The traditional paper lesson notebook has finally come of age. Many students regularly use their mobile devices for purposes other than just playing games. Now they are encouraged to use the iPod, iPad, iPhone, Android Phone, Android Tablet, Blackberry, Windows or Mac Laptop to help with piano practise.
I have been using Evernote to keep student lesson notes since September. The best thing about the app is the way it instantly synchronises the notes between all of my devices so whether the lesson is carried out in school and I’ve made notes on the laptop or at my home studio and I’ve made them on the desktop, I know they’ll always be wherever I need them.
This technology enables the use of “audio targets” in lessons. During the lesson, I will demonstrate to the student the section of the piece they need to learn and record it at the speed that I expect them to be able to play it. The audio clip goes into the lesson note in Evernote and is instantly and automatically synchronised with their iPod at home (once the notebook is shared). When they come to practise, they can be reminded exactly what the piece they are doing should sound like and can tell whether they can meet the target. If not, it is clear that they need to practise more until they can play along with the audio clip on the iPod at the target speed.
If you have already had an email through about evernote sharing and have a question, or if you would like to use this facility and haven’t yet had a sharing email through then please get in touch.
