songsmith use- education????

 I am just downloading the trial now, so maybe I'll answer my own question.....  I teach elementary music and always have students writing their own songs on their own- and I have done a unit in the past where kids wrote their own songs, based on my parameters.  I'm wondering about your ideas:

1.  How could I encorporate this program into my teaching

2.  Would you eventually consider doing a site license?  (my IT department is very tight on this- legitimately so- and would NEVER allow me to download this many "trial" programs for an entire computer lab)

First of all, let me say how fantastic it is that you're incorporating songwriting into your curriculum; this is no easy task, and you're leading the way in what I think is a great direction for music education.

Another exciting area for music education where I see opportunities here is chord theory, and pop song structure in general.  Music curricula often presents music as a series of notes, which is one way of thinking about it, though as you know many pop-oriented musicians think of music more as a sequence of chords, where the actual notes and instrumentation are filled in by a performer's intuition and personal style based on those chords.  (I'm in that category, BTW... I know my way around theory pretty well and have a very basic ability to read notes, but I'm much more fluent and flexible with chords.)  This has traditionally been very difficult to communicate in early music curricula.

I'm not saying that Songsmith is the magic answer, but I definitely see potential for using Songsmith as a tool to (a) encourage songwriting and creativity and (b) allow students to think at a chord level (as a complement to traditional note-based instruction), and see how chords fit together and turn into accompaniment.

So I'd _love_ to hear about experiences you might have using Songsmith in the classroom, and would be happy to brainstorm with you about how to implement lessons around Songsmith.

Regarding educational site licensing, we haven't done this yet with Songsmith, but I'd definitely like to speak with you more about possibilities.  This is an application that I'd love to see Songsmith used for, so I'll do everything I can to help. I will mail you offline to follow up on that.

-Dan

No, I think this is a terrible idea. Please, don't teach music with this software, especially not to young children. Music education is about exploration and self-affirmation. While I can see how this software could teach kids to understand the nature of harmonization in western pop music, it will not teach them to love music or respect their ability to own the music they create. Music education is first and foremost about teaching people to love music so that they learn to spend the time and effort on it to create beautiful music. This software will not do that. I'm sorry if I'm being rude to the developers, but what you made is nifty, it is not a creative or educational tool. These backing tracks are the result of the last century or so of American pop music, and even within that context the tracks are canned and can offer none of the passion, ingenuity, or authenticity our music has to offer. Do we really want to be exposing kids to an oversimplified streamlined fake version of commercial jingles before they've learned to dance around the room to Beethoven, Miles Davis, or The Beatles? I will do everything in my power to make sure that our culture's musical future excludes this kind of anti-art. I really hope anyone with a conscience, including the developers of this product, will do the same. I apologize if I'm being rude, or if you think I'm overreacting, but I think this is more important than we might realize in the larger scale of the technological revolution.

 Please understand that I plan to use this as a tool for one specific purpose in one lesson to enhance the lesson.  My students DO love music- they sing well and often, they dance and study Beethoven, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, jazz, world music, and American folk songs.  AFTER my oldest students sing, discuss, and explore jazz, then they can write their own song based on a 12 bar blues pattern.  After their songs are written, it would be quite a motivator for them to "play" musically with their own compositions.  I would NEVER use this software for any grade younger than 4th and I would NEVER allow any technology to replace my pedagogy and years of education and experience.  You are certainly welcome to your opinion, but do not judge so quickly.  After returning to my job 2 weeks ago, trust me- my students are more musical than most, even with a sub for half a year!

mischollie, don't let people that are extreme in their purist and narrow philosophy sway you from using a tool like Songsmith in your class.  I teach elementary music and I am going to use it in many of my lessons.  Off the top of my head, it could be used to teach major/minor tonality, form, lyric composition, rhythm, and style.  Furthermore, I will use it with Kindergarteners through grade 5.  If i still taught high school, I'd use it there as well.  Out of curiosity, why are you so steadfast in not using it in the younger grades?

I'm sure that you address the aesthetics of music in many ways and using a tool that is automated doesn't negate that.  Also, even though it is mechanized, it does allow for upper level thinking.  There are many opportunities to use the program to reach beyond the knowledge/comprehension levels of learning and move all the way through to evaluation.

I would also be interested in obtaining some sort of site license if one should become available!