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.