Tech Tuesday: Blog feature- Technology in Music Education

One of the blogs I subscribe to is Technology in Music Education. Christopher J. Russell, Ph.D., also known as the “choirguy” is the author of the Technology in Music Education Blog. You can read more about Dr. Russell here.

On his home page you can find helpful links such as: Choral Warmups for iPad, iPad FAQ, My iBooks, Recommendations (Apps and Accessories) and more!

There is a recent post that was written that I particularly wanted to share on iPads and how much memory one really needs. Many times when teachers are looking at purchasing an iPad for the first time, they are not quite sure how much memory they are going to need. More memory= more money. So sometimes a purchase might be based solely on price instead of what will give you the most bang for your buck. Please check out this post  and many others on the Technology in Music Education blog.

 

 

A giveaway for Facebook Fans!

Not a FPSResources Facebook fan yet? Well, what are you waiting for? Head over to the FPSResource Facebook page and click “like” so you can enter the giveaway that is going on over there…

Tech Tuesday: Interactive Listening iBook Review and Giveaway!

I am super excited to share this fantastic resource with everyone today as I’ve never seen anything like it! Interactive Listening is an interactive iBook created by Pete Carney and Brian Felix. Once purchased, the iBook downloads directly to the iBooks app on your iPad. As explained on their website, “The Enhanced Digital edition offers 230 pages of videos, interactive pictures, interactive quiz questions, over 120 built in music samples…” Upon opening the book, you will be transported to an inspiring video on Music. Asking questions like when did music begin? How old is it? Why Music? Touching on the historical and cultural backgrounds, the emotions it causes, etc.

After watching the video the book will open up to a big tray of musical dessert awaiting you and your students! In the beginning of the book it explains that “Interactive Listening is a new book that challenges today’s connected but distracted listeners.” Isn’t that the truth? I hate to admit it, but I tend to also find myself in that category at times.

Chapters include:

CHAPTER 1: ARE YOU LISTENING?

The Ethos of art: the importance of music

Why Music?

Musical Reconstruction

The Science of Music

 

CHAPTER 2: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Musical Instruments

The Woodwinds

The Brass

The Strings

Percussion

 

CHAPTER 3: ELEMENTS OF MUSIC 

Fundamental elements- roots

Extended terminology- branches

Melody

Timbre

Articulation

Phrasing

Harmony

Pitch

 

CHAPTER 4: THE ORCHESTRA

Melodies as Characters

Articulating your Opinion

Orchestration

The Modern Conductor

Using the Symphony

 

CHAPTER 5: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

Modest Mussorgsky

The Gnomus

The Old Castle

Tuileries

 

CHAPTER 6: THE GREAT ROOTS

Africa

Global Connections

Blues

Gospel

Latino

Jazz

Performing Jazz

Electronic

Each chapter is filled with so many interactive opportunities for students. You will find survey’s, drawings, video’s, audio files, research questions, quiz’s, podcast and YouTube links. There is so much information in this book and activities for students to do that you can literally use this resource over the course of a year. It is perfect for lab time if you have a lab in your studio, as well as group lessons or a classroom environment. Quizzes, research questions and survey’s can be emailed to the teacher (love this!).

There is a video that really stood out to me called “Orchestrating Nature” that gave little word clips describing the instrument(s) and their dynamic and artistry that was chosen in conjunction with the beautiful scenery that was being shown. My recital rehearsals are in a couple weeks and you can bet I will be showing this video to my students to reinforce the concept of artistry and how dynamics, articulation, etc… really affect the piece and tell a story.

Another section on “Melodies as Characters” that would be a fun group lesson activity is creating a fictional drama with students. Included is scenes for students to act out with Beethoven’s 9th symphony; 1st movement. The written scenes stop at a certain point and encourage students to finish their own scenes with the rest of the piece. I really like this because it gets them started and thinking and then they take over with their originality. From there you can even expand it and use another piece doing the same thing.

There are just a couple little sections that you will want to preview before deciding if it’s appropriate for all your students. Both can be found in Chapter 3: Elements of Music. The first one was the “Dark Side” section. The video, “The Ethos of Expressionism” may be a little too scary for younger students. Also in the “Dynamics section, there is a video of Spinal tap talking and both him and the person interviewing are smoking. Just a couple things to be aware of so you can decide if it is appropriate to show.

Interactive Listening is $14.99. You definitely get your money’s worth with this iBook app. You can find out more by visiting their website, Interactive Listening or visiting the app store.

But wait! Pete Carney has offered to giveaway a copy of this iBook to two lucky winners! The first winner will win from this blog review and then I will announce another giveaway on Facebook the following week. So if you aren’t a follower on my Facebook page, be sure you “like” FPS Resources on Facebook for another chance to win next week!

For this week’s giveaway just leave a comment below. Deadline to enter is by 10:00pm MST this Thursday, May 2nd. (*Winner(s) MUST respond within 72 hours of announcement or another winner will be chosen*)

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of the i-book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own. 

Tech Tuesday: Digital Clavier Companion

One of my most favorite music magazines that I look forward to receiving during the year is Clavier Companion. Clavier Companion started to do a digital version of their magazine this past year which I am enjoying. If you subscribe to the print edition, you automatically receive the digital version for free. I like the convenience of having the digital version available especially when I’m “on the road” so to speak. I can just go to the Clavier Companion app and not worry about taking my print edition with me. Another option is to just subscribe to the digital version. The digital version is less expensive then the print version at just $12.99 for a year subscription. In addition you can just purchase a particular digital issue.

For example, this months May/June issue is on “Managing Your Hectic Life”. The issue is packed with great ideas and highly recommended. (Plus you will want to check out my contribution on page 29! It was neat to be able to contribute along with some other wonderful teachers!) You can purchase the digital issue for $4.99. (Better deal would be to subscribe for a year…)

To find out more about Clavier Companion and subscription options visit their website.

Tech Tuesday: Music for Little Mozarts Video Demonstrations

Hard to believe it’s Tech Tuesday already! The last couple weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and things aren’t going to be slowing down until about mid-June.

A lot of you are familiar with the Music for Little Mozarts books and program. When I first started teaching early childhood classes, I used Music for Little Mozarts. I loved that I didn’t have to pay a company a percentage of my salary, and I really loved the discovery book especially the fun activities and songs on the CD.

While I don’t teach early childhood group classes anymore, I do use some of the songs and activities from the books with my younger students.

Alfred has recently come out with 5 video demonstrations with Christine H. Barden teaching some very cute boys who look like they are having the time of their life. I would imagine that they will be coming out with a lot more of these video demonstrations. I love watching video demonstrations and wanted to share the link if you haven’t seen them.

Watch: MFLM Videos

While you are on the website, take a look at all that the program now offers!

Tech Tuesday: Did you know?

1)  MTNA now has the conference handouts available to view online (this is updated then the original handouts that were sent)

2) Prima Music is celebrating their 10th birthday this week with lots of awesome specials! Happy Birthday Prima and thanks for the great specials!

3) Noteworks (reviewed here) now has MIDI available on their note reading app! It’s even included in the free version! Can’t beat that!

Have a great week!

Tech Tuesday: Educents

Just thought I would give a reminder since the deadline is only a week away… If you register now (free) with Educents before their launch date (April 2nd), you can receive $10.00 off your first purchase. Here is the link: Educents

Educents is similar to Groupon, Living Social etc. but focuses on educational products. “A daily deals site featuring the latest educational products at 30-90% off!” So what are you waiting for? It’s free AND you may find some good discounts.

 

Tech Tuesday: Moosic Studio App Review and Giveaway!

I am really excited to introduce this new studio management app for the iPad to everyone. When I came across Moosic Studio, the first thing that came to my mind is, will this ultimately do everything that Music Teachers Helper does? The answers to that will be in my review as I’m sure you are wondering the same thing. I had the opportunity to meet Carlos Fontiveros in person at the 2013 MTNA Conference last week. He was so nice as expected. Carlos developed this app for his wife, Margaret, who teaches piano and voice in her studio. He noticed a need and wanted to help (how lucky is she?!). So her benefit ended up being our benefit as well.

The first thing I noticed about this app was how clean the layout was. It was a basic layout that proved to be easy to navigate. On the center of the dashboard you will find options for: Projected Income for this month; Lessons Remain this Week; Active Students and Items in Your Music Library. Here is a screenshot of the dashboard (click to enlarge)…

On the left hand of the dashboard you will find sub-sections: My Students; My Studio; and Billing

The great thing about the My Students section is when you are setting up your student list it gives you an option to sync to your existing contacts in your iPad saving a ton of time! Once inside this setting, you can add notes, status (active student, etc…), skill level, instrument, grade, even school type (private, homeschool, etc…) and more. Then you add their lesson schedule and it even has a place for assignment history. Gone are the writing down the assignment days. Now just type it in- email, print, or share with Evernote, Dropbox, etc… Check out these screenshots (click to enlarge), I just love the layout!

Under the My Studio section you will find the Schedule and Library options. When you click on Schedule you instantly see your schedule for that week. Oh and did I mention that it can sync with your iPad calendar? Love! When you click on library you can add in the books your students are currently using. (Very helpful feature) Eventually there will be an option for book lending. Carlos mentioned that he would like to put in a barcode feature for book lending. (I would love to see a camera feature in this so I can just take a quick picture of the book and log it in that way…) Carlos explained the idea behind the barcode is that when the student shows up for their lesson, the teacher would scan the book barcode and the teacher would just have to enter page numbers and/or goals for that book. (Can’t wait for this feature!)

Next is the Billing section. This is where you will find the Parent/Paying Party List. Now the current version of this app does not have an invoicing feature, however the next update coming up in a few weeks will. This is HUGE!

Here are a couple mock up screen shots (click to enlarge) of what is coming in the next update. One for invoicing and the other for studio expenses to wet your appetite… You can see a lot more mock up screen shots at the the Moosic Studio Facebook page. (Highly recommend checking them out!)

Under the Settings you have the option of enabling a passcode (smart!). In addition you can turn on or off to show inactive or students on your waiting list. Under Scheduling you can set a default lesson length (30, 45, 60 and 90) Under library you can choose to order books by Title or Author. Also under the settings you will find a “Moosic Studio Walkthrough” which is tips to help you get started.

As I mentioned earlier, in a few weeks an invoicing and studio expense feature will be added to the app on the next update (remember updates are FREE!)

After the Invoicing update comes out, next on the list will be:

1. Répertoire Tracker

2. Studio Notes to attach notes to specific student, lesson or just add general notes

3. Ability to import your music library via a CSV file

Remember when I asked the question how does this compare to Music Teachers Helper or other similar programs? Well, aside from what you have read and seen in my review, Carlos answered that question with a comparison chart. This will give you side by side comparison of what it can and cannot do so you can see what is important to you or not.

My only wish is that it was also compatible for the iPhone as well only because when I’m out and about and I get an email saying a parent has paid me online (I use PayPal) I like to log in the payment right then and there. So I asked Carlos about this and he said that yes, the plan is to have an iPhone version probably within 6 months. When it does come out, existing iPad users will be able to download to their iPhones for free and they will make it easy for users using iPhone and iPad to sync with one another. The goal is to support the iPhone as soon as he can, because he will use that same foundation for another very cool app on the roadmap that will work with Moosic Studio: a student companion app. (Sounds great!) Which brings me to the other question that Carlos quickly answered for me. Will the invoices allow for a link for parents to pay via PayPal?  The answer: “we can provide a way to allow the teacher to place an actual link in the invoice so when the user gets the invoice they can tap the link and pay their invoice online via paypal.com.” (Yay!)

All in all I am VERY impressed with Moosic Studio and am looking forward to the updates to come. I think Carlos did a great job and I know teachers will enjoy using this app in their studio to simplify the business side of things. I would highly recommend to stay updated by visiting Moosic Studio’s website, liking their Facebook page and/or following them on Twitter- @MoosicStudio. Be sure to check out their app in the iTunes store.

The beauty of Moosic Studio is because it is an app it is more affordable. (One time purchase versus a subscription) Normally the app is just $39.99! But Carlos just dropped it down to $34.99 (this was the MTNA conference special) for a limited time. Carlos gave me an important tip, you will not want to hold off on purchasing this app because when it updates in a few weeks (and includes the new invoice and studio expenses feature) the price will go up between $49.99-$59.99. (Still a good deal but might as well get even a better deal, right?!)

More great news is Carlos has graciously offered to giveaway the Moosic Studio app to one lucky reader from my blog. Whoohoo!!! To enter, like FPS Resources on Facebook and leave a comment on why you would like to win this app. (If you already liked FPSResources then just let me know along with your comment).

Deadline to enter is by 10:00pm MST this Friday, March 22nd.  (*Winner MUST respond within 72 hours of announcement or another winner will be chosen*)

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this app in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own. 

*Post updated at 7:54am

Tech Tuesday: More KinderBach app giveaways

I love a giveaway, so when I find out about a good one, I like to share. For the next 4 days on their Facebook page, KinderBach is giving a complete classroom version of their app ($26.99 value) for free! Today’s giveaway already happened so keep your eye out for the next few days!

 

Tech Tuesday: iPiano Tutor iPad app update

This last Saturday I had the fun opportunity along with my husband to meet Andy Fling and his wife with MakingMusicFun.net for breakfast. Until recently, I didn’t realize that Andy lived so close to me so this was the first time meeting him in person. If you recall I had featured Andy’s iPiano Tutor app that is in development in Tech Tuesday a couple weeks ago. In our conversation at breakfast, Andy mentioned his concern about teachers not fully understanding this app. He was concerned that teachers might be looking at this app as the latest “teach yourself” ploy. Where in fact it is quite the opposite. iPiano Tutor’s purpose is to be a tool that helps students to practice smart at home after lessons. It allows students to practice in very small chunks, as small as one note or chord if needed, and being able to not only see, but hear how it should go. Then taking those challenging sections and being successful in their practicing. In short, iPad Tutor is a practice tool that teachers will want their students to use at home.

You can learn more about and support this app here. I for one, would love to see this app developed. Students in this generation would jump at something like this to use in their practicing. On a personal level I could even see benefiting from this app in my practicing.