SmartMusic

by Steve Baronowski

Are you wondering how to get your child to practice more, perfect music for Solo & Ensemble without having a live accompanist on call, and enhance your child’s playing skills? A great solution to all those questions is SmartMusic. SmartMusic is software (runs on both PCs and Macs) that provides accompaniments to a wide variety of instrument solo and ensemble arrangements. The student is able to play along, adjust tempos as they are learning, hear the accompaniment and/or the instrumental piece itself and work through difficult passages at their own pace. It is a great tool to use while preparing music for Solo & Ensemble Festivals or to accompany Newbie band members working through the Accent on Achievement  Book. The Friends of Folly Quarter Musicians coordinate with the music directors to provide all music students with the opportunity to purchase a school-sponsored subscription to SmartMusic for $25. (Note: SmartMusic does not provide the sheet music, only the accompaniment. You must provide the sheet music. See more below.) The subscription offering this year will allow you to purchase the subscription and download the software yourself. You will be able to download the latest version of the software, purchase additional items (such as the recommended microphone) and even download addition music selections. FoFQM will coordinate this process. If you are interested, please contact Steve Baronowsky at sbaronowsky@verizon.net or 301-854-2974. The SmartMusic subscription is a yearly subscription service. Each year, you must renew your subscription. Since this is school sponsored subscription, you must have a child in (or entering) Folly Quarter Middle School. FoFQM will provide the necessary information for you to connect online to purchase the subscription. Your subscription will start from the day you purchase the subscription and will end one year later. MakeMusic, the company that owns SmartMusic, has modified their subscription service. This year, you can renew your subscription even if your child is no longer at Folly Quarter. Once you have a subscription, you will be able to use it for as long as you like, provide you keep renewing the subscription. At this time, the renewal is still $25. FoFQM has a music library where the students can borrow sheet music to practice with. FoFQM is also looking into purchasing a few of the books for the SmartMusic solos and ensembles which will be available in the music library. Finally, SmartMusic demos are available upon request.

With enough interest we will sponsor a workshop for parents and students to learn how to properly use the SmartMusic software. For the parents, the workshop will provide techniques for getting your children to have proper practice sessions and for integrating SmartMusic into their practice program. Lastly, information will be provided for using SmartMusic in practicing for the Howard County Solo and Ensemble Festival.

To find out more information about SmartMusic software, visit the SmartMusic web site at www.SmartMusic.com.