Music Theory Mastery
Online Practice and Assessment
Welcome! Please use this interactive program to test or practice your musicianship skills.
Click this link to use Music Theory Mastery now!
Test mode may be used to evaluate basic skills. Scores are reported to a database. We use this for our Theory Placement Exam. Contact Dr. Hansen to administer an exam at your school, and to access scores in the database.
Practice mode may be used by anyone to develop aural, written, and keyboard skills.
Read a description of the program and learning activities in Acrobat format.
Configuration
You need a current browser (Firefox, Safari, IE, others). To hear the aural examples, you need headphones or speakers. Test Playback
To play the sounds generated by Music Theory Mastery, you need to set up your computer to play MIDI files. On a Macintosh MIDI is handled by QuickTime. It should work automatically if the speaker volume is audible.
In Windows there are settings in the Control Panel that determine how MIDI data is routed, under the "Multimedia Devices" tab. Most sound cards have a wavetable of samples that play the General MIDI set of sounds. QuickTime is the recommended MIDI file player in Windows, rather than Media Player.
You can connect an external MIDI synthesizer or module and send the data to your MIDI interface.
Background
Early prototypes were built in 2001-3 with Macromedia Director and Flash, intended for delivery by Shockwave on the web. Due to the difficulty users had in configuring the Shockwave plugin and related issues, it was determined that this approach was not viable.
An example of the original Note Naming activity is posted for your evaluation. With the latest Macromedia Shockwave plugin (Shockwave) installed in a current browser and MIDI playback enabled, you are ready to download the Music Theory Mastery program. This will take a few seconds. Please accept the secure SequenceXtra plugin to hear the MIDI files.
Load the MusicTheory Mastery Note Naming activity now. It runs in Assessment Mode, and you can report the results to any email address.
NWACC
This program was supported by a Proof of Concept award from the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC).
NWACC 2003 Grant Project Abstract: Music Theory Mastery
This proposal received support for the implementation of a groundbreaking new approach to music training software delivered over the Internet. It is an innovative integration of new technologies that overcome existing limitations of bandwidth and scalability. This lightweight application creates sounds on the client machine without transferring bulky audio files. It displays high-resolution graphics by transmitting the preferred PNG standard. It gives users a high degree of interactive control, immediate response, and can accommodate their level of ability. Using the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), it transparently allows a web server to transmit sounds to a client browser.
The program, entitled "Music Theory Mastery: Online Practice and Assessment," is completely cross-platform and highly accessible at any rate of connectivity. Activities are generated by the program on the fly. This innovative instructional tool serves many purposes. It can prepare high school students for college-level music theory courses, provide self-paced instruction for college students, and it gives instructors a way to administer a placement examination or test. An exam may be taken online from any location, with scores reported to a database accessible by instructors.
Features
The program provides an environment for actively learning music skills. It adheres to a universal set of tasks expected of any music student engaged in an integrated music theory course. Activities are designed to allow students to apply their knowledge by identifying and analyzing musical symbols and constructs in written, aural and keyboard contexts. Immediate feedback is given to the user to indicate whether answers are correct. The program tracks the user's progress by recording input in a database.
The two modes of operation are Practice and Assessment. In Practice mode the student gets three tries before the correct answer is shown, and scores are not reported. In Assessment mode no answers are shown, and scores are reported. Fluency with musical materials is important, so all activities are timed in both modes and this information is included in the report.
Requirements
The following requirements are specified in the Project Definition Document:
Browser-accessible over a low-bandwidth Internet connection
Display musical notation on the screen
Play MIDI notes on the client machine with selectable timbres
Enter responses by selecting options with a mouse or keyboard
Allow input from a keyboard map onscreen or an external MIDI keyboard
Generate problem sets automatically from within the program
Provide immediate feedback to user in Practice Mode
Offer a context-sensitive Help glossary with examples
Track progress and report results in Assessment Mode
Offer a clear interface for navigation
Development
Music Theory Mastery is in the prototype stage, with a working model available online. Feedback is being gathered from diverse focus groups, students, and peers. An assessment package was offered online in the Summer of 2004 for NWACC institutions and others to use as a Theory Placement Exam. Individuals and institutions worldwide are encouraged to employ this tool. It is being used to support Portland State University music theory classes, and data will be gathered regarding the impact it has. It may ultimately be used to support theory and musicianship texts and curriculum.
