Using the Yamaha Harmony Director Keyboard

This week's blog is a little older, from the fall, but it helped me discover a couple new music apps I am going to try.  So, even though it's been published for while, it's content is new to me, which is all that matters I guess.  There are two apps discussed in this post, Treble Cat and Music Memos.  Treble cat is a music note reading game that students can use to learn to read the notes on the musical staff.  This tool will be invaluable to all of my beginning band students, fifth grade and my high school beginners, because it makes a game out of learning to read music.     In addition to this app, I inadvertently found out about Bass Cat (the bass clef note naming game) and the Rhythm Cat, which is the same idea with basic rhythms. Even though these apps weren't updated, they were mentioned by the author in anticipation of their updates as well.  Again, had he not mentioned these apps, I wouldn't have even known they existed! There is a free ve...

I am finding myself more confident in using the Yamaha Harmony Director Keyboard for tuning and intonation in my rehearsals.  This feature is one of the primary reasons I requested this technology and it is proving to be worth it's cost! In addition to my confidence, my students seem to be catching on to it's implementation VERY quickly! The basic concept is simple, I play the pitch from the keyboard and they match the pitch (in tune) with their instrument. One of the great features to this keyboard is the HOLD button, which also me to play a pitch, press the hold button and the keyboard will sustain the pitch until I stop it.  The beauty of this capability is that I can circulate around the room while students are tuning.  This allows me to walk around and hear each student while they are trying to match the pitch and give assistance to those in need.  As with any level of education, the ability to freely move around the room while students are working is invaluable...

The idea of having am orchestral accompaniment for live vocal performances has always been a pipe dream for most music educators.  Most schools do not have access to a string program, and even if they do, the players are still high school musicians and simply aren't capable of playing literature that was written for professionals.  This blog discusses how music educators, primarily choral directors, can overcome this obstacle and offer their students this opportunity that has never been available before. Thanks to the technology of the music notation software Notion, educators can purchase the software and create or download orchestral accompaniments for their performances. The first reaction most people would have might be the fact that this seems like a very fancy karaoke track for classical music.  While they would be correct on the surface, this software allows you to not only change the key, the instrumentation and the dynamics, it also has a live performance featu...

This weekend I had the opportunity to watch a friend and colleague use the Yamaha Harmony Director keyboard with students. Mike Arthur, Director of Bands at Eastern High School in Louisville conducted the Southwest Area Honor Band, in which some of my student participated.  It was a great opportunity to watch someone who has implemented this technological tool in his teaching for many years. His first comment to me when I asked him to come work with the students was that he was going to bring his keyboard because at this point in his career he wasn't confident teaching without it.  I was able to observe his use of the many of the functions of the keyboard as well as the positive affect it had on the student's performance. Because he is a veteran user of the keyboard he was able to implement numerous functions that I intend to spread over the course of the semester to slowly introduce them into my teaching habits.  Because it will be overwhelming to try and list all of the...

App Update and Happy New Year I was very excited after discovering this blog and the possibilities the app he reviews could provide for my students.  The author states he has used this app in the past, however there were some minor issues with being able to replay the pitch. The object of the app is to play pitches the students to decide wether the pitch is sharp (too high) or flat (too low).  Prior to this update the app would not play the pitch again after the initial play. The app had not been updated for three years, but miraculously the author found the update and was excited to share the news. I am glad he shared the news, because I didn't even know the app existed. I am anxious to use this app in my classroom this week, in hopes of improving my students ear training and helping them understand what "in tune" means. A side-note to the app review is his implementation of technology to have the students voted online for their thoughts on wether the pitch is s...

This week my goal was to utilize the metronome feature on a regular basis with the Yamaha Harmony Director Keyboard.  This was my goal because I knew it would be a feature I would use on a regular basis and that it would be an easy goal to achieve. My trouble in utilizing this function is simply re-training myself to use the metronome instead of simply counting out-loud or snapping my fingers to start the ensemble. It's very easy to fall back into old habits of simply vocalizing the count-off to start the group, but it can also prove to be an inconsistent tempo and you cannot utilize the subdivision feature when count aloud. The subdivision feature helps a lot when I am teaching rhythms to my students. This week we focused on syncopated rhythms along with eighth note rest patterns, The implementation of the metronome not only proved to keep the tempo consistent, it also allowed the students to internalize the subdivision of the eighth note pulse while reading the rhythms that con...

I am venturing into new territory in the implementation of the Yamaha Harmony Director keyboard in my daily rehearsals with the Butler Traditional High School Symphonic Band.  I have been encouraged by numerous colleagues to purchase one of these keyboards and to use it with my ensembles to improve timing, intonation and overall sound of the ensemble. I have seen this keyboard used and have witnessed the transformation it can create when used properly. I guess my biggest fear is just that, using it properly. I have attended a few professional development session that were based on how to use the machine, and of course they make it look easy! I have begun to implement the metronome feature, because it is simple and idiot-proof, and I have noticed that it allows me to move around the rehearsal space so I can be in the midst of the students while they play an it keeps time for me. This is a great first step because it gets me off of the podium and into the students space. This will ...