Impromptu+2.4

CITATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION Title: Impromptu 2.4 1b Author: Jeanne S. Bamberger Publisher: http://www.tuneblocks.com Copyright: 2002-2005 Platform: Windows and Macintosh with a Java Environment of 1.4 or higher Peripherals: keyboard and mouse, headphones or speakers Grade/Age: High School and College, Adult Type of Class: Theory, Composition, Music Appreciation

TEACHER SUPPORT Documentation: There is an extensive help menu and a downloadable mini text from the accompanying book //Developing Musical Intuitions// (2000) that is included for free on the website. //Developing Musical Intuitions// may be purchased for further ideas on using this software in a classroom. The book comes with a CD or musical examples mentioned in the mini text and the book. Objectives: Impromptu 2.4 is designed to build awareness of patterns found in all kinds of music. To this end, this program will help any student become aware of their own intuitive musicality. Lesson plans: Three lesson plans are included in the mini text: 1. Reconstructing Tunes. This lesson helps the student understand how intuition plays a part in the understanding of music. In this lesson, the student uses sets of sound, called tuneblocks, to string patterns of notes together to create an interesting piece. 2. Composing Tunes. This lesson uses unfamiliar sets of sounds (tuneblocks) and asks the user to compose a piece that they like. 3. Making Meter. This program uses “rhythm blocks” (like tuneblocks) to existing tuneblocks to help the student understand the underlying rhythmic structure of a piece. In doing so, the student creates varied textures. INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT Specific Musical Content: Impromptu has four “playrooms”. These playrooms address melodic elements (tuneblocks playroom), rhythmic elements (drummer playroom), and harmonization in two parts (harmonization playroom) and four parts (FourVoices playroom). The tuneblocks use symbols, not musical notation, to differentiate the sets of sounds. This allows any student, music background or not, to use and understand the software. National Music Standards addressed through this software: 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS The teaching strategies in this program are appropriate for advanced high school or college students. The presentation along with the mini text is easily understood and easy to follow. Readability and difficulty are at an appropriate level. Different graphics are associated with different blocks of sound. The layout is not confusing or difficult to understand. The user has control in this program and is able to manipulate the sound and images at his or her own pace. There is no time limit. Program Structure: Discovery Students have a high degree of interactivity with the program. Teaching sequence in mini text is comprehensive so that instruction is standalone. There are no answer judging capabilities within the software. This software is intended to be intuitive to encourage experimentation and reflection on compositional experiments Sequence of Materials: Good Pace of Instruction: Good Quality of Interaction: Excellent Motivation for Students: Excellent RECORD KEEPING Impromptu allows students to save their compositions on their computers. It also allows the student to save their composition as a MIDI file.

OVERALL EVALUATION This program is a tool to help all students develop musical intuition. To this end, Impromptu gives the student motives and phrases, called tuneblocks, allowing the student to manipulate and reconstruct the tuneblocks to compose original tunes. The program also allows the student to experiment with the tuneblocks at the note level, adding rhythms and creating texture. This program is a valuable tool for composition and theory students. It can also be used in a Music Appreciation class because it requires no background knowledge of music.

Rating: Excellent ++++

Created by: Becky McGown (10/27/2009)