What should I do if my instrument is broken? Please email Mr. Jenkins or Mr. Kaufman immediately. Do not try to troubleshoot because the problem could become worse.
 
How do I get my questions about class answered?  Please email Mr. Jenkins or Mr. Kaufman with any questions you have.
 
Should my student play their instrument every day? YES. There is either an assignment due each day OR there is an upcoming assignment that should be practiced daily.
 
How often will the students have assignments? Students will have something to submit as an assignment almost daily.
 
Does my student have Smart Music homework? All Smart Music assignments should be submitted DURING CLASS on the day they are due. Sometimes Smart Music assignments will be assigned the day of class which means the students should have the knowledge and skills to do the assignment without a lot of lead time. Other assignments will be assigned days or weeks in advance. Students can practice those outside of class time if they like but class time will be given to allow students adequate time to work on them before submitting on the due date.
 
What is the best set up for Smart Music? It is best for students to use an external mic that will only pick up the student playing. The student also needs headphones so that they can hear the Smart Music accompaniment. The microphone should NOT pick up the accompaniment (Smart Music sounds). All other background sounds should be minimized or illuminated in order to ensure a clear recording.
 
Will the grade that Smart Music gives be the actual grade for a given assignment?
The main purpose behind Smart Music is to have students play things that are legitimate and things that we would do in class. The other purpose for submitting is for the directors to have proof that students are actually practicing the right things. It documents that students  are doing something during class and not just signing on and walking away to do other things. The next purpose is for students to see what mistakes they are making when they play the assignments. NEVER WORRY ABOUT THE GRADE that Smart Music gives. The directors can reassign assignments if the student want a higher grade in Smart Music. Most assignments will be given again anyway, so students could wait until something is assigned again to get a higher grade in Smart Music. The directors will assign grades in Infinite Campus based on the following things, not based solely on the Smart Music score.
  1. Did the student submit on time?
  2. Did the student make a legitimate attempt to do well?
  3. Is it better than the last time that the same thing was assigned.
 
How should my student approach assignments in Smart Music?
Use Smart Music as a tool. Try these things.
  1. If the assigned tempo is too fast, CHANGE THE TEMPO TO A SLOWER TEMPO.
  2. Turn up “my part”
  3. Listen but DON’T play.
  4. Record yourself and play along (still at the slow tempo).
  5. Listen to your recording while you watch the Smart Music assessment of your playing.
  6. See if you hear errors where SM said you have errors.
  7. Determine what the errors are (ie. a wrong note, playing at the wrong time, a severely out of tune note picking up as a wrong note, etc.)
  8. Go back and record yourself again and try to fix the errors.
  9. REPEAT steps 5-8 as much as you need to at the slower tempo until you are able to go faster.
  10. As you improve, then change the tempo to a faster one.
  11. When you are ready to submit, be sure to reset the parameters (ie. tempo) to what iss prescribed.
 
Smart Music keeps saying that my score is low. What should I do?
The directors will go in and listen to each assignment before putting grades into Infinite Campus. Don’t stress about the grade that Smart Music gives. This is what you should do when you see the Smart Music grade and BEFORE you submit.
  1. Listen to your recording.
  2. Look at what Smart Music said you did incorrectly (red notes).
  3. Exactly what did Smart Music say that you did wrong?
  4. Do you agree with what Smart Music said was wrong?
  5. If you agree with Smart Music with the incorrect things, try to correct those. If you do NOT agree with Smart Music’s assessment, submit it and we will look at it and override the Smart Music score.