What Instrumental Music Educators Are Learning About eLearning

This article originally appeared in the Winter edition of the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association News and is used here by permission.

The impact of the global pandemic on school band and strings programs has evolved from what at first seemed like a momentary interruption to what has become a rethinking of almost every aspect of instruction. After much tentative planning during the summer, amidst frequently changing parameters due to the vagaries of the disease, some schools have opened with a 100% online instructional model. Others are back in their buildings, seeing students face-to-face (F2F), but with precautions in place such as social distancing and facemasks. My district is using a hybrid model, in which students with A-L last names get in-school, F2F instruction early in the week, while M-Z students work remotely on eLearning at home, then later in the week the two “cohorts” swap places.

Ensemble music has been hit the hardest as large-group gathering has been curtailed or socially distanced. Some marching programs continue so long as players are outside, 6’ apart, possibly using bell covers and masks in some way. Rarer still are small concert bands, or subsets of larger ones, being allowed to rehearse indoors using the same precautions. String orchestras, whose players don’t emit aerosol particles, may be allowed to rehearse indoors with masks and spread out. Directors whose ensemble meetings have been eliminated have drastically re-imagined their curricula. A new emphasis has been placed on individual and small-group lessons (whether in-person or remotely) and creative or critical thinking activities. Below is a “highlights list” of strategies and resources that have emerged to help directors and their students move forward with instrumental music education in this unprecedented time.

Video-Conferencing

Zoom and Google Meet have emerged as the video-conferencing apps of choice for educators, offering access and educator-friendly features. While no video-conference app currently works well for live, real-time music performance , they are great for making all sorts of connections with students—individually, in small groups/sectionals, or even with entire ensembles. Music Ed Tech specialist, Katie Wardrobe (at midnightmusic.com.au ) has a very comprehensive guide for best configuring Zoom settings where musical audio is involved . Some schools have placed video cameras in classrooms that allow online students to “Zoom in” virtually to be with their F2F classmates, seeing and hearing what is going on. Models such as the one linked HERE intelligently track and focus on activity in the room, and allow remote participants to chime in to ask questions. Zoom and Google Meet sessions can be recorded and archived for later viewing, but you should first check district policies since students are involved.

Digital Learning Platforms

Schools and districts that hadn’t already adopted and integrated a digital learning platform before last spring have done so now! F2F, Hybrid and Online students alike use their devices (i.e. Chromebooks, laptops, iPads, home computers, etc.) to access course content from school or home via services such as Google Classroom , Schoology or Canvas . These learning platforms allow for flexibility and consistency should a district need to move from F2F to Hybrid, or Hybrid to 100% online.

Digital learning platforms host a wide variety of multimedia content an instrumental music teacher might use: text, images, PDF files, hypertext links, audio, video and more. Folders can be used to organize content (by week, units, etc.) and can even be configured to unlock for students on a particular date. Students can message teachers questions and/or leave collaborative comments for classmates. For instance, using the Audio-Video Recording Tool in Schoology , a student might record a brief performance, demonstrate/check on a new fingering, or show part of his instrument to ask about a potential repair (i.e. popped spring, reed placement, etc.). Other benefits include COPPA compliance (since they are closed systems) and integration with most school/district gradebook systems.

The image above, of a band class in Schoology, shows the following integrated elements:

1. Embedded YouTube Video
2. Linked Lesson Schedule (to a Google Sheet)
3. Embedded Google Slide (listing weekly assignments)
4. Unit Folders (containing text instructions and resources for specific assignments)

SmartMusic

SmartMusic has been around for a long time, but it’s recent migration to a cloud-based app couldn’t have come at a better time! Students can get a FREE trial account, which includes all of Alfred’s Sound Innovations, Book 1 (any instrument)! In addition to the many band and orchestra titles subscribers can access (constantly expanding), many new free solos and chamber pieces have been added recently to accommodate remote/eLearning. One such piece is my fun “Social Distancing Blues.” SmartMusic now has Sight Reading Builder which generates assessable examples according to pre-selected musical parameters.

Another great resource from SmartMusic perfect for remote/eLearning is their online Compose YOURSELF! lessons —free, complete units on various musical topics (Rhythm & Meter, Scales & Modes, Melody, etc.), each with downloadable PDF worksheets for listening activities and brief/focused composition exercises, presented by popular Alfred Music composers.

Instructional Videos

Many educators have turned to incorporating videos in their teaching in recent years - either locating lessons made by others or creating their own. Video instruction can be created or located online for topics such as instrument maintenance, instrument assembly, producing a tone, first notes, playing songs and much more! Teachers are being asked to record virtual open house or parent night videos as well in lieu of in-person presentations. If interested in using apps such as Screencastify.com, Camtasia, and more to create your own education videos, check out my article “Lights, Camera...Learning!” on the Alfred Blog .

But one doesn’t always have to recreate the wheel. Videos on many topics have already been produced by creative music educator colleagues such as Dr. Stephen Selfridge, whose YouTube channel is a gold mine for young band! I’ve created dozens of tutorial videos myself, hosted on my YouTube channel .

PDF Music

Any music that can (legally) be digitized as a PDF and posted online is convenient for students. Content created with most notation apps (i.e. Finale, Sibelius, MuseScore, etc.) can be saved or exported as a PDF. Cloud-based notation apps like SmartMusic’s Compose not only allow for in-app notation, importing XML files, and saving scores as a PDF, but also allow for direct links to scores . Items such as scales sheets, warm-up exercises, original scores and arrangements, or fun song sheets (i.e. holiday tunes) are examples of music one might post digitally as PDFs.

Musical Web Content

Helpful musical websites, online tools, and games are easy to integrate in instrumental eLearning activities via hypertext links. Examples include MusicTheory.net (music theory topics, drill and practice), MusicRacer.com (fingerings drill and practice), Sight Reading Builder (customizable sight-reading practice in SmartMusic), Metronomeonline.com (handy online metronome), and SmartMusic’s free web-based tuner . Also be sure to check out Scott Lang’s Be a Part of the Music for great recruiting resources.

Sound Innovations Online

SIOnline hosts helpful resources for those using Alfred’s Sound Innovations method books, including:

• Accompaniment tracks for all songs/exercises in the books, using a player that allows for variable speed playback and setting practice loops. Directors can link directly to tracks for specific lines in the book from their digital learning platform.
• Video masterclasses on key topics, such as holding the instrument and producing a first sound.
• Additional downloadable PDF songs, duets, full band pieces, worksheets (music theory/history) and assessments to supplement what is in the published books.

Flexible Instrumentation, Chamber and Solo Repertoire

The musical needs of directors has shifted toward repertoire that works with fewer players, rehearsing either F2F in smaller numbers or remotely. Alfred Music’s FLEX Series works for any combination of 4 or 5 instruments (Grades 1-4). Each selection is available in SmartMusic, comes with a downloadable percussion track to facilitate remote practice or virtual ensemble projects, and even includes optional string parts. The Creative Repertoire Initiative is a unique collaborative of some of the band world’s premiere composers (i.e. Brian Balmages, Steven Bryant, Julie Giroux, John Mackey, Frank Ticheli, Alex Shapiro, Eric Whitacre to name a few) who’ve banded together to create uniquely adaptable instrumentation pieces.

Directors desiring an ensemble experience for their students are also turning toward chamber music. Resources have existed for years in the adaptable instrumentation duets, trios and quartets offered by many publishers. Directors are rediscovering chamber music for specific instruments as well - brass quartets/quintets, woodwind quintets, string quartets, not to mention all the various instrument solos with piano accompaniment. My friend and composer, Dr. Travis Weller, has been pitching in by releasing a series of free chamber works on his website .

Good Teaching is Good Teaching!

This article, highlighting tech tools and digital resources, would be incomplete without this important reminder: the same things that contribute to effective pedagogy in conventional settings do so online ...we just need to be a little inventive and creative in the implementation. As you teach remotely or in a blended environment, look for ways to emphasize these important areas:

1. Be Relational. One of the main reasons students participate in ensemble music are the relationships they forge with you and others in the band, chorus or orchestra. Terms such as “distance” or “remote” are unfortunate and should not describe you relationally! Facilitate students having fun together and making connections. Don’t feel it’s a waste of time if you begin online sessions with small talk, a joke, or a music trivia question (see Games/Challenges below under “Motivation”). In your emails and phone calls to parents, which you should make as often as you have time, show empathy .
2. Be Organized. Communicate with families/teachers/administrators, including posting schedules online in advance; testing links and other tech before sharing; and employing routines (warmups to start lessons, etc.) in online sessions.
3. Emply Good Pacing. Don’t get bogged down with one element of a lesson. Keep things moving and remember: Learning is a process.
4. Have Reasonable Expectations. In terms of difficulty, I recommend assigning something like 30% easy music (i.e. they can pretty-much sight-read), 60% right in their wheelhouse, and 10% that challenges.
5. Motivate. Poet, William Butler Yeats wrote, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." A big part of our job, especially during a pandemic, is to find ways to light students’ fires and give them hope. Learning can take place via games and challenges ( some ideas that can be adapted to online can be found here ), virtual classrooms and choice boards ( here’s a video on how to create your own ), video tutorials delivering instruction in a fun/entertaining way ( here’s an example ) and virtual recitals and concerts that cast students, and your program, in a positive light ( like this virtual winter concert ). Make students proud and glad they are in your class/ensemble.

Conclusion

So what are we learning about eLearning? In addition to all of the above, two lessons are clear to me: 1) Students want to make music and are eager to make musical connections, in whatever form they must be for the time being, and 2) Directors are incredibly creative and flexible and are determined to find ways to teach music to, and make music with, their students.