Home+Practice+Online

http://psdweb.parklandsd.org/hpo/
 * Home Practice Online!**


 * Authority**
 * Home Practice Online is a .org site. This means that it is a nonprofit organization that is trying to improve the educational system for music teachers.
 * Home Practice Online was created and is maintained by Dr. Scott Watson.
 * He teaches music in the Parkland School District and as an adjunct professor at several universities in the Philadelphia area.

o Standard 2: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. o Standard 5: Reading and notating music.
 * Instructional Content**
 * The main musical concept that the site explores is performing on an instrument. Included in this is assembling instruments, scales, etudes, and pieces.
 * The methods that are used in this site are accurate as long as the user agrees with the assembly, care, and basics of the instrument as used by Dr. Scott Watson. It is very in depth with videos of all of his techniques.
 * National Music Standards Addressed:
 * The web-site has no date on it except for its creation in 1998. The information, however, is not outdated in any way. The videos and excerpts are all valid as instrumental education tools.


 * Purpose, Viewpoint**
 * The site serves as a general resource for young instrumentalists and their teachers everywhere, with features such as online practice accompaniments to concert music, resources such as warm-ups and scale sheets, downloadable sheet music, and helpful activities and interactive drills.
 * The site is sponsored by the Parkland School District in Pennsylvania. This is the school district that the author, Dr. Scott Watson, teaches in.
 * This site has links to and descriptions of fourteen other web-sites for young instrumentalists.
 * This page has no bias. It is merely a tool to teach young people how to play an instrument.


 * Reputation**
 * There are a great number of web-sites that link to this site, especially the web-sites of elementary instrumental music educators.
 * As stated previously, the referrals come from a number of elementary instrumental music educators. As this site is used in the field it should be considered reputable.


 * Overall Evaluation**
 * In general, this site seems to be an extremely valuable resource. With young children one of the most difficult areas of performing on an instrument in an ensemble is having them each play different parts. With this site, a teacher can upload a MIDI file of an accompaniment for their students to practice with at home. The site is designed in a somewhat amateur way, but it uses great color, easy navigation, and a plethora of useful information for teachers and students alike. This site uses drill and practice, tutorial, and discovery/simulation techniques to teach students information about their instruments. I think that this site is at least worth the time to be given a trial run with your elementary band. I think that with all of its additional musical arrangements and compositions, it could increase a child’s increase in their instrument.
 * Rating- * * * *

Kenneth Stray 03/25/07