Mastering Music Online for Education

The story of the development of Mastering Music Online started in 2000 when Datasonics was approached by school teachers who were struggling to implement music technology in their classrooms. These teachers were already using Music Master (our powerful sequencing, notation and audio tool) because of the unique tight coupling of the MIDI events to the notation symbols for fast and accurate song composition. This provided the best experience to students leading to only one version of the song to both play and print. However, these teachers faced several challenges, including limited time for lesson preparation, the need to meet individual student needs, and a requirement for user-friendly tools that aligned to the curriculum.

LESSON PREPARATION
PERSONALIZED LEARNING
ISSUES WITH TECHNOLOGY

At that time, most music software products were installed tools (including our own Music Master). Even though these tools can be useful, without music lessons to guide their use they are limited in their ability to teach and learn music. Therefore, Datasonics solved this issue by developing a set of browser-based music lessons that cover the curriculum and interfaced directly with Music Master to provide the best framework for increased musical knowledge and the freedom to generate creative ideas. Mastering Music resulted and was embraced by hundreds of schools who were using it in their computer labs showing Datasonics as a leading-edge innovative company.

As technology and the internet advanced, the computer labs were replaced with laptops and a school policy of 'Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)'. With a BYOD policy, the use of installed music software became a nightmare for music teachers as not all music software is compatible with all platforms and Chromebooks in schools do not allow easy installation of software. Datasonics realised this and started re-developing Mastering Music to totally work in the browser so that it could work on all devices with nothing to install. This resulted in Mastering Music Online being released in mid 2020 during the start of the COVID pandemic.

Mastering Music Online is Datasonics' commitment to addressing the needs of music teachers and students by providing comprehensive, user-friendly, and innovative music education solutions.

Music Lessons
  1. aligned to the curriculum for Years K-12
  2. self-paced lessons for personalized learning
  3. over 400 lessons categorized by year level & activity type
  4. covers theory, ear-training and creative activities
Teacher Operation and Access
  1. assign lessons using Google Classroom or other LMS
  2. online Professional Development Courses for Teachers
  3. admin interface to view, monitor and mark student work
  4. complete freedom with custom lesson plans
Recording Studio
  1. compose, arrange, mix and print music
  2. powerful editing tools across 6 editors
  3. import and export MIDI files and Music XML
  4. in-built virtual keyboard and synthesizer
  5. record from external keyboard in real-time
Easy Operation and Access
  1. single login from Google or Microsoft Education Account
  2. nothing to install
  3. works on all devices any where, any time
  4. all work stored in the cloud for privacy and security
  5. narrated text, instructional and video help on all lessons

Music Teacher Blog on using technology in the classroom

Online Music Lessons

The music lessons have been categorized by year level and activity type for easy reference and selection.

Performing
Beginner to advanced songs in all styles and instruments
Composing
Composing, Arranging, Mixing, Film Scoring and much more!
Publishing
Reading and Writing Notation for parts and conductor scores
Musicianship
Ear training, music theory plus rhythmic & melodic dictation

Each lesson topic is color-coded to indicate its primary activity type and shows the musical concepts covered.

Lesson Topic
Lessons
Musical Concepts
Rhythm
Pitch
Dyn/Exp
Form
Timbre
Texture
Musical Stories 1
Instrument Families 1  
Instruments Aural18    
Staff, Clef and Notes 10     
Note Durations 9     
Rest Durations 6     
Beginner Songs3
Changing Instruments6     
Correcting Instruments4     
Easy Songs3
Tempo Marks 2     
Tempo2    
Identifying Instruments3     
Play-along Songs4
Musical Forms 9     
Folk Songs4
Adding Lyrics3     
Drum Grooves4    
Intervals Aural17     
Intervals Written16     
Note Recognition5    
Bar and Time Signature 5     
Time Signatures2    
Writing Manuscript5   
Writing Counts6     
Rock Songs3
Clefs4     
Dynamics 2     
Using Dynamics3     
Writing Dynamics2     
Accidentals 8     
Lesson Topic
Lessons
Musical Concepts
Rhythm
Pitch
Dyn/Exp
Form
Timbre
Texture
Editing Notes1     
Selecting Instruments2     
Orchestral Songs4
Accent Marks 2     
Staccato Marks 2     
Arranging4  
Compose in Keyboard2    
Christmas Solos4
Semitones and Tones 2     
Ties and Slurs 3     
Ensemble Arranging4  
Enharmonic Notes 2     
Major Scales 5     
Minor Scales 2     
Major Key Signatures 4     
Quantizing2     
Folk Advanced3
Ensemble Balance3  
Solfa and Transposition 4     
Syncopation 2     
Performance1
Chords Aural13    
Chords Written13    
Adding Chords3     
Chord Symbols3     
Creating Chords1    
Chord Inversions4    
Choir Songs3
Major Key Harmony 6    
Minor Key Harmony 2    
Film Scoring3 
Lesson Topic
Lessons
Musical Concepts
Rhythm
Pitch
Dyn/Exp
Form
Timbre
Texture
Rhythmic Exercises6     
Rhythmic Dictation6     
Melodic Exercises6   
Melodic Dictation6   
Jazz Songs6
Scales Aural17     
Pentatonic Scales 2     
Blues Scales 2     
Whole Tone Scales 2     
Instrument Ranges8    
Mixing4  
Anacrusis8    
Repeats3     
1st and 2nd Endings3     
Advanced Performance1
Changing Tonality2    
Christmas Ensembles3
DC al Fine3     
DS al Fine3     
DC al Coda2     
DS al Coda2     
Radio Remix2  
Composing Parts3  
Note Comparison10    
Publishing Layout3    
Improvisation3
Cadences Aural7    
Cadences Written19    
Modes 2     
4Part Writing4   
Sight Singing12

Mastering Music Testimonials

"Mastering Music has been developed by experienced musicians and music educators to place the power and the pleasure of digital music-making in the hands of students, taking them from musical rudiments to advanced skills in performance, composition and listening. It embeds the foundational skills of aural discernment, notation and arrangement within interactive learning experiences that allow students to develop their ability to compose, perform and record their own music using the power of a DAW, but all running from your web browser with nothing to install. Mastering Music is a comprehensive learning package that can enhance any school music program and is supported by an informative professional development course and a highly experienced production team."
Dr Philip Cooney, Wycliffe Christian School, NSW, Australia

Excerpts from Mastering Music Workshop in USA

Pricing

Classroom
best for K-4 Teachers
$ 250 00USD
per school annually
Lessons K-4
Classroom Primary PD Course
Upper Primary
best for Years 5-6
$ 5 00USD
per student annually
Lessons K-6
Classroom Primary PD Course
Recording Studio
Drum Loops
Sync to Video
Junior Secondary
best for Years 7-8
$ 10 00USD
per student annually
Lessons K-8
Secondary Music PD Course
Recording Studio
Drum Loops
Sync to Video
Senior Secondary
best for Years 9-12
$ 20 00USD
per student annually
Lessons K-12
Secondary Music PD Course
Recording Studio
Drum Loops
Sync to Video
30-day free trial
  1. No credit card required
  2. Try all features for 30 days
  3. Unlimited users during trial
  4. Upgrade license at any time
Try it free!