Performance and Practice Through Music

In the past, I have given my students an assignment to record themselves performing their audition music. I learned from this project that most students practiced a lot in an attempt to get the highest grade possible. Students also asked a lot of questions about their music and frequently asked for clarity and help. The group of musicians were nervous to record and many had to re-record themselves many times until they were satisfied with the result. Students may not put forth their best effort during daily rehearsals, or simply not be aware that they made a mistake, but my students were truly intrinsically motivated to do well on their recordings. Though it was educationally beneficial, they did not have much fun with it because of the level of stress, so what can be done to make practicing and assessments more fun?  Bauer (2014) states that "researchers have found that students generally prefer to practice with accompaniment" (p. 82), so educators should try to include this technique in their classroom or lessons.

Technology provides a musician the opportunity to rehearse and practice with accompaniment and receive immediate feedback on his performance. This feedback helps to improve his performance level by encouraging him to continue practicing in order to increase his score. Band in a Box, Chromatik, and "SmartMusic may increase student's motivation to practice. Engaging accompaniments that utilize interesting timbres are enjoyable to play along with" (Bauer, 2014, p. 84). SmartMusic allows students to practice their solo's and band repertoire with a recorded accompaniment, but also teaches them good practice habits by focusing on the segments of music they struggle on. Likewise, Chromatik is a fun website that allows students to perform with accompaniment on some of their favorite pop music. Though this is not the standard band literature, it encourages students to practice and to have fun making music. 

Technologies such as these two programs are also beneficial to educators. By providing accompaniment, assessment, and recording features, SmartMusic and Chromatik does not require teachers to spend numerous classroom hours listening to students play for them. They also do not have to spend countless after-school hours trying to squeeze in every student with an accompanist so students can understand how it their solo sounds when it is combined with the piano part. Students can practice at home, email their teachers, and the educators can respond to the recordings or assessment from any computer or smart device. This takes an immense amount of stress off of the music teacher and allows him to focus on rehearsing during class time.



I am very encouraged to find ways to incorporate these forms of technologies into my classroom. Currently, my students are so extrinsically motivated to perform skillfully through ratings, rankings, and state recognition, that they sometimes fail to be intrinsically motivated to do well. Bauer (2014) mentions that "setting and achieving tangible practice goals results in self-satisfaction, leading to greater self-efficacy and increasingly higher-performance standards" (p. 82). It is my goal as an informed and aware  music educator to see that this happens in my band class.