Mary Rose Adkins is an Assistant Professor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She is the Cataloging/Database Management Librarian in charge of cataloging special collections and supervising authority control for all collections in Dacus Library. She is also a veteran piano teacher and has taught private lessons in her own studio as well as group piano at Central Piedmont Community College and UNC-Charlotte. She also taught Music Appreciation and Music History at UNC-Charlotte. She has an A.B. in Music Education and an M.A. in Music History and Literature from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and an MLIS (Masters in Library and Information Science) and an SLIS (Specialist in Library and Information Science) from the University of South Carolina.
Mary Rose Adkins
Dacus Library
Winthrop University
Rock Hill, SC 29733
803.323.2234
adkinsm@winthrop.edu
Piano teachers are always looking for better materials and methods for presenting musical concepts to their students. Whether the lesson setting is private or group, beginning or advanced, child or adult, the piano teacher has the same goals and concerns. Students must learn notation, rhythm, and theory (scales, chords, intervals, etc.), while trying to grasp piano technique and perform the repertoire.
The Internet offers thousands of sites that deal with music education and even more specifically with piano teaching and performance. In this age of "Information Overload," the task of evaluating these sites seems insurmountable. As a music librarian and veteran piano teacher, I decided to evaluate and select Internet sites that would be useful and practical for piano teachers. The sites listed and described below have been placed in the two categories of theory and sheet music. They were chosen for content, ease of use, and the availability of free materials. The second part of this list, to be completed in the future, will address music history, composer biographies, and professional development in piano pedagogy.
There are some basic considerations that apply to all the sites:
Theory Sites
The sites vary in level of difficulty and method of presentation. The descriptions will include whether the sites are interactive, offer worksheets, and an approximate level of difficulty or age.
PracticeSpot: Ideas and Resources for Great Music Lessons www.practicespot.com
This is a very comprehensive site developed by private piano teacher Philip Johnston in Australia. The free resources, listed on the home page, cover rhythm, note reading, theory, sightreading, scales, and more. The text seems to target children rather than adult learners. The drills allow the user to set limits so that beginning students can work without dotted notes or more difficult time signatures. The "Notereading Wizard" is interactive - students get their scores and the correct answers. There are numerous theory worksheets available for free printing. The "Online Scales Manual" could be very helpful to visual learners. The scale is shown with fingering on the keyboard. This site is definitely worth the time. Some students and parents would enjoy using it at home for further reinforcement.
Ricci Adams' Musictheory.net www.musictheory.net/
Ricci Adams is a computer science major at Millikin University who developed this site while in high school. Although Mr. Adams is not a music teacher, his site is frequently recommended by music teachers and it is deserving of the recognition. The site consists of three areas: Lessons, Trainers, and Utilities. The lessons and trainers are presented in a very attractive, easy-to-understand slide show format. There are several lessons, beginning with the staff and going on up to chord construction. The vocabulary is better suited to adult learners, but a younger child could learn with assistance from the teacher or parent. The Trainers are interactive drills with the correct answer displayed immediately when a wrong answer is submitted. By choosing "Settings" the drill can be customized for the level of the student. The score is posted on the screen and the results can be printed. The Utilities include a chord calculator, matrix generator, and staff paper generator, including plain, piano, SATB, and custom. The Trainers and Utilities can be downloaded to your computer and used offline.
Piano Pedagogy Plus! www.pedaplus.com
Piano Pedagogy Plus! by Dr. Jon Ensminger, faculty member at Northland Baptist Bible College, Is very extensive and covers repertoire and technique as well as theory. To find the theory downloads, click on "downloads" on the left side of the screen and choose "worksheets". The worksheets cover various subject and levels of difficulty. They are available in Scorch or Acrobat Reader Pdf format. The advantage of downloading in Scorch is that the student can hear the notes, but in both formats the worksheet must be printed to fill in the answers. I recommend the pdf format because it includes a heading and place for the student's name with clear directions. Both versions save to your machine easily for use offline. To access Dr. Ensminger's personal method of teaching technique, click on "articles" and choose "technique." Various technique topics are covered and video segments showing proper hand positions.
Theory on the Web: an On-line, Hypertext for Music Theory www.smu.edu/totw/
This site is an interactive, hypertext instruction method designed by Dr. Robert J. Frank, Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at Southern Methodist University, and was presented at the 2001 Texas Music Educators Association Conference. It is a very thorough course with interactive drills at the end of each chapter. The student is given an immediate response. The correct answer is not given, but the student may return to the question to try again. The text of each chapter includes musical examples that can be heard using QuickTime. The terminology and vocabulary used in the lessons is best suited to the older student.
Introduction to Music Theory and Aural Skills www.murraystate.edu/qacd/cfac/music/mus109entry.htm
This online distance education course from Murray State University supervised by instructor John Steffa is offered in two ways: tuition based for credit, or free without credit or assistance to anyone interested It is a very well designed course of interactive lessons consisting of ten chapters covering all aspects of music theory for the beginner. It is perfect for the older beginner in a private or group setting.
Sheet Music Sites
There are so many sites offering free downloads of sheet music that it is very difficult to choose sites to list and recommend. The criteria for inclusion in this list was the ease of navigation and use and the amount of free material available. Most downloads require Scorch or Acrobat Reader.
Sibelius Music www.sibeliusmusic.com
This site boasts the largest collection of self-published sheet music on the Internet. Music is downloaded and viewed by using their free software Sibelius Scorch plug-in, which is available on this site. To get the most from the site, begin by clicking on "First Time Visitor" to get site navigational directions. Then return to the home page and choose piano under "Browse Instrumentations" to get a list of over 3000 titles. Choose "Other Instrumentations" to find lists of piano ensemble pieces. All the lists indicate if the download is free or must be purchased. Scorch allows you to see the music and listen to it while a cursor moves from measure to measure. The pieces can also be transposed before printing.
Sheet Music Online www.sheetmusic1.com
This site is in its 8th year and offers sheet music, piano benches and supplies for purchase as well as public domain sheet music, theory worksheets, and tests at no charge. The company is located in Milwaukie, Oregon, under the direction of Dr. Rein Peter Vaga. Choose no. 3, "The Music Racks" to access the classical piano free downloads and educational resources. The worksheets are very good and offer basic teaching materials for students of all ages from beginning to elementary levels.. An extra bonus is the Private Student Assignment Page that can be saved and printed in Acrobat Reader. The classical music downloads are intermediate level pieces by Bach, Mozart, Burgmuller, etc. This site distinguishes between viewing and downloading. Be sure to choose download to print or save in Acrobat Reader.
The Sheet Music Archive www.sheetmusicarchive.net
Downloads of free editions of public domain classical music are available from over 70 composers in Acrobat Reader Pdf format. Free downloads are restricted to two per day. This site offers a CD-ROM of the entire collection for $19.95. Click on "Info" to get more information about the site. Any piece of music that you view is counted as a download. The files can be saved as a pdf file and printed offline.
Music-Scores.com www.music-scores.com
This site offers over 800 classical sheet music files, 275 of which are free to non-members. Click on "First Time Visitors" to get site navigational directions, and on ÔFree Sheet Music" for rules regarding downloads. Unlimited downloads are reserved for the paying members of Rubato at $20 per year. Other visitors to the site are allowed 3 downloads every 24 hours. To access piano music choose a composer name from the home page. This list will indicate the title, instrumentation, arrangement or original version, and free or restricted to Rubato members. Restricted pieces can still be viewed in Scorch and played with the cursor following the music. Free downloads can be saved and printed offline.
Easy Sheet Music www.easysheetmusic.com
This site offers five themed collections of pieces for elementary level students - Songs from Around the World, Popular Classics, Boogie & Blues, Opera Classics, and Mission Not That Difficult. The pieces are very nice arrangements, but the arrangers are not listed. Downloads are limited to 3 per day for non-subscribers. Subscription rates are $10 per year for the entire collection or $5 per book. The files can be saved and printed offline.
The Mutopia Project www.mutopiaproject.org
The Mutopia Project offers free music to download, print, and distribute. Read the home page for a very good explanation of public domain music. Choose "Browse the Archive" and select piano in the list of instruments to access the list of over 170 piano pieces. There are several options for downloading. Choose "Letter.pdf file" for best results. The image on the screen is not perfect, but the printed version is very clear. These files can be saved for use offline. The files can be searched in various ways and the option of seeing a fragment of the music is available.
Charlie's Piano www.charliespiano.com
This site offers about 500 files of free piano music, some of which are taken from the Mutopia Project. Click on "Free Sheet Music" at the top of the home page to view a list by composer. The pieces available are from well known classical composers, such as Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert, and some very nice Scott Joplin pieces. The level of difficulty is intermediate, beginning with the easier pieces by Clementi and Burgmuller. There are several nice pieces for beginners arranged by Gilbert DeBenedetti.
247 Sheetmusic.com www.247sheetmusic.com/downloads/
Even though this site is limited in scope, the approximately 20 pieces available for downloading are worthwhile. The list includes Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and Joplin. They are Acrobat Reader Pdf files and can be saved and used offline. The search engine at the top of the page searches for sheet music to purchase at Sheetmusicplus.com.
All Piano Sheet Music www.allpianosheetmusic.com
The focus of this site is classical piano repertoire. The collection consists of over 600 scores in Acrobat Reader Pdf format. The majority of scores can only be accessed by subscribing members, but there are some scores available for free download. Scores are accessed by composer name, and titles available to everyone are marked as "Free Download". These files can be saved and printed offline. The fee for access to the entire collection is $9.95 per year plus a one time start-up fee of $9.95.
Miscellaneous Sites
There are some helpful sites that offer databases of musical terminology and give information about the piano, such as history and construction. If the teacher has access to the Internet while teaching, these sites could be useful during the lesson and as a general reference source for student and teacher.
Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/
This database of musical terms was developed by Richard Cole, Department of Music, and Ed Schwartz, New Media Center, at Virginia Tech. The alphabetical list of terms appears in a frame at the left of the screen, and an alphabet at the bottom of the screen allows the searcher to go to a specific letter. When a term is chosen, the pronunciation is heard (using QuickTime) and a definition appears. With some terms there are musical examples to see and hear. The appendices are very thorough. Advanced students and adult beginners will really benefit from this site, as well as piano teachers themselves!
Learning Zone www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fglossary.files/bglossary.htm
The A-Z Glossary offers a medium-sized list of terms aimed at the younger student. When a term is chosen a pop-up window offers a pronunciation guide and definition. There are other options listed in the frame on the left. The list of composers is limited but understandable for the younger student.
Essentials of Music www.essentialsofmusic.com
This site is offered by Sony in cooperation with W.W. Norton & Company and built around Essential Classics. It offers overviews of periods of music history, biographies of composers, and a glossary of 200 terms. There are some sound files (using Real Audio player) and pictures. Students at the intermediate level and above will be able to effectively use this glossary.
MusicPlay Piano www.musicplay.com
The main focus of this site is the piano, especially sales. Look at the two buttons on the left, "Piano Action" and "Virtual Piano," to give your students a visual tour of the construction and action of the piano. The piano action page uses animation to demonstrate the action of a grand piano. There are several drawings of the parts of the piano action. It is too detailed for young children but older beginners will understand it. The virtual piano is very easy to navigate. The student clicks on a part of the piano to access the description. All ages can understand and learn from the virtual piano, but younger children will need some assistance.
Conclusion The Internet has become a part of our lives on several levels. The information available is overwhelming and can be erroneous. My purpose in evaluating sites was to offer piano teachers resources that could be used to reinforce their teaching. Of course there is no substitute for the interaction of student and teacher, but Internet resources in theory and repertoire can become a part of our vast body of teaching tools.
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|---|