Review : Quaver Music For Middle School
Quaver Music Provides New Ways For
Learning Musical Skills
I have been using Quaver Music in Grades 5-8 since the beginning of September . I have found that students in 5th , 6th , and 7th grade are excited and invested in the program . Students in the 8th grade are less fond of the animated interface .
I have used QGrooves to teach Form , Chord Progressions , and Song Components . Using this program at the beginning of the year gave our 6th grade students an advantage when they were introduced to the basics of GarageBand .
The student interactive books are helpful with two levels of entry for differentiated readers . They do a nice job with explaining genres .
Not only did my students read about rap and hip hop , but they created their own backing and wrote rap lyrics in pairs . The pairs performed for the class and as an extension the groups choreographed their raps on QDancer .
“ We have used Quaver Music in 5-8 General Music ”
My students ’ favorite part of Quaver is the games . They come into class begging for QMeasure Up which is like rhythmic Tetris . Students are playing the music games in their study halls and at home . This has lead to a significant increase in rhythm retention that shows in our regular classes .
TEACHING MUSIC THROUGH COMPOSITION BARBARA FREEDMAN - CLINICIAN AT MMEA 2016 CONFERENCE
Barbara Freedman ’ s sessions at the 2016 MMEA conference were well attended . I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of her book to use and review . This book has a wealth of lessons for use with music mixing software . Freedman provides an entire music curriculum in the book . The lessons , however , can stand alone for a shorter unit on the computer . Online resources provide instant plans .
Lauren teaches General and Choral Music at Falmouth Middle School grades 5-8 . You can contact her at mainemmeagm612vp @ gmail . com .