Chromatik and SmartMusic

21st Century Notation

What are they?

Chromatik (https://www.chromatik.com/) is a web platform that allows musicians to practice, print and perform music for free.  The majority of music on the site is popular songs and artist recordings.  After selecting an instrument, the user is able to browse a plethora of sheet music options with recordings accessible on the page.

SmartMusic (http://www.smartmusic.com/) is a software program with a huge assortment of musical options geared towards ensemble and individual musicians.  It is a tool for educators, students, private teachers and music enthusiasts - both professional and amateur to better hone their performance skills.

What are they best used for?

Chromatik is a great way to access sheet music in a large library of popular music.  If you want a violin solo part to "Let It Go"?  Bam.  It's there.  Do you need a Hillsong flute solo for your special at church next Sunday?  Done.  The assortment is variable.   The likelihood of finding a piece in a popular genre is very likely, but the likelihood of your top 10 list all being listed is somewhat less.  Regardless, Chromatik is a powerful tool to help instrumentalists find accurate, free melody transcriptions of popular tunes that can be played in a reasonable range right along with the recording.  The program also offers annotation, reference tracks and recording features which are a GREAT way to motivate musicians to learn since they can "play by ear" to fill in the gaps on notated parts that may not yet be able to read.  The audience this program is geared toward definitely contains the "garage band teen" who may lack reading skills but desire to be able to iterate their favorite jams!

SmartMusic is fundamentally an electronic proxy teacher.  The sheer amount of tools put at the musician's disposal (access your part, change the tempo, get instant feedback, submit assignments, take multiple takes, leaves notes, find accompaniments, etc.) are astounding.  With a subscription to SmartMusic it is possible to find, read, record and get feedback to a tremendous (and growing) library of pieces.  MakeMusic has made a strong effort to accommodate educators, including accepting recommendations for pieces and attempting to keep entire solo and ensemble lists available in the program.  In addition, SmartMusic syncs and cooperates with Finale and other MakeMusic programs, making it possible to easily import/export files to become lessons or sheet music.

What are the limitations?

Chromatik's biggest limitation is the library.  While "Let It Go" and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" are available, the rest of the Frozen soundtrack is not.  If you are seeking out particular pieces of music, especially from less mainstream sources, the likelihood of finding the exact piece you want can be slim at times.  The good part of this is that Chromatik is constantly updating/uploading music, so everyday the chances of finding that elusive piece of music increases.

SmartMusic's biggest limitation is the cost.  Fundamentally, SmartMusic is not very useful unless students/teachers/schools are willing to foot a continuous bill for a subscription.  There are different financial options available, but for the best features/uses of the program (particularly for student use at home) there is a financial investment to be made.  Also, some students may find SmartMusic very motivating, but there may be some for which the prospect of setting up their instrument with a microphone in front of their family computer may not be ideal (or even possible).

Educational Uses

The educational uses for both programs are varied and helpful.  In my hands, Chromatik will be used in my classroom as a resource for students seeking out opportunities to find, rehearse and play popular music.  One of my favorite aspects of Chromatik is that the nuances of the original artist are scripted into the sheet music, meaning that small arpeggiations and mordents become a part of the script.  This allows for students to recreate a more realistic/original performance that emulates the vocalist.  Since this is sometimes an issue in instrumental takes on vocal music, I personally see this as a big plus.

The educational uses for SmartMusic are wonderful.  I have already used SmartMusic in my classroom, and use it at least 4 times in a typical week (with my 5th grade band students).  It is very easy to navigate through the app, and the students get a chance to be challenged by the listening capabilities of the app.  They learn that slowing down is considered incorrect, even if they played the notes and rhythms correctly -- this is a big area for my 5th grade band students as they really start to hone in on tempo accuracy.  It is also fun for them to get to hear their parts with an interesting accompaniment part.  Equally, the students can be assigned individualized playing lessons which they can take turns with the iPad setup as a "practice room".  These features, plus an ever growing available library, creates a powerful setup for educational success!