Finale NotePad for Elementary Composition Part Two (Classroom Strategies)

Last week's blog post introduced you to Finale NotePad for collaborative composition in the elementary music classroom. The video included with that post takes you through a step-by-step process for setting up a file and includes many helpful tips for the classroom.

This week's video, the second and final part in the series, digs much deeper into strategies for making the best use of this free software with primary and elementary students. You will view two groups of students working collaboratively to create an original composition for piano.

The first group is a small class of first graders who compose using only middle C, D and E of the treble clef. Their portion of the video begins at 0:52. The second group of students are in grades four through six and compose with a slightly extended range of notes and rhythms. You may view those students at 5:32 in the video.

My current classes are quite small, but I have also experienced great success using this software in much larger public school music classrooms. The strategies for use are quite similar. Of course, if you don't have access to a keyboard lab, your composition projects will likely be for recorder using a different range of notes. I can assure you that the excitement of your students will be well worth the extra time and effort in undertaking a project like this!

I hope you enjoy this video on using Finale NotePad with students:

Please don't hesitate to leave a question in the comments. 

Thanks for reading and watching, and don't forget to follow me on TpT!

Lisa

Finale NotePad for Elementary Composition: Part One (File Setup)

A few years ago I began to explore collaborative composition with my young students. We compose our first composition in first grade using just three notes on the treble staff, and we learn to play that composition, as a group, on the piano. For the kids, composition time is one of the highlights of the year!

My working situation is likely a little different than yours. I'm a former public school music teacher turned small business owner. I left the public school system about nine years ago to start my own music school. My classes sizes are small with only eight children in a group and, over the years, I have built a keyboard/computer lab which has made a huge difference in my teaching life. My students also benefit from the use of a large Mondopad (the kids call it the "giant iPad") that we use to work collaboratively on our compositions.

If your classroom is equipped with a means to project a computer screen, you can also pursue group composition projects with your students - regardless of class size. I'm going to talk you through all the steps to make use of Finale NotePad for collaborative composition in your primary and elementary classroom. It's FREE, and it's easy to use!

This first of two videos demonstrates the setup of files for young students (treble only) as well as for older students who may be able to composer longer pieces using the grand staff:

Next week's video and blog post will feature some of my own students working together using the software.

If you have any questions, please be sure to leave them in the comments. I'm always happy to help!

Thanks for reading and watching and don't forget to follow me on TpT!
Lisa