Instructional Software

Instructional software can be a great tool to reinforce concepts or even teach a lesson in the classroom. There are thousands upon thousands of educational software available to teachers to apply to their classroom instruction. There are a couple of software programs I will discuss that can be used in a music classroom.

The website Music Theory.net utilizes tutorial lessons for teaching music theory then follows up with drill and practice exercises for the student. A student can follow the lesson then practiced what they learned in the exercise sections. The exercise sections can be customized to fit the student needs. Once the exercise is complete the student can print a progress report for the teacher! The exercises can be used to score students on their knowledge of music theory. Here is a tutorial video below that walks through a couple of sections of the web site.

Another great drill and practice software program is Musition 4. This software provides music students with several music theory lessons. Here is a tutorial video on the music software.

Smart Music is an awesome tool for the instrumental classroom! The music software is an excellent integrated practice tool for students that can be used at home, in the classroom, or during private lessons. I currently use Smart Music to administer playing tests and chart student practice records. This has been a huge help to parents who do not know much about music. They can visually see note mistakes students make at home to help play the correct notes. Students use it to practice in the practice rooms as well to work on a specific section of music he or she may be having trouble with in the music Smart Music definitely makes practicing more fun for students!

Reading through the Music Matters Blog I found a post briefly talking about a free software program that comes from the same company as Smart Music called Make Music. The name of the program is called Finale Notepad which is a smaller, free version of Finale. I use this program in class so students can compose their own music. Students can hear what the music sounds like as they write it to make any corrections they may need. Then the file can be e-mailed or loaded by jump drive to my computer to be graded or played for the class! Here is an example of Finale Notepad.

These are just a few examples of music software that is available for music educators or students to utilize in the classroom or at home. I use most of these software tools weekly as part of my instruction. These software programs have really proven to be a dynamic help in increasing the level of musicianship within my band program!