Solfy: An Online Interactive Platform for Promoting Music Literacy

Solfy: An Online Interactive Platform for Promoting Music Literacy

Singing is part of music education curricula all over the world and can lead to amazing benefits of emotional, cognitive, physical and social health, bringing joy to both singers and audiences. Most singing education today is "by ear", leaving music literacy to those who have the privilege of learning a musical instrument by private lessons. But developing skills of singing-from-score, by practicing Solfege, can open the door to music literacy to the vast majority of students who do not have this privilege. 

Learning Solfege has been up till now a tedious task and therefore practiced nowhere in the public education system. Solfy was created to change this reality. It is an interactive tool for learning and practicing Solfege, bringing together music-teaching pedagogical expertise with innovative computer science methods. 

Hosting hundreds of carefully sorted exercises, Solfy sings Solfege from digital scores, prompts the user to practice his singing, and gives comprehensive feedback on his performance. Solfy is a music self-learning tool that requires only a computing device and a headset. It also enables a teacher to guide and monitor a class of student users, either in a frontal class or remotely.

We are looking for collaborations with enthusiastic and passionate music teachers to bring up pilot programs where Solfy is being used in music classes. We also encourage music teachers to enroll to Solfy's web-site and experience Solfege practicing by themselves. It is currently free for all.

Fwd: SEMPRE Autumn 2020 Conference: registration is open!

SEMPRE Autumn 2020 Conference
The role of music psychology research in a complex world: Implications, applications and debates
9–11 September, 2020
University of Leeds (online)
Invited speaker: Prof. Alexandra Lamont (Keele University)

Registration is now open and can be completed here: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1801/autumn_2020_sempre_conference.

A provisional conference schedule is also available on the website.

Do get in touch if you have any queries.

Best wishes,

Karen Burland, David Ireland, Melissa Kirby, Emily Payne
SEMPRE Autumn 2020 Conference Committee

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SEMPRE Autumn 2020 Conference
The role of music psychology research in a complex world: Implications, applications and debates

The study of the musical mind its associated behaviours has become increasingly socially conscious, with more emphasis on applications and values, and calls to reflect on music(king)'s capacity to afford (inter)subjectivity and empathy; to engage with music's global diversity, and to encourage interdisciplinarity communality. Recent years have seen rapid societal and cultural change, which has impacted on priorities for the environment, education, community, wellbeing, politics, and social justice, as well as mounting concern about the rise of intolerance in an increasingly polarised society.

This SEMPRE conference aims to bring together researchers to (re)consider music psychology (in the broadest sense of the term) in light of current social, cultural, and environmental challenges, and seeks to foster discussion and debate about the role that music psychology might play in addressing them.

It is hoped that some papers from the conference will contribute to a Music & Science Special Collection, 'Music Psychology Research in a Complex World', guest-edited by Karen Burland and Emily Payne. More information can be found here: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/mns/special-collections/The-role-of-music-psychology-research-in-a-complex-world.

Dr Emily Payne
Lecturer in Music
Assistant Editor, Music & Science

Fwd: Sound Communities - free online Music & Communication resource

Following its launch earlier this year, I CAN and Creative Futures are pleased to unveil new resources on the Sound Communities website - an online resource supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation - which provides information on the links between early years music-making and speech, language and communication practice and practical ideas to support both.

 

Launched in January 2020, the Sound Communities website is a free online resource based on an action research project and CPD course run by Creative Futures in early years settings since 2015. The online learning platform aims to develop early years practitioners' understanding of the communicative aspects of children's music-making, and equip them with creative tools, approaches and methods to support all children, including those with speech, language and communication needs. Sound Communities comprises musical content created by Creative Futures, speech, language and communication-focused content from I CAN, and practical suggestions based on the learning experiences of early years practitioners providing real life examples from their settings. Included is information on the typical development of speech, language and communication skills in children, suggestions for supporting children's musical identity, and video examples of practitioners supporting and nurturing children's music making and development.

 

Updates in July 2020 include:

 

• Increased video content; examples of real-life practitioners implementing the strategies outlined on the website with children in early years settings
• Sound Stone stories; an example of a sound stone story created by Kate Comberti, Creative Producer at Creative Futures, as well as some tips for how practitioners can create their own sound stone stories
• English as an Additional Language webpage; this content will answer some frequently asked questions on this topic and will signpost to areas of the website that might be most useful for these children

 

To find out more, please visit: https://soundcommunities.org.uk/

 

We would be grateful if you can share details of the website with colleagues in the Early Years, Music Education and Speech and Language sectors. If you have any questions relating to Sound Communities, or would like further information about the project, please contact hello@creativefuturesuk.com.

 

Best wishes,

Julian

 

Julian Knight

Creative Director

Creative Futures (UK) Limited

 

Tel: 07980 820323

Email: julian@creativefuturesuk.com

Web: www.creativefuturesuk.com

 

Registered company No. 7578987

Registered charity No.1143459

 

Fwd: [DMRN-LIST] 2020 Joint Conference on AI Music Creativity: 2nd CfP

The 2020 Joint Conference on AI Music Creativity
https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fboblsturm.github.io%2Faimusic2020&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cca89451a3f45441a568308d81e74a98a%7C1faf88fea9984c5b93c9210a11d9a5c2%7C0%7C1%7C637292833693071246&sdata=6MdaoOv8sg8f8sGq9NXCM0FNNxbg3g%2B33%2Fzw2j70IUs%3D&reserved=0
October 19-23, 2020 organized and hosted virtually by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden

The 2020 Joint Conference on AI Music Creativity brings together for the first time two overlapping research forums: The Computer Simulation of Music Creativity conference (est. 2016), and The International Workshop on Musical Metacreation (est. 2012). The principal goal is to bring together scholars and artists interested in the virtual emulation of musical creativity and its use for music creation, and to provide an interdisciplinary platform to promote, present and discuss their work in scientific and artistic contexts.

The 2020 Joint Conference on AI Music Creativity will consist of synchronous and asynchronous events. The five-day program will feature tutorials, research paper presentations, discussion panels, an online exhibition, invited spotlight presentations and two keynotes delivered by Professor Emeritus Dr. Johan Sundberg (Speech, Music and Hearing, KTH) and Dr. Alice Eldridge (Music, Sussex University, UK).

Find specific instructions, templates and deadlines at the official conference website:
https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fboblsturm.github.io%2Faimusic2020&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cca89451a3f45441a568308d81e74a98a%7C1faf88fea9984c5b93c9210a11d9a5c2%7C0%7C1%7C637292833693071246&sdata=6MdaoOv8sg8f8sGq9NXCM0FNNxbg3g%2B33%2Fzw2j70IUs%3D&reserved=0

Organization committee
    Conference chair: Bob L. T. Sturm, Division of Speech, Music and Hearing, KTH
    Paper chair: Andy Elmsley, CTO Five Vectors
    Music chair: Mattias Sköld, Instutitionen för komposition, dirigering och musikteori, KMH
    Panel chair: Oded Ben-Tal, Department of Performing Arts, Kingston University, UK
    Tutorial chair: Iris Ren, Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University
    Publicity chair: André Holzapfel, Division of Media Technology and Interaction Design, KTH
    Sound and music computing chair: Roberto Bresin, Division of Media Technology and Interaction Design, KTH

Steering committee
    Robert Keller, Harvey Mudd College, USA
    Philippe Pasquier, Simon Fraser University, Canada
    Robin Laney, The Open University, UK
    Anna Jordanous, University of Kent, UK
    Roisin Loughran, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland
    Steven Jan, University of Huddersfield, UK

Fwd: IJRCS Call for Nominations (EdBoard, Assoc Editor)

Hello, IJRCS Editorial Board members -- I hope you are having a good start to the summer. Please do access the Symposium's virtual exhibit room if you have not done so already; it is open to all ACDA members through July 15. https://acda.org/conferences/symposium-for-research-in-choral-singing/

Below is the Call for Nominations for openings on the IJRCS Editorial Board and for the position of IJRCS Associate Editor. Nominations are due September 15, and we will make our collective recommendations in October to the ACDA National Standing Committee on Research and Publications. Watch for further information about how we'll review and rank the nominees.

Please disseminate this widely . . . and consider working with someone to nominate you for the position of Associate Editor (essentially Editor-designate). This announcement will appear in coming issues of Choral Journal and the MayDay Group newsletter. Please share with other outlets as you can, including internationally.

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Call for Nominations – IJRCS Editorial Board and Associate Editor/Editor

 

            The editor of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing requests nominations for membership on the Editorial Board (2021–2026). Nominations are additionally invited for the position of Associate Editor (2021-2022), with intention to serve as Editor from 2023-2026. Electronic files of nomination materials will be accepted through September 15, 2020, addressed to Patrick K. Freer, IJRCS Editor, at IJRCS@acda.org. 

            Editorial Board. Nominees should hold a completed doctorate and have a record of research publications. Nominations must be submitted by the nominator and include: 1) a letter of nomination that includes description of the nominee's qualifications to evaluate quantitative and qualitative research manuscripts; 2) the nominee's Curriculum Vitae; 3) a PDF or direct link to a representative published research article selected by the nominee; and 4) the nominator's ACDA membership number/membership expiration date. International nominees need not be ACDA members. Nominators should highlight the nominee's most important research publications and any previous editorial/reviewer work.

            Associate Editor. It is assumed that nominees would accept membership on the Editorial Board if not selected as Associate Editor; please inform if otherwise. Nominations must be submitted by the nominator and include the four items outlined above. Complete nominations will additionally include, as a fifth item, a letter of recommendation from the editor of a journal for which the nominee has served as a member of the review board; this letter should address issues of scholarly contribution to the review process, timeliness, and collegiality. 

*****

Thank you!

Take care,

Patrick

______________________________________

Patrick K. Freer, Ed.D.

Editor, International Journal of Research in Choral Singing

Professor of Music | Coordinator of Music Education

Georgia State University - School of Music

75 Poplar St. | Atlanta, GA  30303

404.413.5949 (office) | 404.413.5910 (fax)

   ~Pronouns: he/him/his