I admit that I do not frequently use technology in my private teaching. There are only so many minutes in a lesson, and most of the time is spent on learning how to practice new repertoire, technique, or playing more hands on games for theory. However, every once in a while I pull out my phone or tablet and use it to help further a students skills in note reading, rhythm, history or basic theory. Most students enjoy playing the games, and they can be a good motivator. I want to share some of the apps I have come across over the years. I even recommend having students use some of these apps at home, that way it’s not eating into the lesson time, plus they are reinforcing their skills during the week. (Please Note that I have an android phone and Microsoft computer, and so I am only privy to what’s available for Android. )
Flashnote Derby is the app I have used the longest. It is a horse race, and you win by identifying the notes correctly and within the allotted time. You can personally select which notes you want the student to practice. How many notes and how long they have to identify them. Some students don’t like the feeling of having to do it within a certain time. In that case I practice with them before introducing them to the game.
BeesKeys is an app I recently came across. It is super cute and fun for your preschool or beginner student. This app has you find the groups of black keys, and then the white keys. I like that it does CDE, FGAB, and then mixes them up. There is a pro version of this app as well for more personalized settings.
Note Rush is another note identification app. This app costs a little more than what you might feel comfortable asking your students to pay, but it’s worth it for use in studio. It’s has a lot of fun features. Student’s can choose their background/note preference. Teachers can select which clefs or both clefs and what level. Students can practice just the “guide notes” first, and then move on to all the notes within the guide notes. Also, this app has a microphone feature which allows you to play the game using your own piano or keyboard. It works pretty well, but you do have to be careful about speaking while the game is being played. Sometimes it detects your voice as a certain pitch!
Rhythm Cats is a fun progressive rhythm game. I don’t use it too often because it doesn’t calibrate to my phone very well, and it will show that you played a rhythm incorrectly when you didn’t. But if it worked better on my device I would love it. The concept is great. It may work better for others, so I still recommend giving it a try!
Every student needs a metronome! I usually introduce my students to one somewhere around level 2-3, depending on the student. When a student is starting out I prefer for them to have a battery operated, turn dial metronome. It’s physical, they can put their hands on it and adjust the tempo, and they don’t have to worry about having access to a phone or tablet. However, I find a lot of my older students and adults that carry around phones prefer the app. I have used a couple different apps in the past, but I recently started using Tack. I like it because I don’t have to close out an ad to get directly to the metronome. It has a an easy to use, clean interface, and while it does have the more advanced rhythm components, those are accessed via the settings button and not on the main screen, which I appreciate.
Maestro is a music composition app. I haven’t used it much, but it is fun to mess around with. That’s basically what you have to do to learn how to use it. It can be fun for students who are interested in composing their own songs or short compositions.
