Using MiBAC Music Lessons Software

By John Ellinger

Here’s how I use the MiBAC MUSIC LESSONS software in the Music Fundamentals class that I teach at Carleton College, Northfield MN.

The class is nine and a half weeks long and begins with the assumption that the students don’t know how to read music. I use a standard music fundamentals textbook for reading and writting assignments, and the MUSIC LESSONS software for computer lab assignments. The software is available for both Mac and IBM/Windows computers.

MUSIC LESSONS software has several features that make it useful in the classroom.

1. It’s comprehensive. The software covers nearly all of the material we study during the course of the term.

2. It’s open ended. You can assign drills and activities in any order and at any level of difficulty.

3. It works with all grade levels, from third grade through college; and with students of widely differing abilities and musical backgrounds.

4. It has reporting features. I ask the students to turn in a printed report of their computer lab assignment as verification they did the work. The printout is nicely formatted with detailed statistics of their scores.

5. It has an excellent built in help system that explains all of the music theory concepts that correlate well with any textbook. Plus, it has the advantage of being on-line while the student is working at the computer.

6. The ear training drills help the students hear what they’re studying.

7. Students can work at their own pace, for as often and as long as they want.

The class meets twice a week for 70 minute periods. Homework assignments are about 5 hours per week; three hours from the textbook, and two hours in the computer lab. In our music lab, each computer is connected to a MIDI synthesizer. Students answer questions playing and listening to the synthesizer. The MUSIC LESSONS program does not require MIDI and will work with a pair of headphones connected to the sound card while the students use the mouse for input. When the student completes each assignment, they print their scores and turn them in. Scores could also be turned in on floppy disk.

Week 1. Note Reading

We discuss the fundamental properties of sound and principles of music notation. The computer lab assignment is the MUSIC LESSONS Note Reading drill. This drill introduces the student to note reading in treble, bass, and alto clefs. There are multiple degrees of difficulty. Younger students will probably start with learning notes on the spaces in treble clef. As they progress, they move on to lines, then both lines and spaces, then include ledger lines. They can add single and double accidentals at any time. Our first college level assignment is Note Reading in treble clef and bass clefs, using ledger lines and single accidentals.

Weeks 2 and 3. Note Reading, Rhythm, and Time Signatures

We discuss the concepts of rhythm and meter signatures. The computer lab assignment is another round of Note Reading drills, plus theNote/Rest Duration drill. Note reading gets harder with the addition of double sharps and double flats. The Note/Rest duration drill teaches the students to recognize all common note and rest values from whole notes to sixteenth notes. The concepts of simple and compound meter are reinforced by questions asking what part of a beat a note or rest receives in different time signatures.

Weeks 3 and 4. Major and Minor Scales, and Scale Degrees

We discuss scale structures, concentrating on the major and three forms of minor scales. MUSIC LESSONS has drills for both scale construction and ear training. The program offers two modes of answering questions "strict answers" and "lenient answers". In strict answer mode, the student has to get the spelling of the notes right. In lenient answer mode she just has to play them correctly on the keyboard. Assignments are in multiples of 14 scales to cycle through every starting pitch. In the Major/Minor Scales drill, students have to construct the notes used in all Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor in treble and bass clefs. The Scales Ear Training drill helps them those same scales when they hear them. The Scale Degree drill displays a note, tells what scale it belongs to, and asks the student to identify what note of the scale it is.

Weeks 5 and 6. Intervals

We discuss intervals, both as standalone intervals and in scale relationships. MUSIC LESSONS has drills for visual and aural recognition of intervals. A great new feature in the new Macintosh Version 3.0 is the ability to create custom drills for every part of the program. We make use of this feature in the Intervals Ear Training drill to begin with simple exercises on just whole steps and half steps, then major and minor thirds, then Perfect fourths and fifths, etc. The software lets you do exactly what you want. Computer assignments are divided between visual and aural interval drills. Weeks 6 continues with more advanced and settings.

Week 7. Key Signatures, Circle of Fifths, and Intervals Ear Training.

We discuss key signatures the circle of fifths. The Circle of Fifths drill teaches the student the order that sharps and flats appear in key signatures, as well as the order of major and minor scales from zero to seven sharps and flats. The key signature drill helps students learn to recognize key signatures. You can work on Major or Minor, sharp keys or flat keys, in any combination. You can even restrict the number of sharps and flats used if you’re working with younger children.

Week 8 - Triads

We discuss triads. This unit is done from the textbook, as MUSIC LESSONS does not have a triad drill. The company is currently working on MUSIC LESSONS Level 2 for both Mac and Windows that will include a comprehensive treatment of triads and seventh chords. The groundwork covered by MUSIC LESSONS Level 1 makes this unit go smoothly.

Week 9 - Putting it all together.

Finally we put everything together and analyze some beginning piano pieces, like The Wild Horseman by Robert Schumann. The students can identify the key of the piece, recognize scales and key changes used within the piece, recognize arpeggios outlining chords, and understand the circle of fifths relationships used between chords. Pretty good for less than tenweeks.

I would highly recommend the MUSIC LESSONS software to anyone teaching music. It works well with any textbook or insturmental music series. The printouts of scores make it easy to track the students work. Its comprehensive drills and carefully graduated levels of difficulty make it useable at any grade level, and with students of widely differing musical backgrounds. I think it’s a terrific program, but then..... I wrote it.