| Press Release | Go to the Words & Music page |
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Topologika’s new ‘Words & Music’ pack – a major innovation that links Music to Literacy "Ever since our MusicBox software won the Gold Award at BETT in 1995," explains Topologika's managing director Brian Kerslake, "we've been looking for the next big idea in Music education. And here it is – a major innovation linking Music to Literacy in which all primary teachers like Marion Broadie who designed the pack are experts! Words & Music certainly sounds just the ticket to get pupils making music, and writing songs (about which more later). Pupils don’t need to be musicians to use the software, and teachers won't waste time setting it up and learning how it works, because it’s all done for you. The pack suits pupils from as young as seven right through to secondary, so they can grow with it – the same value for money that’s in all of Topologika’s software. Words & Music is ideal for work on raps, call and response, harmonies, rounds and layering, and perfect for free-style composition or, via the ready-to-use activity files, perfect for introducing pupils to musical concepts one step at a time. According to Topologika, KS 4 teachers report that they expect it to work a treat with pupils who’ve opted for music but who don't find learning an instrument while simultaneously reading music easy. On the 'Paper' screen, to change note length, coloured 'paper strips' can be cut, 'glued', stretched and shrunk, and to change pitch, they can be slid up and down. This is a unique way to get youngsters making and understanding music by directly editing musical patterns on-screen…. A stave – which can be disabled for children who are not ready for traditional music notation –is there too, mirroring the 'paper' work exactly. For those who are ready for notation, notes can be stretched, shrunk and slid up and down the stave in exactly the same way as the ‘Paper’ tools. High fliers and older pupils can use the 'Trio' screen, which looks like a musical score with traditional notation on up to three tracks, each of which can be treble, alto, bass or percussion. The ‘Paper’ and ‘Trio’ screens use identical playback and editing tools, can include chords and will even print youngsters’ own scores. It's so compelling that once they start making music with the 128 MIDI and 300+ sampled instruments, they just don't want to stop! Why ‘Words & Music'? "If it suggests a link between Music and Literacy," says Brian Kerslake, "that's what we want. Pupils can add lyrics to a tune they've composed, or put a tune to a poem or a backing to a rap. The links with Literacy are many and fascinating – how many notes does a three-syllable word need? How do the natural rhythms of speech and music parallel each other? What about the stresses and intonation of speech?" Two other benefits offered by Words & Music are that pupils are making their own music rather than just sequencing other peoples' work as in much other software, and that once they've finished a composition they can use Words & Music's built-in ‘Record’ button to commit their singing or playing along to posterity – karaoke wonderland! The Words & Music pack includes the CD and a Resource Book with over 200 ready-to-use QCA-linked activities and worksheets. There are many direct links with DTP software such as textEase so that pupils can describe their work, import a picture of the music they’ve written and drag it in as a file so that the whole thing can be read, looked at and listened to. Words & Music starts at £59 ex. VAT for a Single User licence up to £269 ex. VAT for an Unlimited Site licence. It’s available on 30 days 'try before you buy' to educational establishments, and special Home Editions are available for teachers to sell on to pupils. ends Contact
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