Low Cost MusicTechnology Options For The Music Education Classroom
Low Cost MusicTechnology Options For The Music Education Classroom

Finding ways to stretch your budget in a music classroom is always important and even more so when trying to purchase high tech electronics, software, and other materials.  This article provides an updated list of dozens of different low cost or free alternatives to expensive music education products.  It includes such categories as music notation software, drill design software, special needs hardware, and many more.

 

The Star Spangled Banner- Free Sheet Music For Band Inst.
The Star Spangled Banner- Free Sheet Music For Band Inst.

This document contains sheet music for all common instruments to play The Star Spangled Banner, also known as the sheet music to the National Anthem of the United States of America. You can view the sheet music online or download the individual parts arranged for all common concert band instruments.  If you do not see your instrument listed please scroll to the bottom of the page and try one of the the other instruments.  Most musicians will be able to find at least one instrumental part that matches their range and preferred key signature.  If you are seeking a simple piano version of the song please select from the voice, trumpet, or alto saxophone versions.

 

Using Plickers as an Assessment Tool in the Music Education Classroom
Using Plickers as an Assessment Tool in the Music Education Classroom

Music, band, choir, and orchestra classrooms can be huge and assessing the knowledge and retention of individual students in such a large class can be daunting.  Plickers are one of several solutions that can be adapted to work in large groups, making the act of assessing a student’s understanding a little easier and a whole lot faster.  

Is Marching Band A Sport? Pros, Cons, and a Reality Check
Is Marching Band A Sport? Pros, Cons, and a Reality Check

In recent years the question of whether or not marching band is a sport has been brought up time and time again for various reasons and by various groups.  On one side you have the YES crowd who says that marching band is competitive, physically demanding, and every bit as much a team event as any traditional sporting event.  On the other side of the coin are those who say no, that marching band is NOT a sport and it is a musical pursuit that happens to involve coordinated movements.  Both sides are right, but to make a final decision we need to look deeper into the facts.  Read on to find out what they are!

Portable Digital Audio Recorder Buying Guide With Reviews
Portable Digital Audio Recorder Buying Guide With Reviews

Scroll down to view the comparison chart of over a dozen different portable digital audio recorders.

Buying a portable digital audio recorder is a major decision.  The balance between price, features, and quality is a fine line that has many different options to choose from.  There are dozens of different models of portable digital audio recorders, some of which have drastically different sets of features yet sell for roughly the same price.  This easy to read head to head comparison chart and guide to many of the more popular portable digital audio recorders is intended to help potential buyers more easily see these differences and make an educated buying decision.

Apps and More for the Choral Classroom
Apps and More for the Choral Classroom

The number of apps, software, and gadgets available for use in the music classroom continues to grow each year but finding things that can actually be beneficial to your classes grows more and more difficult as well.  We spoke with Dr. Christopher Russell, Director of Choirs at Oltman Middle School in St. Paul Park, Minnesota to get his must-have list of apps.

previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Rock Band 3 Realistic GuitarSeveral years ago I tried to purse some research on whether or not using music video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero could actually be used as educational tools in music classrooms.  While there were a few concepts that could possibly benefit from the use of these and other rhythmic oriented games my final conclusion was that at that point in time they probably couldn’t be incorporated as a legitimate part of any educational curriculum.  Fast forward to 2010 and the release of Rock Band 3 and things have changed quite a bit.

Please note that this review of Rock Band 3 is purely from an educational perspective.  As a fun game to play with friends RB3 is top notch to say the least, and there are dozens of other reviews of the game for those wanting to explore the game play aspect of it.  This review however is solely dedicated to whether the game could actually help a pianist, guitarist, drummer, or singer to play a real instrument better.

Realistic Instruments and Rock Band 3

The biggest thing that has changed my mind from an educational context is the new inclusion of “realistic” instruments in Rock Band 3.  Users can now purchase special wireless keyboards and wireless guitars that actually have the appropriate number of keys or strings.  When these realistic instruments are used with Rock Band 3 in place of the standard five color button guitars it opens up a new realm of possibilities for teaching actual musical concepts with them, and it appears that Rock Band 3 is headed down the right track in that regard.

Piano Fundamentals, Scales, and Arpeggios in Rock Band 3

Rock Band 3 Piano KeyboardFor the visually oriented pianist Rock Band 3 might just be a great way to practice certain kinds of fundamental skills.  When the user goes into Practice mode in the program and selects the Keys portion of the tutorial they are able to practice dozens of different scales, arpeggios, chords, and fingering patterns that (while intended to help them play the songs better) also do a pretty good job of reinforcing those fundamentals.  For a visual learner that does not read music well it may indeed be a better way to get those scales and fingerings into their heads by seeing the top to bottom scrolling piano keyboard to tell them what keys to press.

While the practice mode in Rock Band 3 does not go into any great depth with these exercises it does allow the student to slow down the exercises until they start to get the hang of them.  As they increase their fingering skills the speed can be turned up, but the game will not “pass” a user until they are able to play a scale or chord pattern two times in a row at 100% accuracy.  Another nice thing about the piano section of the practice tutorials is that each one has a brief set of instructions that reinforce the need for proper finger pass under when playing full octave scales.   

Using Rock Band 3 as a Tool To Reinforce Piano Instruction
Believe me, for a beginner or novice pianist these exercises can be HARD at the upper levels.  For this reason I would not suggest using the program with beginners, however at the high school level, once a student has a bit of practice and experience under their belt, the skills covered in the practice tutorials could be quite useful.

The game includes piano keyboard practice sessions that cover:

  • Rock Band 3 Realistic DrumsMajor and Natural Minor Scales
  • Mixolydian and Dorian Scales
  • Pentatonic Scales
  • Chromatic Scale
  • 3 note and 4 note chords
  • Advanced scales

From a piano point of view it is my belief that Rock Band 3 could definitely be used as an enrichment portion of any intermediate piano class.  Keep in mind of course that there is no traditional notation used in the program, but as any musician knows part of the difficulty of learning scales, arpeggios, and the like is using repetition to develop the muscle memory to be able to do it without active, conscious thought and RB3’s tutorials do that quite well.  If the student is getting all the traditional notation instruction outside of the game I see no reason why they could not improve to some extent by using the practice tutorials built into the game.

Note:  The articles on this site may contain referral links to sites such as Amazon and other online retailers.  The small amount of income received from these links has helped keep MusicEdMagic.com up and running for over ten years now.  Thank you for your support!