bauer (2014), software can be used not only for what they are designed for, they “can be repurposed to help students acquire knowledge about, and skills relevant to, a particular musical topic or skill” (p. 35).

Chromatik on the other hand can be a helpful and motivating tool for students, but seems best suited for students who are studying privately – it does not seem as well suited for band students. However, Chromatik could be a useful tool for general music students learning guitar, ukulele, or even basic keyboard, similar to one of the classes I teach. Chromatik is not totally cost-free. The free version allows student only three plays per day, and limits the ability for students to explore and find something they would really enjoy playing. One of my favorite features of Chromatik is the ability to flip pages automatically. Overall I did not find Chromatik to be very beneficial and not very user-friendly. When clicking on the performance link of the chosen sheet, the video needs to be quickly minimized. I think the performance sheets should be better synchronized to MIDI versions of the songs. That would allow students to play along, but also slow down the tempo to practice difficult passages.

Overall, both software packages can be utilized in the classroom in many different ways. In my opinion, SmartMusic wins hands down because it was designed with the needs of the music student and the music educator in mind. It helps keep band students engaged and productive during in-school rehearsals and at home, where students may skip practice due to lack of motivation, or not having available help when needed.   

References

Bauer, W. I. (2014). A conceptual framework for technology - Assisted music learning. In Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music (pp. 35-82). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.