Note Flight

 Noteflight is a tool for music teachers and their students to use for notating music. Per Noteflight’s Wiki: “Noteflight is an online interactive graphical music-notation editor.” It is a free tool that can be accessed from nearly any computer with an internet connection/browser that supports Adobe Flash. From an educator’s perspective, students can now work on compositions or assignments both at school and at home without expensive notation software.

I found Noteflight fairly easy to use. Teachers looking to use this tool with their students can take comfort in knowing that tutorial videos, FAQ’s and help forums provide excellent help and support to users of varying computer expertise. Creating a free account takes only a few minutes. Students can easily access their work from a computer at school, as well as at home. This tool can readily be used in music theory classrooms as both an instructional aid and as a tool for students to do part writing or other assignments. A band director might use this tool to have students transpose parts or to transcribe a solo for jazz band.

I can already tell that my favorite use of Noteflight will be that I can have students transpose their parts! Next time you need a student to cover or double another part, have your students try inputting the notation themselves. Noteflight even has a transpose feature!

NYSSMA Technology Resources

The New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) has a lot of resources for music teachers on their website. Everything from advocacy materials to music curriculum can be found on their site. The Technology Committee is part of the larger NYSSMA umbrella. On the technology committee's web-page you will find  internet resources as well as music applications that work on the iphone (opens as a pdf.)

Music Technology Articles and Lesson Plans

If anyone is looking for articles supporting a variety of uses for music technology, please check out SoundTree's website. SoundTree is a division of Korg, USA. Additionally, you will find a link located on the left side of the page for teacher resources, including lesson plans!

Listen, Play, Explore with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has dedicated a portion of their website for students to explore orchestral music in a fun way. Many times students end up staying inside for recess (especially in the North East) due to weather. I have noticed that student's love to play games on the computer, why not music games?!?

Check out the fun games on this website, Beethoven's Baseball is one of my favorites!

Hal Galper- Master Class

This is an excerpt from Hal Galper's Master Class- "The Illusion of an Instrument." Hal Galper discusses research regarding how we play music from our brain to our instruments. Essentially, Galper says that we need to let our ears do more work for us as musicians. Galper is a jazz pianist who has enjoyed a lengthy career as member of Phil Wood's Quintet, Pianist for Cannonball Adderly and a slew of others. This is a very interesting clip with an important message.

Approach to Composition

While completing a virtual field trip for my coursework at Kent, I discovered a useful website through the Vermont Midi Project called an "Approach to Composition." This website includes some helpful resources for implementing composition in your classroom. If you have ever wondered how to get your students started with composition, check this site out! Great links for beginning composers and an intro to music notation software.

Behringer UMX610

I recently purchased a Behringer UMX610 to be used as a midi controller. In the past I have used Yamaha or Roland Keboards in conjunction with a midi box to do all my midi or music notation work. These keyboards have served me well, however a nice feature of the UMX 610 is that it can be connected straight your computer via USB. So far, the keyboard as worked great!

Sheet Music and Ensemble Literature

Al Hemer Music Corp. is an excellent resource for finding and purchasing solo and ensemble literature for your students. Hemmer has the resources to locate and order hard to find sheet music, especially from those which are foreign in publication.