Ross Mann

I. Overview

This concept course grew from a professional development workshop that I have presented at a number of music education conferences and music festivals on the use and applications of one of the oldest commercially available music notation applications, Finale. This brief Video Lesson and the following Gamified Assessment are just one module from a full fledged course illustrating the ease of entry provided by the “Speedy Entry” Tool, which relies primarily on keyboard shortcuts and keypad strokes to enter note durations on the staff rather than the bulky, time-consuming “drag and drop” entry method of the “Simple Entry” Tools.

• Audience: Professional composers, songwriters, music publishing staff, recording engineers and producers, music students and music educators.

• Responsibilities: With over 20 years experience with Finale, I served as the SME and Instructional Designer: Identifying objectives, planning the lessons, producing digital media and developing the lessons and skill assessments.

• Tools Used: Storyboarding with PowerPoint, Screen Capture with OBS Studio, Graphic Design with PhotoShop, Video production with Adobe Premiere Pro, Voiceovers and audio mastering with Audacity, and E-Learning Development, animations and more with Articulate Storyline 3.

II. The Problem

Given the complex nature of music notation, most music notation applications are niche applications and present few tools or interactions that are particularly intuitive or easy to learn. Among the few intuitive tools offered by Finale is the, “Simply Entry Tool”, which calls on users to drag and drop note values on the staff. However, this can be tedious and time consuming, akin to dragging individual letters into a document one at a time!

III. The Solution

A brief dual-screen video lesson depicts the keyboard interface of applications’ “Speedy Entry Tool”. One screen will depict the Application while the other presents a video of the right hand employing the numeric keypad to enter notes in the application.

After each video lesson, students will be presented with a brief interaction that provides the opportunity to Respond to an image of specific rhythms by striking the keys required to Reproduce the rhythm displayed. Such Guided Response exercises, as defined by Bloom’s Psychomotor domain, provides learners a means of learning intricate motions by imitation or response to other stimuli. With repetition and feedback, practice provides for increased confidence and competence.

V. THE RESULTS

Along with Learning Assessments during the course, some Key Progress Indicators (KPIs) that I would wish to consider to evaluate the effectiveness of this module in any workplace would include:

1. Completion Rate: How many employees completed all of the modules in the course.

2. Adoption Rate: How rapidly employees began using the application for their music notation needs.

3. Employee Productivity Rate: Productivity rate, measured in pages or measures per hour, with the understanding that some musical compositions or genres will require a great deal more time (many more instruments/voices, intricate or non-traditional notation such as tablatures) than others.