I am a music teacher in an elementary school and one of the biggest things that I have attempted to do is make the composition part of music a lot more hands on. The program that I currently use is called Finale and it is a very in-depth program. The problem that experience is that Finale is really designed for music composers and not necessarily for classroom composition. I have however found a couple of ways of getting around its group work issues. First is the use of a smart board. By having a touch sensitive piece of hardware where the students are able to place the notes they would like to use by simply touching the coordinating area is absolutely the kind of music tangibility that I desire to offer my students. This is of course the most ideal. The second is to use an interwrite pad. This is essentially a touch sensitive board, about the size of a clip board that assigns its surface to what ever is displaying on the monitor. you can then interact with it like you would if you were using a touch responsive monitor. I find it makes more sense to think of it like a small, more cost effective, portable smart board. The only issue here is that the interwrite board is not a monitor so you are really having to watch were your courser is depending on where you touch the board. another is that you have constantly change the form of interaction that you are having with the program through the board. I.E. are you drawing over a selection of music notation, are you acting like the mouse, or some other variation of interaction. I think that music needs to be very tactile and with the newer tech around it could become that way in the classroom very soon. If anyone has any cool ideas shoot back.
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WOW!
I cannot believe you use Finale with elementary students. I had never heard of it before college and don't know of any high schools that used it with students in WA. Where do you teach?
It's funny to read this now because I just had a conversation about my school's previous music program. Apparently, the music program was cut around 2005. Now we only have a very small band and orchestra which meets on Friday before one o'clock. The district where I was educated, and other wealthy districts in the area, sometimes offer orchestra and/or band before school a couple days a week. Some might even bus elementary kids to the local middle school and back for a zero period class.
It's sad because all students should have a rich arts education, especially at a young age, but it doesn't seem to be a priority. The fact of the matter is that most teachers will not be masters of music, art and dance on top of literacy, math and Science. We need music specialists.
Well, that's my rant. I'm sure impressed with what you're doing though. Thanks for sharing about the technology too. It sounds pretty cutting edge to me. Are you the building tech too? ;-)
This is how I teach finale
You are right on about our students needing the enrichment that the fine arts can bring to our lives. The truth is that things like art and music are really what make life worth living.
As far as using finale with elementary school students goes this is my procedure. First of all I do not believe in using chairs because as soon as you give a child a chair they lean back in it. I actually use a carpet that my students sit around. In my room I have a 12 ft. screen and a projector which is connected to my computer. When the students come in on a Finale day I will first explain the concept that I would like to use in our composition. After that I will turn on everything. Since time is of the essence I have to go very fast or else the students will lose interest. My technique is to pick the person who is sitting the quietest to give me any note within the perimeters of our time signature. After that person says a note I use the keyboard short cuts in the program to type it in. Then I will shout “next” and the person sitting beside the first will call out a new rhythmic note. (I don’t worry about pitch until second go through.) This will continue around the carpet, from student to student, until all the rhythm is written. If their are multiple instruments in the composition I will repeat the process for another instrument. Next I will go and choose the pitches to get the style that we want. The students get to contribute a little when we do pitches, but because they don’t know music theory I pick up the slack for them at difficult times. Sometimes I will select the pitches just because I know it will make the process go faster.
You always have to make sure to “play-back” at good times because that becomes the best refocusing tool.
That is about it. I have done this with every grade including kindergarten. The biggest trick is just feeling the vibe of the class and knowing when you just need to wait until next time. This is why I am looking for a more hands on way, the keyboard short cuts just aren’t right for my method of teaching. I want the students to be able to touch and create music with their whole body.
Lastly I am not the tech person at my school but I am very very pro tech in my class.
Sites for Musically Challenged Teachers
That is truly impressive. How often do you teach finale? Do your music teacher peers use Finale at the primary level as well?
Do you have any favorite sites that would be good for less musically trained teachers to get ideas from? (I'd like to know where you get these great ideas!) I like to use songs and chants in my classes, especially with academic language.