What is e-Semble?
At Johnson Music School, we always try new and cool things in music learning. One problem we want to solve is how to keep students excited about practicing music every day. It's important for students, guardians, and teachers!
We're really excited to tell you about our new project, called e-Semble. It's a special way of making music together, both online and in person. This new way of playing music might make you even more excited about it and could lead to forming real music groups in the future.
How it works
Regular Class Preparation
With the help of their awesome teachers, students get the tools and support they need to practice their music parts really well.
Regular Class Recordings
In their usual music classes, students record their own parts of a song.
Post-Production Magic
Our team of super-skilled experts then put all the recorded parts together to make an amazing virtual group performance.
Showcasing Excellence
The awesome performance we create is shown on YouTube, so you can watch and listen to what you all did together!
Why the e-Semble Experience Matters
Getting Excited and Staying Motivated
When you join a virtual ensemble, you get to feel the happiness of playing music with others, even when you're not in the same place. It can make you super excited about practicing and playing. Knowing you'll be part of the group can make you want to practice your own part really well.
Building Valuable Skills
Being part of an ensemble, even a virtual one, makes you feel more confident and accomplished. It also helps you get better at communicating, participating, and believing in yourself.
Fostering Collaboration
Ensembles help students achieve a shared goal and work together as a team. This teaches them the importance of teamwork, which is not only useful in music but also in life.
More Performance Opportunities
When you perform, it makes you feel happy, motivated for more, and confident. These performances aren't just about celebrating music, they also make you feel inspired and grow as people.
Join Us on the Design Journey
We're working on a new music idea, but it's not finished yet. We want you, students and guardians, to be a part of making it awesome. We're designing a special way to play music online just for you, and we need your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions to make it the best it can be. Let's do this together!
If you join in on this adventure, you can help us create a program for ensembles that's just right for you. We'll work together to make practicing music more fun and enjoyable than ever!
We think your ideas will make our project awesome. When you join in, we can make music even more fun and amazing for everyone. We can't wait to work with you to make the future of music even better!
Here's a friendly guide to the stages of the design program and what you can look forward to in each one.
Stage 1 - Ideate
Name of the Program
Guess what? "e-Semble" is just a codename for this cool project. You and your friends will work together to give it a super awesome name.
Talking and Sharing
The special program lets you be in your own class, so you might not meet the others. But, you can decide how you'll talk and share your awesome ideas with them!
The Songs
To make sure you really like the program, you get to pick the songs you want to play! Everyone will suggest songs for the ensemble, and we'll choose the ones everyone is super excited about.
Musical Activities
Tell us what fun music activities you like, and we'll help you get better at rhythm and timing while having a blast!
Filming for YouTube
Tell us how you want the camera to show your performance and share your thoughts on making cool videos.
Tech Learning Session
Get involved in the tutorial to learn about the music software. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get help with using it for your own practice and learning.
Stage 2 - Prototype
The Program
Using the fun music ideas we came up with, you will create exciting lesson plans and materials that you like, and what you think your friends will like too! We'll test this during Stage 3!
Tech Tips and Tricks
You will come up with helpful tips and tricks for using music technology to make the program run smoothly during the test run and in the future.
Spread the Word
Design some cool ads to grab their friends' attention and get them excited the ensemble project! These ads will be shared with the student body to get more participants for Stage 3.
Stage 3 - Test
Try it out
The program, the things you made, and the tips you came up with will now be tested! You and other students will start this music adventure, learn parts of a song, and record it on in class!
Putting it all together
You can join in and help make a cool performance using special computer tools. Plus, you'll even learn some neat stuff along the way!
YouTube Premiere!
At the end of the test, you'll get to watch the Premiere on YouTube no matter where you are! It'll then stan on YouTube for you to share with your friends.
Then what?
The e-Semble program will keep on running for as long as students want it to, so you are welcome to keep joining in and creating cool videos with other students in the school.
This experience will let you see how much fun ensembles can be, and you might want to use your new skills to start your own virtual ensembles! What's even cooler is that you might become interested in joining real in-person ensembles, where all the musicians practice and play together in the same place!
Guardians, want more info?
Rachel has compiled a deep dive into the research and reasoning behind this design project and e-Semble itself. If you're looking for information, check out her write-up or reach out to her personally!