Teacher Resources:

National Standards

SmartMusic and the MENC National Standards for Music Education

SmartMusic helps students in your program achieve seven of the nine standards for music education.

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

--and--

Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

SmartMusic helps vocal and instrumental students of all abilities perform solo repertoire accurately and independently. Most notably, the patented Intelligent Accompaniment® is interactive: it listens to and follows the soloist's tempo changes.

Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments

Students enjoy practicing from SmartMusic’s Wynton Marsalis series, or acclaimed jazz education books from Aebersold or Alfred. They can:

• See improvisation patterns for any tune
• Learn to read chord changes
• Practice transcriptions of piano, bass, and drums
• Explore new music from Wynton Marsalis
• Practice exercises
• Learn to play by ear

Reading and notating music

The SmartMusic accompaniment repertoire includes more than 30,000 accompaniments and 50,000 exercises for brass, woodwind, string, and vocal musicians ranging from simple solo pieces to major concerti and from beginning band methods to advanced band and orchestra titles.

• Students can turn both the solo and accompaniment parts on or off for any part of the piece, which enables them to check (and correct) questionable rhythms and pitches independently.
• Definitions of music terms and symbols are readily accessible to students from the SmartMusic menu.
• An optional on-screen cursor offers assistance to beginning students needing help with reading skills.

Listening to, analyzing, and describing music

• The solo line can be played independently or with the accompaniment as to allow the listener to analyze the solo line’s relationship to the accompaniment.
• The musical terms dictionary, composer, and composition notes available for every SmartMusic repertoire title describe many of the musical elements indicated in this content standard.

Evaluating music and music performances

The combination of recording and visual assessment provides an invaluable evaluation opportunity for students students to listen to and reflect on their own performance.

Understanding music in relation to history and culture

• The SmartMusic repertoire includes works from Mozart and Vivaldi to Hindemith, Bernstein, and Copland.
• Information about each composer and composition is readily available to students from SmartMusic's Info Menu.