MakeMusic Forum

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Posted By : Beth J. - 4/17/2005 8:26 PM

I've been playing with SmartMusic and think that maybe Finale Performance Assessment is more appropriate for my teaching situation. I have some questions about FPA in general. I also have some questions about FPA in comparison to SmartMusic. Am I better off asking those questions here or through the Finale forum?

In case this is the right place to ask, here are my questions:

1. In Finale Performance Assessment the student can view the music while a cursor tracks the place in the music where the student should be playing. Is this also a feature in SmartMusic? My students (3rd graders) are just beginning recorder and most need the visual to help them learn to follow the music.

2. In regards to FPA, why can't I notate repeats or multimeasure rests? Will these features ever be available in FPA?

3. Will the practice record that SmartMusic has ever be a feature in FPA? I'd love to have the info for my recorder players.

Thanks for your help.

Posted By : Tyler - 4/17/2005 8:40 PM

Basically SmartMusic has all of the features that FPA does and then a bunch of extras.

1. Yes, this is also a feature in SmartMusic. This was added with SM 8.5. If you have an earlier version (past 6), ask for a free upgrade CD.

2. I'm not sure if or when these features will be available in FPA. FPA was designed to give people a good idea of what they can do with the assessment feature in SmartMusic. Since the company doesn't make any money from FPA, they're going to need to leave a significant number of features out of it. Also, there were technical reasons for leaving most of these notation elements out. They created problems for the assessment engine or some other aspect of the software. As to whether they'll be added later, I don't know.

3. I again don't know anything for certain, but I'm guessing not. It's a major reason for people to consider upgrading to SmartMusic.

MakeMusic employees have to be careful when talking about future products. But to get an official response, go ahead and e-mail them directly.

Windows XP, all updates

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