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Technology Hour
James West: Using Technology to Enhance Practice
Frank G. Campos, reporter
"How can we make practice more fun and still get our work done?" In a very
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James R. West |
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informative lecture demonstration, Professor James R. West of Louisiana State University described several very creative ways to enhance practice sessions with technology. For example, using a computer software metronome that ranged from 5 to 500 beats per second, West set the beat at one beat per quarter note, in much the way one might normally use a metronome. Then he set the beat to the half note, to the whole note, one beat per bar, and finally one beat every two bars. The object, according to West, is to stop relying on the machine and get the beat "in your gut." He also demonstrated several different ways in which his computer-metronome could help in learning odd meter music, including programming it to play an entire piece such as the Stevens Sonata for Trumpet and Piano.
West demonstrated the use of MIDI (Music Instrument Digital Interface) technology by playing a Concone lyrical study on his trumpet with a computer generated accompaniment. He added a computer generated melody and demonstrated several ways to practice, such as playing the melody on the mouthpiece with accompaniment, and playing the melody on the trumpet along with the melody. These practice techniques are superb for training the ears.
West discussed several very useful advances in software and hardware including Band In A Box, SmartMusic, Vivace, and programs that will allow a musician to create MIDI files, such as Cakewalk, Vision, and Performer.
While Mr. West has created MIDI files for his own use using the programs mentioned, he recommended Coda's SmartMusic, a software/hardware system that will play, using a computer with a sound card, the accompaniment to many of the most popular trumpet pieces in the literature. A particularly interesting feature of the program is its ability to actually follow the performer's tempo, and even find the player when he has slipped a couple of bars.
One of West's most interesting pedagogical concepts was his suggestion for teaching transposition. He would have the student transpose two bars of a simple melody a half step up, then a whole step up, and incrementally higher to a fifth above the melody, as well as the same process downward a fifth. The next day, the student would do the same process for the next two bars of the melody. By the end of two weeks, the student will have the entire melody learned in every key. West's only rule: "I don't care how slow you do it, but don't miss any notes." It is his belief that a player who transposes this way can move to any transposition very easily and quickly.
West discussed the importance of repetition in creating the reflexes necessary to perform. He described a MIDI program he created for himself to nail the high "C" in Holst's The Planets. Every four beats, the computer played a high "C", and not unlike like Karl Malone at the free throw line, West would strive to make as many as possible in a row without missing. The key to this exercise, states West, is to repeat successful attempts as much as possible. He reminded us that the sports coaches with the greatest records stressed fundamentals.
It was clear to everyone present that Jim West is a devoted and creative teacher with an adventurous spirit, and that his use of technology is not an end in itself, but is in the service of music the further education of his students. |
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