The work never stops at MakeMusic! We are continually making improvements to SmartMusic so that you can have the best experience possible. Last week, there were some recent updates to the program and I wanted to share the more significant ones here. This update requires no action on your part.
State Scales
The State Scales in the Exercises Library have been updated. For the states that are currently in the library, the notation is exactly as it is required for each separate instrument! This includes the number of octaves and articulation, if any. Even if your state is not included yet, these patterns are typical and you may find them beneficial. Since there are many variations due to the ranges of individual instruments, the accompaniment is a rhythm track. Remember that the other Scales in Exercises have harmonic accompaniments. When creating an assignment, the state scales are assigned based on the specific requirements for each instrument from each state. In some cases the assignment will deliver equivalent concert pitch scales to each instrument, but in others, each instrument will receive an appropriate, but unrelated scale.
Updates to Scale Exercises
Speaking of the Scales in Exercises, there have been some updates here as well. Based on requests from users, a total of 12 new scale plus arpeggio exercises have been added. There are 3 each for Major, Natural, Melodic, and Harmonic Minor scales.
Vocal Updates to Exercises
All of the Exercises now include vocal assessment! This greatly expands the number of exercises for vocalists. The voice choices from the pull down menu are Treble Voice, Tenor Voice and Bass Voice. To hear the pitch before the exercise starts, press the “P” key on the computer keyboard. (This works for any music on screen.)
Sight Reading
The size of the instrumental Sight Reading Exercises library has more than doubled, which means that there are 10 graduated levels with more than 600 sight reading examples!
Rubric Update
We understand that Rubrics can be set up in different ways. Currently, when creating a rubric in SmartMusic, the rubric must be in the form of lowest to highest score to correctly grade an assignment. Grading an assignment by a rubric that is created with the highest score first will not work properly.
UPDATE 7/17/2014: Rubric scores can now be in the form of lowest to highest OR highest to lowest.
Questions? Please leave a comment below.