User Spotlight: Kristel Behrend (North Carolina, USA)
Posted on 15. Jun, 2011 by Katie Wardrobe in Tutorials & Articles, User Spotlight
Kristel Behrend (pictured dressed as her favourite book character, Rita Skeeter, for Read Across America Week) is a Elementary general music teacher at Lake Myra Elementary School in Wendel, North Carolina who is also studying to get her masters at ECU. She stumbled across MuseScore during an internet search and has been using it for just over 8 months now.
So, has MuseScore been adopted by your school? ”I’m working on it. It’s on my laptop and my home computer, but Wake County has to get it on the approved list before I can install in in the lab.” Kristel explains “We have a lab of about 30 computers and a laptop cart with 28. I plan to install [MuseScore] on both.”
And how are you and the students using it in class?
“Right now, it’s a teacher tool, but the kids recently did composition projects that I put into MuseScore and then arranged. I was able to play the arrangement for them in class using an interactive projector to display it. Also, while tracked out [Ed: Kristel teaches at a "year-round school" where students are away from school or "tracked out" for a couple of weeks at a time], a student e-mailed me about working ahead in his recorder unit. I was able to notate 3 versions of Yankee Doodle, post them to MuseScore.com, and link to them from my site. Now my student can not only see the music, but play along with the accompaniment as well. That’s my new favorite tool.”
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Kristel uses MuseScore to write for her students at school:Orff classroom arrangements, for notating student compositions, or for creating her own compositions.
And her favourite thing about MuseScore?
“Everything… it’s got better options than any of the lower paid versions out there, your videos make it user friendly [Ed: thanks!], it seamlessly goes between PC and MAC, I can post scores that my students and their families can see, and it totally FREE! I have been sharing this with everyone – seriously, I feel like a spokesperson, but it is a really great product and the company seems genuinely interested in making better to meet the needs of its customers.”
Links:
Visit Kristel’s music class website
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MikeE
28. Jun, 2011
I’m very curious in what way was your score conceived that it could not have been notated in Finale, yet could be done in MuseScore?
MikeE
28. Jun, 2011
Did you mean that your score could not have been notated using “Finale Notepad”? If so, be fair and mention the full name of the product you are comparing to. Because “Finale” is a $600, professional-level engraving software that can pretty much notate anything, while “Finale Notepad” is a $10 downloadable product that is bare-bones and limited.
Katie Wardrobe
28. Jun, 2011
Hello Mike – yes you’re quite right. I believe Kristel was referring to Finale Notepad which has a limited number of staves. I’ll make an amendment to that paragraph so that it’s clear to other readers. The full professional version of Finale of course has no such limitations and can notate pretty much anything the mind can imagine! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
MikeE
29. Jun, 2011
thank-you.
While I’m a Finale user, and as such have no need for another notation program, I’m very happy to see your product on the market. It has great potential, and seems quite powerful for a Freeware program. Congratulations.
My only advice is: please don’t go the route of some software companies, whose sole advertising is promulgated on “we’re better than “. Work on the selling points (or “giving” points in this case!) of your wonderful product.
Again thank-you for taking my comment into consideration.
Katie Wardrobe
29. Jun, 2011
Thanks Mike. MuseScore is not actually “my” product. I’m not directly involved with development at all – I’ve just started this site as a means to support musicians who are new to computer notation in general, and in particular those using MuseScore. I’m a Sibelius user myself and continue to use it daily, however, I see MuseScore as an excellent free alternative for those who can’t afford Sibelius or Finale. I also don’t mean to encourage the “putting down” of Finale – it’s a fantastic professional notation program (just like Sibelius!). Those words were Kristel’s, in answer to a question I asked: “Tell me about the scores you write. Do you write for lots of instruments or just a couple?”. However I take your point and I’ll edit a little more carefully next time! All the best – Katie
MikeE
21. Jul, 2011
Might you also correct this incorrect statement on your main page? Anyone coming to your main page will read only that Kristel states that her 9-staff score could not be done in Finale. This is, obviously, untrue. It also does not reflect very well on the promotional tack that MuseScore has taken.
Katie Wardrobe
21. Jul, 2011
Mike – I’ve removed the paragraph altogether. I’d rather not have it cause any more confusion. I wasn’t sure what you meant at first by “main page”, but now I realise you’re referring to the main MuseScore website which is run by someone else. I didn’t realise that it had been included there and will ask that the quote be removed.
MikeE
22. Jul, 2011
Thank-you.
Your attention to this detail is greatly appreciated.
Many users of Finale had been promoting MuseScore as a valid alternative to Notepad, but this particular quote on the MuseScore main page was starting to turn the tide against you.
Max
08. Nov, 2011
Katie you are doing a wonderful job with this site. the complainers really need to take a chill pill. On my first visit I knew that the Professional, high cost programs were not being put down or belittled. Get a grip, gees.