As teachers and faculty we are faced daily with communicating sometimes new and often difficult topics to our students. As teachers, we need to demonstrate and model well-developed communication skills to help our students master and retain lesson materials in a more comprehensive manner. Using many different communication channels is one way to improve our teaching (Lewis and Graham, 1988).

The use of technology as an aid in communication has been available for a long time; the chalkboard and overhead projector are now being replaced in the classroom with white dry-erase boards, computers, video visualizers, and liquid crystal display projectors. This new technology can be put to very effective use in the music theory class.

At Central Michigan University the teaching centers in the music classrooms are each equipped with a Macintosh G3 computer with CD-ROM drive, Zip drive, and 3.5" floppy drive. The computer is networked to the School of Music Ethernet server for access to hard-disk storage of course materials, e-mail, and the World Wide Web. For audio production, the computer is connected through its audio port to a six-channel mixer/amplifier. Other audio equipment consists of a professional quality cassette recorder/player, compact disc player, and phonograph turntable. An Alesis NanoSynth is available for playing General MIDI files. For video projection, a Sharp LCD projector can project the image from either the computer or a Canon RE 350 Video Visualizer.

Developing multimedia teaching materials for music instruction involves the integration of several types of media: audio/sound files, graphics, text files, movie files, etc. (Williams and Webster, 1996). PowerPoint ‘98 is used by many as a presentation tool for giving lectures or speeches. However, the interactivity of PowerPoint ^‘98 can be used to develop other course materials besides lectures and speeches. Until recently, one had to rely on software such as HyperCard, Authorware, and Director, et. al. These high level programs demand that the user learn a certain amount of programming code to develop the presentation. With PowerPoint ‘98, the necessity of learning code is reduced … if not totally eliminated. The loss of some freedom provided by the high level programs is outweighed by PowerPoint’s ease of use.

While my emphasis in this paper is on developing materials for a course in Form Analysis of Tonal Music, the procedures are readily adaptable to teaching any music course; I have used many of the concepts presented here in teaching basic music theory and ear training classes. PowerPoint can be used to create multimedia lectures, interactive computer-based practice quizzes, and demonstration tutorials. These materials can be easily distributed to students via printed handouts, on floppy discs with the free PowerPoint Player, or over the Internet by e-mail and web pages. The "C.O.D." approach involves three steps to be considered in preparing a presentation: content, organization and development.

The first step in developing a multimedia presentation is to define the content. The content list specifies in precise terms the objectives, definitions, information, and actions required for the presentation, in addition to listing the media requirements (Williams and Webster 1996).

The Content list for the Form Guide is as follows:

• Scores: Beethoven Piano Sonatas #1-17, Schumann’s Album for the Young, op. 68, Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (complete).
• CD’s of the above musical scores
• Software: Finale and Overture for music notation, Master Tracks Pro and Studio Vision for sequencing, Photoshop for imaging, QuickTime plug-ins, Simpletext, Microsoft Office 98 for word processing and presentation

• Hardware: Macintosh PowerPC computer with CD drive and Zip drive, MIDI synthesizer, scanner

Due to space limitations, I have omitted complete descriptions, definitions, and specific music examples in this version of the Content List. A more detailed account of these items as well as specific teaching and learning objectives should be completed before moving to the organizational stage of the project.

The organization of the presentation involves choosing the media format (in this case, PowerPoint ‘98) and putting the content items into specific order. Appropriate organization assures a logical flow of information and helps to identify necessary links between frames or slides. A good way to begin to organize the presentation is to look at the specific items to be developed, then use an organizational chart or storyboard to plan the presentation. Figure 1 gives an abbreviated version of the organizational chart I am using to develop the Form Guide.

Figure 1.

The Form Guide lends itself to three specific tracks of information: an introductory presentation, a theory review presentation, and the form guide itself. The introduction includes the title, definitions of "form & analysis" and "elements of music," and credits. The most important slide is the main index or table of contents. Each of the two main topics are further subdivided into their respective programs … each with links back to the main index.

The main purpose of the Content and Organization stages is to plan the design of the program before beginning to develop the materials. Many problems in the production stage can be avoided with a little forethought regarding links and connections.

Once the organizational plan is complete, the actual presentations and materials can be developed. Development includes acquiring graphics (either from existing libraries or using a scanner to create one’s own graphics), creating musical sequences and sound files for use in the presentation, and using notation software to create music examples.

Figure 2.

The index slide shown in Figure 2 above becomes the main Agenda Slide that provides the controlling hyperlinks to the various programs of the Form Guide. Underlining occurs as each item is hyperlinked to its respective slide show. Every slide in each show of the subtopics are linked back to the Table of Contents for navigating to other sections of the Form Guide. The Theory Review program will also have its own agenda slide with an index to cover the various topics to be presented in the review.

Each slide show covers a specific topic. A Title Master can be made that contains the title, credits, and other important information for that individual show. To develop the rest of the slide show, the common elements to each slide can be placed on a Master Slide. Each new slide that is produced then automatically contains these elements. For my program, each slide contains three essential buttons: a forward, reverse, and home button, as well as a footer containing additional information. Figure 3 shows the Title Master and Slide Master for the Form Guide’s "Form and Analysis" program.

Using a Slide Master greatly increases the speed with which a presentation can be produced because it eliminates the need to place the common elements individually on each slide. One can also change the format of individual slides without altering the Master Slide and each slide can also contain a different format and objects. An alternative way to produce a Master Slide is to make one individual slide containing the common elements then, in the Slide Sorter window, copy and paste as many slides as needed for the program. Various slide layouts are available to the user. Textboxes, graphics, and sound files can be placed in almost any arrangement on a slide. In addition, any object or text can be hyperlinked to other locations or actions.

Figure 3.

Title Master Slide Master

PowerPoint ’98 supports many types of computer graphics. JPEG, GIF, PICT, and EPS files are easy to import or paste onto any existing slide. In Figure 3, the Central Michigan University School of Music logo is a GIF file captured from the school’s web site and then inserted on the Title Master.

For a presentation in music, notated examples are very important. I use both Overture and Finale to produce music examples. Figure 4 compares the differences between an Overture PICT and EPS file, and a Finale EPS file, each produced at 50% for this paper. Resizing the notation’s window image to 150% or more before creating the PICT or EPS file for insertion in a PowerPoint slide show should eliminate unwanted distortion caused by the trial-and-error process of resizing the image on the slide. Resizing a PICT file can create much distortion, especially in offsetting of accidentals, beams and noteheads.

Figure 4.

The Finale EPS file is much better in an enlarged version, while I find that the Overture EPS file to be better than either the Overture PICT or Finale EPS. An EPS or PICT file of music notation is not perfect from a publishing standpoint. A certain amount of pixilation and jaggedness does occur, especially with slanted beams and curved lines such as slurs. One solution is to print the music score on a good laser printer and resize it to the needed size on a copy machine. Using a scanner and PhotoShop, scan the image and save it as a JPEG or GIF. Some distortion can still occur, however, so keep in mind that no method of producing music graphics is perfect. Notated examples are only one type of graphic that can be placed on a slide. Pictures of composers, historic places, and events can also be used to help students create a mental image of the lesson material.

Sound files are another important feature of the Form Guide that PowerPoint supports. Two methods of playing music that I have used for the Form Guide are QuickTime Movies made from MIDI files and playing examples directly from a CD. Another method is to record a narration directly into PowerPoint.

The basis for a QuickTime movie sound file is a standard MIDI file. I use the music notation examples to produce the MIDI file. Both Finale and Overture allow a notation example to be saved as a standard MIDI file. These notation programs also allow changes in instrumentation, velocity (primarily controlling loudness) and tempo … all of which need to be set before the MIDI file is saved.

Once the MIDI file is saved with the extension ".MID", the file needs to be converted to a QuickTime movie. To do this in PowerPoint, from the Insert menu, select Movies and Sounds, then Movie File. Locate the desired MIDI file in the dialogue box and select it. The file will be converted to a QuickTime movie and the suffix "Movie" will be added after the title. I do not use the standard QuickTime movie logo on the slides. Instead, I use the Sound Button icon available in the Slide Show Action Buttons menu, which I hyperlink to the desired movie file. The movie is then played through Simpletext sound using the movie control bar seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Figure 5

The advantage of using the MIDI file over the CD is to allow more accurate playback of the musical example. Depending on the manufacturing process, a CD cut may begin slightly before and end slightly after the intended music example. Using a sequencer such as Master Tracks Pro, Performer, or StudioVision to create the MIDI files can provide even more precision than a MIDI file saved from any notation program. If a complete MIDI station is available, the sound button can be hyperlinked to open any sequencer program which can the play the desired sound file. I have deliberately chosen not to use external programs, however, so that the Form Guide can be used on almost any Macintosh computer. All the sound files need to be stored and distributed with the Form Guide, making sure that all floppy discs, files and folders keep the same name; otherwise the hyperlinks will be compromised. It is wise to check the "Relative Path" box in the Action Settings dialogue box to make a more reliable hyperlink connection.

A compact disc can also be used to play the musical examples. From the Insert menu, select Movies and Sound, then Play CD Audio Track. After setting the CD track, start time, and end time in the "Play Options" dialogue box, a CD icon will appear on the slide. Click the icon and the CD will play the desired selection. It does not distinguish which CD is in the player so, if you choose this method, make sure the correct CD is available with the program.

Three different types of programs can be created using PowerPoint. The most widely used is a presentation to outline a speech or lecture, emphasizing the main points with graphics, text, and sound files. The slides can be advanced in several ways: with a click of the mouse, by using the up and down arrows, or by typing in the slide number followed by the Return key.

A slide show can also be set to run automatically, advancing each slide after a prescribed amount of time. Voice narration can be added to this type of presentation to create a self-running tutorial program on virtually any topic.

Another type of slide show used in the Form Guide is a test kiosk … a variation of the timed show. The test kiosk is produced by setting the slides to advance only on Action Buttons placed on the Slide Master. This creates a limited amount of interactivity for a program. By producing objective test questions, the student can click on a multiple choice answer button that is hyperlinked to a positive or negative response slide to give feedback to the student. Included on this response slide is the "return to previous slide" action button.

In this paper I have proposed a method of organizing, developing, and preparing course materials using computer-based presentation software (i.e., PowerPoint ‘98). Tools for developing a guide to music form analysis have been introduced by defining the content, organizing the data, and developing the presentation. But the use of technology does not guarantee successful communication in and of itself (Hewitt, 1997). Training in the use of the new equipment and software, choosing an effective means of communication, and–above all else–planning for effective communication are essential.

In creating teaching materials, one must remember that the focus of attention must remain on the message being communicated. Most people find a mixture of graphics & text more interesting than words alone. Multimedia teaching materials should reinforce the message by being easy to understand, read, and use (Stein and Holcombe, 1988). By creating one’s own multimedia materials, the individual needs of each class can be addressed by integrating the aural, visual, and intellectual processes of the students to enhance and stimulate the learning experience. By using the "C.O.D." method, any teacher with basic computer skills and knowledge of music sequencing can develop interesting and creative course materials to help students learn new and sometimes difficult topics.