Thank you to Mr. Erik Riggs for creating this Smart Music user friendly document
SMART MUSIC 2016-17
SmartMusic is a great program and when used properly, can really improve your playing! Not to mention make practice time a LOT more enjoyable! You have to pay for an annual subscription which is currently $40 for one year. You can download the software at http://www.smartmusic.com. Platforms supported are PC, Mac, and iPad. You must also have an external microphone and speakers. Most laptops have these built in. If you are using a desktop system, make sure that you have a microphone. Even WITH a built in microphone, you may have to purchase an external microphone if yours is not of a quality to recognize pitches from your instrument. This will be discussed below.
SETUP
Don’t forget to use the LISTEN button after a “good” take. Smart Music is great for assessing notes and rhythms, but it has its limitations when it comes to timbre (quality of sound) and dynamics. If you want to keep a particular take, you can always choose the MP3 button next to LISTEN to save the recording to a folder on your computer, or the KEEP option to save it in SmartMusic.
OTHER MUSIC
Don’t forget that there THOUSANDS of pieces of music in Smart Music. Under the FIND MUSIC tab, the menu pops up with options for SOLOS, EXERCISES, METHOD BOOKS, IMPROVISATION, and more!!! You can even find your NC Scales here!
SCALES
This takes a little work, but you can practice your Central District Scales in SM!
If you have any technical issues with the set up or software, don’t hesitate to call Smart Music technical support (1-800-843-2066) or view their frequently asked questions online. Software support is GREAT with this company!
SMART MUSIC 2016-17
SmartMusic is a great program and when used properly, can really improve your playing! Not to mention make practice time a LOT more enjoyable! You have to pay for an annual subscription which is currently $40 for one year. You can download the software at http://www.smartmusic.com. Platforms supported are PC, Mac, and iPad. You must also have an external microphone and speakers. Most laptops have these built in. If you are using a desktop system, make sure that you have a microphone. Even WITH a built in microphone, you may have to purchase an external microphone if yours is not of a quality to recognize pitches from your instrument. This will be discussed below.
SETUP
- After installing the software, click on the link to open
- Click SETTINGS in the left hand menu bar
- If there is a microphone attached to your computer, it will be recognized at the top of this menu
- You may check your mic sensitivity here. If gain is too low, you may slide the orange triangle up to increase sensitivity. Do not take it past 50%. You want the bar meter to register midway, in the GREEN. If it’s in the RED, your sound will distort. If your built in microphone is distorting (staying in the red) or not accurately reading your pitch with the tuner or music, you will need to buy a small external microphone (approximately $10).
- Set your SPEAKERS to full volume (default) as you will later adjust your volume from the device, not the software.
- Either default REVERB, or turn it off. For assessments, we don’t need to hear you echo
- Click the box that says PRACTICE TOOLS in the left hand menu bar
- You have access to a tuner, metronome and piano here
- You may change the note you are tuning to (i.e. Concert Bb, Concert A) in the dropdown menu under TUNER. You can also choose to sound the pitch (LISTEN).
- You can start the metronome by choosing CLICK. Speed may be adjust in small increments by clicking the + or – signs beside the tempo number, or by sliding the bar adjustment.
- Click the ORANGE box marked DONE when you are finished with this screen
- In the left hand menu, click FIND MUSIC
- On the right hand side of your screen, there is a QUICK SEARCH menu
- For ensemble/band music, type the title of the piece of music in the box that says ENTER TEXT
- In the drop down menu under CATEGORY, select BAND AND ORCHESTRA
- Leave the other fields empty. This should bring up what you are looking for if the piece is in SmartMusic. If there should happen to be two or more versions, you will have to select the correct arrangement (hint: Look at the arrangers name on the composition)
- Once the piece comes up under SEARCH RESULTS, click the title
- You may choose to click OPEN or DOWNLOAD FOR LATER. If it’s a piece you will be working on for a while, choose DOWNLOAD FOR LATER so it will be added to your library and you won’t need to stream it every time you practice.
- After the file downloads, you may now click OPEN, or you can find the piece in the left hand menu under MY LIBRARY/BAND & ORCHESTRA
- After opening the piece of music, choose your instrument and part from the drop down menu and click GO
- Before starting, make sure you are warmed up and you tune. If you are out of tune, the assessment may be incorrect. You can find the TUNER in the top right hand side of the screen
- STEP 1: If you are just starting a piece of music, listen to it a few times before practicing and follow along just going over fingerings. Turn ASSESSMENT off, make sure ACCOMPANIMENT is on, and click START TAKE to listen to the piece with the full band playing! One of the great features of SmartMusic is the chance to hear and practice with the full band recording!
- STEP 2: When you ready to start practicing, isolate your part. In the top screen menu, turn CLICK on, turn ASSESSMENT off, ACCOMPANIMENT off, and MY PART on. This will allow you to hear your part played by a piano with just the metronome. If you have any questions about fingerings, you may click the specific note, and a fingering chart will pop up. Under the LOCATION heading, you may choose what measure (BAR) to start in and where to end. If you want to hear it several times, you may also click the LOOP option. This will help you work on technical passages in a specific part of the music. Don’t forget that you can adjust the tempo at any time if the music is too fast for you! You may always listen to the recording of you playing by clicking the LISTEN button under START TAKE.
- STEP 3: Once you feel you are consistently staying with the recording in SmartMusic, you can try the ASSESSMENT option. In the top screen menu, turn CLICK on, turn ASSESSMENT on, ACCOMPANIMENT off, and MY PART on. This will again allow you to hear your part played by a piano with just the metronome, but now the computer will assess how accurate you are. Correct notes are GREEN, wrong notes are RED. Any notes that you missed may be clicked on to show the correct fingering for your instrument. Be aware that Smart Music will also count a note as “wrong” if you are rushing or dragging. It has to be the correct note happening at the correct time.
- STEP 4: Once you become comfortable with your accuracy, turn the ACCOMPANIMENT part back on and practice with the full band!
Don’t forget to use the LISTEN button after a “good” take. Smart Music is great for assessing notes and rhythms, but it has its limitations when it comes to timbre (quality of sound) and dynamics. If you want to keep a particular take, you can always choose the MP3 button next to LISTEN to save the recording to a folder on your computer, or the KEEP option to save it in SmartMusic.
OTHER MUSIC
Don’t forget that there THOUSANDS of pieces of music in Smart Music. Under the FIND MUSIC tab, the menu pops up with options for SOLOS, EXERCISES, METHOD BOOKS, IMPROVISATION, and more!!! You can even find your NC Scales here!
SCALES
This takes a little work, but you can practice your Central District Scales in SM!
- Click FIND MUSIC in the left hand menu
- Click the top middle option EXERCISES
- Third down on the left hand, STATE SCALES
- Scroll down and choose NORTH CAROLINA. The window will pop up with a default NC Honors Scale sheet. Ignore this for now.
- In the top left hand corner of the window, next to the orange SmartMusic logo, you will find a drop down menu to select your instrument. Select your instrument
- Following that menu bar across, you will find another drop down menu to choose the scale you are looking for. To find the specific scale you are looking for, use this menu. You may have to look at the options to find the range shown on your scale sheet. (If it’s a two octave scale for instance, you may need to choose SENIOR HIGH 11/12)
- To practice slowly, turn ASSESSMENT off, MY PART on, ACCOMPANIMENT off, turn CLICK on, and under the drop down menu for CLICK turn PLAY SUBDIVISIONS on. Don’t forget that the tempo slider only goes down to 40, but you can click the box that has the tempo number in it and input any number you want lower than 40.
If you have any technical issues with the set up or software, don’t hesitate to call Smart Music technical support (1-800-843-2066) or view their frequently asked questions online. Software support is GREAT with this company!