In tune with technology

While other student musicians were in full swing in the band room at Stewart Middle School, 14-year-old Benjamin Pittman sat tucked away in the band director's office, staring at a computer screen and caught up in a musical world of his own.

The eighth-grader was about to improve his saxophone skills via SmartMusic, a "remarkable piece of technology," as Benjamin put it, that has become an integral part of the Stewart Middle band program.

Through SmartMusic, students gain extra feedback as they master their instruments and build on their musical knowledge, but the improvement doesn't stop when they put their instruments down.

"I have seen the results of their growth academically alongside what they are doing musically," band director Scott Leahy said.

SmartMusic helps students develop musical literacy, Leahy said, and the fluency they achieve as they become more skillful at reading music carries over into other classrooms, helping them become better readers in general.

Here's how SmartMusic works: Music is stored in the software, and students can call up a song. Sheet music appears on the screen, and the computer plays along with the student.

At the end of the song, students know instantly how well they did because the sheet music becomes multicolored. Notes a student played incorrectly turn red. Those the student got right are green. Any notes the student skipped are black.

The student can then try again, paying the red notes extra heed.

The software records the student's effort. Later, Leahy can play back the recording, grade the student and type in comments. Leahy said he usually starts his morning at home, sipping coffee and listening to students' completed assignments.

Leahy has had his students using SmartMusic since he came to Stewart Middle four years ago.

"It's extremely important to my program," he said.

The software, which also is used by several other band programs in the Tampa Bay area, was more difficult to navigate a few years ago, Leahy said. But the company has made improvements, sometimes at the urging of Leahy, who said he's never bashful about giving feedback and pointing out glitches.

These days, the Stewart Middle band is preparing for its holiday concert, which will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel. The music for the concert is in SmartMusic.

About 50 of Leahy's 160 band students have SmartMusic at home. It costs them $30 a year, so Leahy doesn't require it. The other students log in to the software at school on one of two computers in the school's music suite.

Leahy also uses SmartMusic to work with three students he never sees in person. Two are elementary school trumpet players, and one is a high school student who plays the French horn.

When students use the computer program, it's almost like they are getting a private lesson, Leahy said, and it allows him to give them the kind of individual feedback that otherwise wouldn't be possible.

"On top of all the wonderful functionality, it's fun," Leahy said. "The kids enjoy it. It's like a video game for them."