Guest post by Jennifer Foxx

I had the opportunity to do an encore presentation this year at the state conference on a topic that I enjoy. I think for some teachers, when they hear the word technology they panic, thinking it’s way too complicated or they just have no desire to be a part of it. My goal with this presentation was to show that technology does not have to be complicated. I first shared some of the simple technology tools that teachers can use in the studio and probably already use, whether in the studio or just at home.

Some basic technology tools would be: Computer (doesn’t matter if it’s a desktop or laptop), Audio tool (CD Player, iPod, MP3, etc.), Digital Recorder (this can also be your smartphone), Video Camera (I love my FLIP!), DVD Player/DVD’s (this can also just be the DVD drive from your computer), Midi Keyboards (at least 61 keys), and Printer (I recommend an all-in-one model).

Then I went into creating a music lab, but for those teachers that didn’t have a lab they could still apply some of these ideas in their studio.

Benefits of a Music Lab-

• Allows students to drill and follow up with what they are learning in the lesson. Such basics as note names, intervals, chords, terms, symbols, key signatures, ear training, and much more.
• A music lab is a good selling point to parents looking to give their children as well-rounded a musical education as possible.
• Having a music lab can serve as additional income, if a lab fee is charged. I would recommend including your lab fee with your lesson tuition and not making it optional. Another idea is to have a yearly lab fee when students register.

Setting-Up (You do not need a separate lab room in order to set up a music lab.)

• Possible setup – one computer, specific assignments, MIDI keyboard, network for Internet and simple technology tools listed previously.
• Make sure the student at the piano can’t see the computer monitor, or they will be distracted.
• Having a separate computer for the studio is ideal. However, you can set up a user just for your studio.
• A good set of headphones is absolutely essential. I like the big headphones that cup over the students ears.
• Remember, you do not need to go out and buy everything at once. Start small and build. Don’t have a computer you can use for your music lab and/or can’t afford to buy one yet? Start with the other simple technology tools.

Scheduling Options

• Students come 15-30 min. before their lesson or stay 15-30 after their lesson. While you are teaching one student, another student is working in the lab.
• Rotating – Students rotate every 20-30 min. within an hour/hour and a half. (ie: Student 1 works on computer, Student 2 works on keyboard or writing station, Student 3 works with Teacher, then rotate).

Music Lab Subject Ideas

• Composer/Music History
• Composition/Improvisation
• Ear Training
• Note Reading
• Rhythm
• Sight-Reading
• Theory
• Creativity and More!

Suggested Resource Materials

• Studio Makeover Technology Addition (Michelle Gordon/Michelle Sisler- www.ImaginationisKey.com)
• Electrify Your Studio (Sandra Bowen/FJH Music)
• The Well-Tempered Lesson Plan (Renee Lacey/Trail Creek Systems- TrailCreekSystems.com- see other products)

In addition to tons and tons of internet resources that are out there you can use with your students, here are some sample ideas of books/workbooks to use during lab time:

Lab Log

Double Click Curriculum (see www.KeystoImagination.com – these are great student log books that have most of the prep work done for you for your computer lab!)

Theory Fun

TCW Theory books

Dot to Dot Note Speller (Bastien)

Color by…Interval, Note Monsters, etc. (Alfred)

Technique

Finger Builders (Pace)

Keys to Success (FJH)

Nate’s Piano Plates (Major, Minor, and Harmonic scales)

Improvisation

Discover Blues Improvisation (FJH)

Discover Beginning Improvisation (FJH)

Pattern Play (Frederick Harris Music)

Chords

Folk Songs and Fun Songs – Fake Book for the beginning student (Jane H. Calder)

Composition

Music by Me (FJH)

Young Composers Notebook (Frederick Harris Music)

Ear Training-

Ear Training Books with CD (Alfred)

*This is just a sample of books out there; there is soooo much out there that you can use during lab time!

Looking for just the right resource or program to energize your teaching, inspire your students, or just add to the fun of teaching? You’ll probably find it on this massive list of 137 Tech Resources for Teachers and Students, compiled by Joel of the So You Want to Teach? blog. This is a great list to bookmark and spend time perusing over the summer!

I’ve been hearing rumblings about MuseScore for several weeks, but Joy’s review of it earlier this week prompted me to finally take a closer look. Like Joy, I was very disappointed to find that Finale decided to charge for the NotePad software that they previously offered free of charge. I had quite a few students who used it for their compositions. MuseScore looks like a great alternative (it’s free!). I’ve downloaded the most recent version and look forward to checking it out for myself.

Joseph Pisano, of the MusTech.Net, has compiled and posted a list of Must-Have Downloadable Freebies for music teachers. It’s a great list, separated into the following categories: Audio Editing, Ear Training, Early Music Instruction (Kids’ Stuff), Jazz Related Programs, Looping/Audio Mixing, Lyrics/Song Writing, Metronomes, Notation, MIDI Sequencing, Music Theory, Tuners, and Virtual Pianos. This is a fabulous compilation that every music teacher will want to bookmark for future reference!

Have you seen or used Pandora Radio? If not, you have got to check it out! My friend Olivia just mentioned it in an e-mail and I did a quick search to find out what she was talking about. The tagline is, “Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music.” When you first go to the site, you just enter the name of a favorite composition or composer and the radio station starts playing other similar pieces. This makes for great background music as I work on my computer and I’m especially loving the free part! It just may beat out iTunes for frequency of use on my computer from now on. I look forward to exploring it more in the days ahead.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve instituted a rather informal computer lab option in my studio this semester. Students can opt to sign up for an additional 15 minutes in the computer lab either before or after their lesson time. This is a simple, generic form I created for the students to sign up on at our kick-off event for the year. You can download and use it in your studio by clicking the image below.

Today has been mostly occupied with lots of brainstorming, jotting down notes and putting together all the details for next year’s studio incentive. You can check out some of the previous practice incentives I’ve developed in the Practice Incentives category. Anyway, in the process of gathering some links for my student assignment books, I clicked over to Wendy’s Piano Studio website and noticed that she has completed redesigned it and it looks incredible! It’s still full of all the same great resources, but now they are easier to navigate. My favorite page, though, is the Links page. The layout is very cool!

It looks like Wendy used Google Sites to build her website. I haven’t explored it at all, but anyone wanting to build their own website may want to check it out. If you’re looking into setting up your own website, here are a couple of other helpful posts:
Get Your Own Studio Website! – This is a little outdated, since I wrote it almost 3 years ago, but some of the information is still relevant and helpful.
Music Teacher’s Helper – Another Review – A great option for a full-blown record-keeping system and studio website. Or you can just set up a studio website for free!

I just gave a workshop last weekend to our local music teachers association on setting up your own website. Regardless of whether you are designing your own site from scratch or are using a pre-designed website from another provider (like Music Teacher’s Helper), you will definitely want to set up your own domain name so that people can easily access your studio website. Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to register your own domain name and then redirect it to any other website:

1. Go to 1and1.com (I selected 1and1.com because a friend of mine has used them with good success for domain registrations and their price is only $6.99/yr.)
2. Click on the Domains menu option.
3. Type in your domain name of choice.
4. Follow the on-line instructions to complete the registration process. Be sure to write down your password so that you can use it later!
5. Wait for approximately 24 hours to let the registration process take effect.
6. Go to 1and1.com
7. Click the Customer Login link at top of page and enter your domain name and password.
8. Click on the Manage Domains link.
9. Check the box beside your domain name and then click on Destination.
10. Select Forward Your Domain from the drop down menu.
11. Enter the URL for your studio website (i.e.teacherspianostudio.musicteachershelper.com)
12. Select the HTTP Redirect option.

After that you should be good to go! Try typing in your studio name to make sure that it redirects you to the appropriate website.

Okay, so I think I’ve been living under a rock to have not found this treasure trove of on-line music quizzes, puzzles and games before now! Created by Ms. K. Garrett, a Music Tech Teacher in Birmingham, AL, this site is an incredible resource for music teachers!

I haven’t officially started working on my computer lab plans yet, but this site is going at the top of the list of sites to use as I begin developing my curriculum plans. I just got done playing a few of the quizzes and they are very well done. Check out this favorite! Fun, huh? I also love that at the end of each quiz there is an option to print the score. This would make it so easy for my students to keep track of which games they’ve played and how they did. Plus, I could allow them to play as many times as they wanted and then bring their best score in to their lesson – extra motivation to keep playing until they really know the answers!

I noticed that Ms. Garrett uses this Question Writer software, so I’m checking into that some more as well. It would be wonderful to use this to develop customized quizzes for my students! I’m getting more and more excited about starting a computer lab in the fall. We’ll see who has more fun – my students or me!

Is everyone else equally crazy this time of year?! We just finished our Music Progressions evaluations this weekend – hooray! (So that’s my excuse for a dearth of posts this week.) I told my students I would even give them one week off of playing scales as a reward for all their hard work. They were thrilled! Now I’ve been thinking through some new things I want to try next year. I think I’m finally ready to take the plunge and offer an “official” computer lab in my studio. We do various technology-related things throughout the year, like recording CDs, participating in the Clavinova Festival (another one of my students just won a new Clavinova this month! That makes three from my studio now. If you have a Clavinova Festival in your area, I highly recommend it!), notating compositions in Finale, etc., but I’ve never offered a full-blown computer lab.

So, I’ve been exploring the Music Learning Community website more indepth and considering whether I should develop my computer lab around it to start with. I’ve heard wonderful reviews of it from lots of teachers and I know my students love the free games they play on it. The site offers “more than 450 web-based, fully interactive, multimedia learning games for music students — beginners through Level 4.” Pretty impressive!

Anyway, I’m putting this on my list of things to explore and figure out this summer. If any of you offer a computer lab or use Music Learning Community in your studio I’d love to know how it works for you and if you have any tips for someone just starting out.