App Reviews #2

I looked at three different apps this term. I focused on “fun” apps that kids would enjoy without even knowing they learning new things about music. The apps I looked at were Bandimal, Street Music, and My Singing Monsters.

Street Music: 

The first app I tried out was Street Music (you can find it here https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/street-music-academy/id1178672081?mt=8). You will see from that link it has a very poor rating and to be honest I may have to agree. I think the message that the creators of the app were trying to send was that “rhythm is in everything”. They execute this well by having instruments be things like a trash can, or a baseball bat, or even a safety cone. But, where the problems begin are the mini-games inside the app. When you open the app, there is a big yellow play button, once clicked, a different screen shows up. You can swipe through the levels you like; the first level contains a recycle bin, a rim for a tire, and 2 wrenches and the second level is a skate board, soda can and a old beat up pillow (I have put in some pictures to show what this looks like). These are the only two available levels until you earn “stars” to unlock more.

To begin playing you just click on the level you like. I chose the first option that was previously mentioned. Once you click that, you are taken to a screen with four options – tire rim, water bottle, wrench, and recycle bin. You may choose any one you like to start the game. I chose the tire rim. I am then taken to a stage with three rims, each one having a coloured dot below it. This is a “reproduce the sequence game”. So first I watch  and listen the three rims being “played” and then I have to repeat the pattern. It’s not too difficult because at the top of the screen are the coloured dots that coordinate with the rims  so I know what one to play if I forget the pattern. The problem is that it is almost impossible to repeat it and its not because of the difficulty of the pattern. It seems like the app may have some sort of glitch that delays when you play the rim, even if you played it at the correct time. I was able to get the pattern once out of my many attempts, and a nice broken glass sound plays when you fail. I’m not sure that kids would enjoy this game because of this.

Overall this app was kind of a bust. One good thing about it is that it is very nicely made. Fun music plays when you open it, there are bright colours throughout the game, and it is fairly easy to get started.  I was unable to receive “stars” to unlock more levels so I can’t say what those are like unfortunately. I hope this app will fix it’s unresponsive and/or delayed taps. I’m not sure that I could recommend this app to my future students because of this issue!

Here are some pictures from inside the app!

My Singing Monsters

The next app I tried was My Singing Monsters (you can find it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigbluebubble.singingmonsters.full&hl=en_CA). The app was free but there are a lot of in-app purchases you can make. I will say I had a lot of fun with this app. It reminded me of a game I used to play when I was younger called, Farmville, except that that game had nothing to do with music! When you open the app you are welcomed with a home screen of monsters accompanied by, what I would call, monster-like music.

When you’ve had enough of the monster-music, you can start playing through a guest account or you can make your own. Once you press play you are take to a grassy head of a monster statue, where I guess is the setting of this game. To start playing, you must “buy” an egg from the market and wait for it to hatch. If you don’t want to wait, you can speed up the process by paying a small fee.  Once it hatches you have your first monster. Each monster makes a unique sound.  For example, my monster hit his head with his hands to make a clapping-like sound. The second monster I got made a hum sound. Once I had two monsters I noticed how well they went together. I realized while playing this game that it didn’t seem to much about music. So I decided to do some research about what the end goal of this game is. I found out that to “complete” this game you must collect all the monsters and together they make up the music that played when you first launched the app. I wasn’t too impressed with this because I feel like the only thing kids may be learning from it musically wise is how to appreciate and enjoy music and generally they already know how to do this!

Overall this app was very fun to play, but I would recommend it to my students. It’s not so much about music as it is about buying monsters and building your monster town. I decided to review this app because while researching what app to choose this was one that came up often. I am a little disappointed as this game wasn’t quite as I expected. I think if this included musical mini-games, or performances with your monsters where you control them, I would feel much more comfortable recommending it to students!

Here are some photos from inside the app!

Bandimal:

After two apps that didn’t really fit with what I was looking for, I was beginning to lose hope. That is, until I downloaded Bandimal (find it here https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bandimal/id1065440354?mt=8). This app was not free, it costs 3.99$ and I think it was worth every penny. This app combined fun features with musical to create a great game for music students.

There is a lot of things I like about the app. The first thing I noticed was the colours, all of them seem to be a nice pastel – greens, pinks and blues. When I launched this app, I immediately felt better about how the last two apps that had disappointed me. Bandimal seemed like it would work for young children as well as older, I would say 3 years old to 9. Another thing I like about this app is that there are no buttons, and you can basically click anywhere on the screen. To start creating music, you do have to tap on the ‘+’ symbol but it basically takes up half of the screen, so it’s easy to get started. Once clicked, you are taken to a new screen where you can select an animal from a variety of choices. This was similar to My Singing Monsters, in that the animals make different noises by doing something to themselves. For example, if I choose the killer whale, it makes music by blowing out of its blowhole. Other animals in this app include sheep, turtles, and cows. In this app, you are limited to up three animals at once. Each one makes a different noise. You are even able to control what note the animal makes the noise in. There is a constant underlying beat to your song. Once completed, you can listen to your song, and even change it up if you want. I ended up with a jellyfish, a sheep and a panda, together they made a pretty awesome beat! I wish there was an option to record or share your music because I would have definitely posted it here! If you are happy with your animals music, you can then add additional sounds. The additional sounds include: a shaker, a tapping sound, and a drum beat.

Overall, I really enjoyed this app. I can’t wait to try it out with my younger cousins. Bandimal is welcoming, fun and engaging for children while teaching them new things about rhythm, and beat. Children have so much imagination and love creating, so I think I think this app would not only be fun for them but also educational.

If I were to pick which app I would recommend to my future students out of these three options, it would be Bandimal.

Here are some photos from inside the app!

 

 

Musical Pedagogy – App Reviews

My goal for this semester was to review 5 musical apps total and look at their structure, the learning opportunities they provide, and the structure of each app as well as pros and cons. This term I was focusing on apps that help the beginner pianist. I choose 2 apps to review this term, will review the remaining two next term. I played piano for 2 years when I was younger, and have been interested in learning it again so that is why my all my apps are based of this instrument. I thought if I could gain understanding from an app then I know that it would be helpful for my future students.

Note Works

The first app I tried is called Note Works (you can find it here -> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/noteworks/id546003758?mt=8). It costs 6.99$ for the full version or you can download the lite version which is free. This app is advertised as an introductory game for beginner pianists but while I was playing I felt as you must have some sort of piano or note reading knowledge in order to play the game. The game has the option to use a plug in key board or you can use the built in piano at the bottom of the screen.

Before gameplay you are able to choose what speed you want the notes released onto the staff. If you choose slow, you get 300 points, medium, 400 points and fast, 500 points or you may choose freestyle where no points are involved. As you play and hit the notes you can gain points and lose them depending on if you hit the correct note. Before playing the game you can also choose if you want help or not. If you get help the corresponding key to the note will light up and the player will then know the correct key to press. I think it is helpful to have this option. In my experience with children, they love the feeling of succeeding, so if they need a little help they should be able to get it.

The game goes as follows – piano at bottom of the screen, and staff at the top with moving notes. As the notes appear on the screen, you must press the correct key on the piano, you know you have hit the correct note when the triangle character eats it. If you press the wrong key the truck character sets it on fire and the note turns orange with a flame above it. At the end of the round when all the notes have been released you have a chance to re due those notes you missed or got incorrect.

To pass onto the next level you must get 3 stars. Each star is worth 1000 points. The levels have three variations that correspond with the stars – keyboard, names the the notes (c,d,e..), and kodaly. I really liked these variations as it taught me new things, especially  how to match kodaly to notes, which I had no idea of before. When you level up, new notes get added to make it more difficult.

This app has the capabilities to help students stay on track at home, learn how to read notes, name notes, and how to match them with kodaly.

Overall I think this app would be very entertaining for children as well educational. I think this game could be played at home, or even to have some fun at the end of a music lesson. It can also be very helpful for refreshing your musical knowledge (it did for me!).

Here are some screenshots of the game:

   

 

Piano Dust Buster

The next app I tried was piano dust buster ( you can find it here -> https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/piano-dust-buster-by-joytunes/id502356539?mt=8). The app itself was free but has many in app purchases. I chose, personally, not to make any in app purchases because I wanted to look at what you can get out of the app for free.

Before gameplay you can choose what ‘pack’ you are going to play with. Unfortunately, unless you want to pay, there is only one ‘pack’ to choose from for free, the ‘starter pack’. The starter pack has 14 levels that variate in difficulty. Each level has one or more songs with difficulty depending on the level for example level one has the songs mary’s little lamb, Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Nossa), and Fur Elise and level 14 has the song Turkish March (Mozart). You must begin on level one and can only move up to higher levels once the one prior is completed. This may not work for all learners as some may be more advanced and want to skip mary had a little lamb. This app is also compatible with a keyboard.

The objective and layout of the game is very similar to that of noteworks. There is a keyboard at the bottom of the screen and moving notes (that look like little monsters, dust mites I’m guessing?)  in a staff. The difference being that in this game you are playing specific notes to make a song. I like this because it allows the student to hear and be able to self correct if they hit the wrong key. There is a grandmother that sits on the keys with a broom in her hand and hits the dust mites as you hit the notes. In practice round if you do not hit the note, it just pauses the song until you do. However, in showtime mode you will lose points if you fail to hit the note, which will give you less stars.

As mentioned above, there are also stars in this game – but used for a different purpose. On every song you can either ‘practice’ it or have a ‘showtime’ where you get graded using the stars on how well you did. You can move onto the next level once you have completed all the songs in the level and have at least one star in each.

In conclusion, this app was fun for me to try out and I really felt like I was learning songs for the piano. I can see this being used for kids who may want to teach themselves as well as adults (like me) who want to explore the piano.

Here are some screen shots from the game:

  

Comparing Apps: 

When I look at both apps, they have many similarities. Both have fun animations all around the screen and also fun things that happen when you hit the correct note. I found it interesting and beneficial how they both have the option to use a keyboard instead of the ipad. These apps are both great for beginners and help the student feel successful in what they are doing.

These two apps have differences too. The NoteWorks app spits out random notes while the Piano Dust Buster you are playing a song. Both of these have benefits. The NoteWorks is teaching it’s students reaction time when they see a random note, whereas the Piano Dust Buster can be very beneficial for learning songs. I think both of these apps teach kids in the most entertaining way possible.

When I played NoteWorks I noticed two cons. The app itself would freeze quite a bit, so I would have to restart the app from the beginning. I also took note of the fact that when the player misses a note it sets it on fire – some kids may enjoy this, so it could encourage them to miss the notes and miss the actual objective of the game. I noticed that Piano Dust Buster had some cons as well. The app without making any purchased is very limited in what you can do. I know that it gives the option for in app purchases, so maybe its my fault for not spending the extra money.

I think students of all ages would enjoy both these apps. The younger audience would appreciate the graphics and animations and the older audience can appreciate the simplicity of both apps. I really enjoyed trying these two games out!