In which I commence to make a music trainer
For the past year-and-a-half, I've been performing with a choir in the North Hills. It's been an exciting process; I had years of musical training on piano in the past, but while I've always loved to sing I never really cultivated it. It's great to be playing an instrument that I can carry around all the time; it's much easier to fit an hour of practice in when you can put it in your daily commute.
One of my weaknesses as a singer is that I can't read sheet music for vocal purposes. I know how the notes on a staff map to the keys on a piano, but I never built a solid map in my head from notes to pitches. It slows down my learning and retention of music, as I have to find myself a piano and "sound out" the notes before I can sing a score (or rely on someone who can read music to sing along with me).
In an attempt to shore up that gap, I've created a simple C-scale music trainer and posted it to my website. This will be the first in probably a long line of training tools I plan to write for myself and others to use. I think it'll be fun to see if I can build a toolkit that could let me and other music students practice wherever there's an internet connection available.
I believe there are many people reading my journal who have some musical talent. If you'd like to help with my project, I can very much use two things:
One of my weaknesses as a singer is that I can't read sheet music for vocal purposes. I know how the notes on a staff map to the keys on a piano, but I never built a solid map in my head from notes to pitches. It slows down my learning and retention of music, as I have to find myself a piano and "sound out" the notes before I can sing a score (or rely on someone who can read music to sing along with me).
In an attempt to shore up that gap, I've created a simple C-scale music trainer and posted it to my website. This will be the first in probably a long line of training tools I plan to write for myself and others to use. I think it'll be fun to see if I can build a toolkit that could let me and other music students practice wherever there's an internet connection available.
I believe there are many people reading my journal who have some musical talent. If you'd like to help with my project, I can very much use two things:
- Check it out and give me feedback. I have a dozen ideas bouncing around in my head right now for how to extend this project, but I'm interested in learning what other people would find useful. Is this a tool you would use for your own educational purposes? What would you like to see added? Besides, I'm a total praisewhore; knowing other people are seeing the project will keep me spurred on to moving it forward.
- Spread the word. The URL will always be available and always be free. If you know anyone who could benefit from this tool, let them know about it.
I'll be updating here (as well as other places) as I add new features and options to the program. If you want to be contacted when updates are made, feel free to sign up to the mailing list via the feedback form.
Take care,
Mark