Sibelius+6

__**GENERAL INFORMATION**__ • Title: Sibelius 6 • Author: Ben and Jonathon Finn • Publisher : Avid Technology Inc. : [] • Copyright Date: 1987-2009 • Platform (Macintosh, Wintel): Mac/PC • Peripherals: Keyboard, MIDI keyboard, microphone (for Audio Score), speakers • Grade/Age: Junior HS/Middle School, High School, Adult • Type of Class: Any music class

__**TEACHER SUPPORT**__ The program includes a handbook and a reference manual. The 140-page handbook has five lessons to work through to complete exercises to gain knowledge of the program, each lesson takes roughly one to two hours to complete. With completion of the handbook, a user will be very knowledgeable on all aspects of the program. The included reference manual has 730 pages organized into five chapters. This manual is a complete guide to the software with an easy-to-use index. There is also an extensive reference manual available through the program and on-line which is searchable to quickly gain access to information. Sibelius offers free help by phone, email, online or fax for the first thirty days after registering; after the first thirty days users are limited to mail, fax, email, and online support pages.

__**INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT**__ The focus of the software is notation so this is particularly useful for composing or arranging, but the program has the ability to create worksheets for students to use, which can be displayed on a SmartBoard for full class participation.

The program addresses several National Standards, including: 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 5. Reading and notating music.

__**INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS**__

Since the program has no specific sequence of materials, the teacher selects the strategies in which they feel best impacts their lessons or instruction. The layout and appearance of the program is appropriate for late Middle School and High School students, as well as adults.

The presentation on the screen is simply laid out. In the notation screen, there are several tools that are represented with icons in a single bar across the top of the page. The icons are fairly self explanatory, but when hovered over with mouse, the icon's identity is revealed. There are also three movable boxes on the notation screen to assist with whatever composing or arranging you are doing. One of them is a useful keypad or inputting rhythms, rests, accidentals, and common music symbols. The second box is a Play Back feature, where you can select to hear your composition you are working on. The program will play it back to you in the instrumentation you are writing for in your score. There are several options on this playback feature that allow you to set your own tempo, conduct your playback with Live Tempo feature, and more. The third box is a navigation tool to help easily scroll through your composition.

The program has a lot of intuitive aspects but often can be confusing if attempting advanced techniques. The quick reference manual and a short page of short-cuts will go a long way to providing students a lot easier interaction with the program. There are no superfluous graphics, the program bases itself on notation and those are the only real graphics provided. The program has incredible ease of movement.

The program structure is based in the notation software and can be used for drill and practice of concepts, discovery and problem-solving. The various peripherals on the program, such as the many worksheets already available make the program expand to include tutorial and gaming.

__**RECORD KEEPING**__ Sibelius 6 allows for //classroom control// which means that teachers have several options for management while students are using the program. From the Sibelius website: "A single, simple Classroom Control window shows you all the Sibelius copies running, as well as the students' user names. You can freeze students' programs when you want them to pay attention. Get a copy of the score each student is working on - or send a score to any student, or to all of them at once. You can also prompt students to save a version of their score with the new Versions feature, to help you track their progress over time. And it's all password protected, for complete security."

The program allows for teachers to see //reports on student progress//. Which will allow teachers to see what changes the student has made over a period of time working on a score and will show all changes that have been made to a project.

Sibelius 6 also allows for //teacher comments// which allows the teacher to give instant feedback to a student while they are working on a project. The teacher puts a sticky note on a spot in the score and it will appear for the student.

__**OVERALL EVALUATION**__ Sibelius 6 is great program and allows students to really explore the world of composition and arranging. The extensive classroom controls are a great addition to this version and allows a teacher to interact with students individually in a full class setting; teachers also don't need to wait to see drafts and give comments, it can be a continuous learning process. The other up-dates to the software, like the score clean-up capabilities with magnetic score, the ability to provide nuances playback of a score, the ability to compare versions and the increase in professionalism of the engraving really make the product shine. This is in addition to many of the great characteristics of the previous versions.

While students and other beginnings may find the product daunting to tackle, there are many resources that Sibelius provides to allow user to become comfortable with all the software and the interface. Use of this software will give students of all levels the capabilities of profession composers and music publishers to make their scores look just as clean and clear as the music they play and see every day.


 * Rating**: Four Stars!

Reviewed by Sean Smith and Valerie Szymanski on 06/16/2010