From East Lansing to Detroit

             Let me tell you about The Chamber Music Challenge by Dana Warren.  The program as written in the description involves 7th-grade students composing original music to be performed by their friends and peers who are in band and orchestra.  The audience includes 7-8 graders or 9-12 graders who are good at reading music and have an interest in learning to write music.

            I choose this program because it appeared to be the most challenging.  I was curious to find out how the author managed to write this for her seventh graders and actually had success.  The author herself acknowledges “because of the complexities of scoring for instruments, it should be expected that students will need help throughout this project.”  I could not agree more.  Asking 12 to 13 years olds to write music is like asking students of the same age group to solve conflicts in the
Middle East forever or asking a science student to explain Einstein’s theories.  This is not easy but I am up for the teaching challenge.            Those who are reading this review can tell I was skeptical.  That is no longer the case.  The site is very well organized.  There is no evaluation of student progress until the end, but the site assigns appropriate tasks throughout the process.             This makes the project work.  It gives everybody an assignment they can achieve.  The site continues to give additional needed resources to teach about the structure of a musical composition.  The details ask to apply math skills and high level thinking about notation.  It also teaches about different ranges of instruments and the transposition.  It is a well organized lesson allowing students to construct a project and inspire them to learn more.

           This project is an excellent way to meet the standards of composing and arranging music as suggested in the Michigan Standards of Arts in Education.  I must admit I do not have any lesson plans or units that push this benchmark.  Thanks to this project, now I do.  This also meets the standard of using technology to problem solve and use tools for decision making as asked for in the Michigan Education Technology Standards for sixth through eighth grades.I believe the site is without any bugs.  The pages are animated and colorful.  They keep the student’s interest.  As I try to find some criticism or ways to improve the site I find this already taken care of.  This site demands high level thinking about music and the full attention of the music teacher.  It is not a site where the teacher can hold playing tests during the activity.  The attention will pay off.  I believe it can advance the musical abilities of young musicians.