Intelligent Music? Close.. SmartMusic

I love the idea of SmartMusic!  One of my biggest problems practicing  was not being able to practice with the accompaniment.  CD accompaniment didn't always match the tempo my teacher and I decided was best, or if I was still learning the song, it went too fast.  I also love the assessment feature in SmartMusic.  While it is important for students to be able to hear themselves and know if they are properly in tune or not, sometimes we just aren't sure as performers.  The assessment feature helps students who are still developing their ear for music and even those who have a well developed ear by providing a second opinion.  Quite possibly my favorite part about the assessment feature, however, is the ability for students to submit it to their teacher and for the teacher to be able to hear her student's progress.  This really brings back the personal connection that students and teachers sometimes lose in an ensemble setting.  Students can record themselves as many times as they wish until they record a take they feel comfortable sending to their teacher.  This also promotes proper practicing at home.  The down fall of this, however, is students may just practice the one phrase a teacher assigned an not the rest of the music, but at least that will get students practicing that phrase at home.

SmartMusic also allows parents to get a little more involved.  While not all students will be showing their parents their practice files, it allows students to show their parents a recording of them with the accompaniment.  This is especially great for younger musicians who still love involving their parents in everything they do.  SmartMusic also allows teachers to show parents their child's improvement at parent-teacher conferences with actual recordings of their child.  Parent's can hear the improvement and don't have to fully rely on the teacher's opinion.

I really could go on and on about SmartMusic, and I've only seen the tutorial videos and scanned the website.  I think this is a wonderful piece of software.  Additionally, it's not too expensive.  It does cost money each year, but it is a reasonable price for all the music available at the click of a button.