I was working with a customer the other day who was a very savvy and enthusiastic SmartMusic Gradebook user (he’d been using it since it was called SmartMusic Impact). As I watched he launched SmartMusic, logged in, opened a method title, posted a piece, then jumped to the Gradebook to assign the piece. This worked great for him, but his process included some unnecessary steps.

All of the method book exercises are already written out. If you use these pre-authored assignments instead of posting them yourself, it takes roughly 10-20 seconds total to select and assign them directly from the Gradebook. No need to jump around and load files. When I shared this tip, this long-time Gradebook user was delighted with the time he’d save.

Furthermore, every band, orchestra, and jazz ensemble title in SmartMusic includes assignments written by one of the many experienced music educators on our staff. While there’s always a “play the whole piece” assignment, other premade assignments highlight trickier spots specific to each instrument and provide helpful hints to students.

To access this bevy of time-saving tools, go into the Gradebook in SmartMusic 2010, click Assignments, SmartMusic Assignments, and you’ll see the methods library and ensemble library ready for you to get up and running.