Free and Almost Free Web-based
Technology Tools for Music Educators
Tom Rudolph, Clinician
Description: Overview of web-based options for music teachers
that are free or inexpensive. Demonstrations to include music theory
sites www.musictheory.net and www.teoria.net; music notation software
www.noteflight.com; sharing audio files using www.soundcloud.com;
and editing audio files with Audacity software. The session will take
place in a hands-on music tech lab.
With musictheory.net, you can create custom exercises for your students
and make the URL or web address available to them. Students can then
complete a progress report that can be printed or emailed to the
teacher.
To review the steps to create a custom exercise, go to
www.musictheory.net and click on the FAQ link at the bottom of the page.
Click on the text: "How can I assign exercises as
homework?"
After reading the section in step two, click on the "How do
exercise verification work?"
When you are ready to create your custom exercise, click on
Exercises and then at the bottom of the screen under Teachers, click
Exercise Customizer http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/customize
Teoria Music Theory is free to use http://www.teoria.com/. There is an English and
Spanish version available. Members can join for $20.00 which gives the
ability to saving student scores in a database.
The site is organized into tutorials, exercises, reference and
articles.
Noteflight is unique as it runs in a web browser. The technical reason
is, it is built in HTML5, which is currently the most advanced web
technology.
Noteflight options:
In addition to the free version of Noteflight, which allows you to
create and share up to 10 scores, there are paid versions as
well. http://www.noteflight.com/info#/k12
You need a free or paid Noteflight account in order to use the
application. Go to: http://www.noteflight.com/login and sign up for a
free account if you have not already.
Answer to Beth Vilsmeier's question:
Consider using Inside Music that offers a complete curriculum for
Noteflight. The cost of the subscription also includes the cost of
Noteflight. Check out: https://www.myinsidemusic.com/
Think of SoundCloud www.soundcloud.com
as part social media and part Dropbox. SoundCloud is a social media
site, focusing on audio posts that can be finished tracks or works in
progress. Visitors to your SoundCloud page, which could include your
students, can listen, comment, and collaborate. It can be an excellent
place to showcase audio files or the work of your students.
You can follow other artists in the same manner as “friend-ing” someone
on Facebook and get notifications when they post new material, or just
listen to what others are posting. You can search the membership for
specific artists or styles of music, and like or post comments on
favorite tracks. You can access your account through a web browser or
the SoundCloud app on a mobile device. You can also share files posted
on SoundCloud, yours or others, through your accounts with Facebook,
Twitter and Tumblr.
Subscription to SmartMusic - lots of Aebersold materials and
transcriptions of rhythm section parts for viewing and practice.
Requires an annual subscription. http://www.smartmusic.com/blog/jazz-improvisation/