Many school’s music departments use SmartMusic as a learning resource for their music classes. While SmartMusic is a great tool for general band and orchestra, it isn’t very good at helping learn specific instruments like guitar and ukulele. Moosiko is designed specifically for guitar and ukulele students providing unique features for these instruments that SmartMusic doesn’t have.
Let’s further examine the differences between SmartMusic and Moosiko:
What is SmartMusic?
SmartMusic is a web-based suite of general music education tools. SmartMusic offers resources for educators, students and parents. They also offer online webinars and events, which are archived upon their completion.
SmartMusic has done a good job of digitizing existing method books and lead sheets to make them searchable and accessible. A good way to describe SmartMusic is “a large digital collection of existing books and materials.”
SmartMusic is best used for traditional music classes:
- Orchestra
- Band
- Choir
Here are some of their main features:
- Hundreds of method books to choose from
- Thousands of ensembles and lead sheets
- Support lots of orchestral instruments (Flute, Basson, Sax, Trumpet, Violin, etc.)
- Custom notation creation
- Sight reading exercises
Some drawbacks of SmartMusic include:
- Audio feedback assessment isn’t accurate which can be frustrating to new students trying to learn
- Students find SmartMusic difficult to use because the dashboard is confusing and challenging to navigate as a new user
- Doesn’t offer step-by-step practicing instructions
- Large array of content can be overwhelming for students that just want to know, “What should I learn next?”
While SmartMusic is more of a collection of e-books, with a focus on traditional band, Moosiko takes a new, adaptive and personalized, approach to learning with a focus on modern instruments and culturally relevant music.
What is Moosiko?
Moosiko is an online, adaptive learning platform for guitar and ukulele classes that boosts student motivation through modern, fun songs and makes assessment easier for teachers.
Moosiko is designed for modern music classes:
- Guitar classes
- Ukulele classes
- Ukulele in general music classes
- Modern band classes
The Moosiko Method™ is a new and unique learning style that differs greatly from SmartMusic and other music softwares:
- Step-by-step practice lessons to hundred of modern, fun songs
- Skill tracking and engagement tracking for individual students
- Video recordings that capture micro-wins and micro-mistakes making assessment easier for teachers
- Color-coded song sheets
Some drawbacks for Moosiko include:
- Doesn’t include other modern instrument such as keyboard, bass, drums
- No real-time audio feedback (technology isn’t good enough to make this accurate enough)
- Can’t support advanced guitar classes
- No music playback due to copyright and licensing restrictions
Both SmartMusic and Moosiko have hundreds of song titles for students to learn across a variety of genres such as Wonder Woman 1984, Hamilton, Classic Rock and Holiday Tunes.
Comparison
Moosiko and SmartMusic are used for such different purposes that it’s hard to compare which is “better.” For your traditional band or orchestra programs, SmartMusic is the way to go.
For your modern guitar classes or ukulele programs, Moosiko is a better fit because it is designed specifically for those instruments and curriculum. Moosiko brings together the best in user-friendly design, skill and data tracking, and audio engineering to provide a better experience for both students and teachers. Their step-by-step methodology combined with an adaptive recommendation engine puts Moosiko at the leading edge of music education innovation.
If you think Moosiko is a fit for your class, school, or district, get in touch to get your Class Account set up today.