We’ve been doing a LOT of demos and I’m happy to report that many of the teachers we speak to sign up immediately and thank us for creating such a robust platform—it warms my heart!
Teachers ask us what makes us stand out over other platforms. It seems there is a lot of confusion going around about what is the right way to teach music lessons online. Many courses are being offered on how to be a good online instructor and how to set up your rig to make platforms like Zoom work for you. Teachers are being advised to purchase hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of technical equipment for an “optimal experience”, but at the end of the day, is any of that gear actually helping? Is it creating beneficial interactions with students? I really don’t think so. And students cannot be expected to purchase any of that same complicated equipment. It all seems like a giant waste of time and money.
The answer is very simple and much more cost effective: students and teachers can download and use Musicology. With Musicology, you don’t need to purchase multiple cameras and stands. You don’t even need headphones or fancy speakers. You don’t need to enable complicated settings or ask your students to buy special microphones. You just log in to Musicology and your student logs in and THAT’S IT! We have built everything you need in one place. Not only does this eliminate the need to purchase band-aid solutions but it also eliminates the need to purchase other apps because it’s all built into one amazing platform.
We asked a focus group to compare Musicology to other platforms. Here are some great quotes and a useful chart:
Whiteboard
“Amazing! Even my littlest students, at 3 years old, love to draw and ‘write’ on the whiteboard!”
Interactive Keyboard
“I love it! The kids can easily move the notes around and play the keyboard.”
File Upload
“Great! I love being able to share worksheets, and even homework sheets with students, and work on them together. Analyse music, colour a page or play a game, etc.”
Grandstaff Drag/Drop
“Great! Easy to move around. Love the stems up and down as well as the multiple notes!”
Full duplex Sound
“The audio on Musicology far exceeds that of Zoom or Skype. No cutting out, we can talk and play at the same time!”
“Very clear sound! I love how I don’t need to be plugged into the wall to have a good sound, nor explain to my non tech savvy students how to change their audio settings.”
Security
“Each student has their own room. I feel secure with the room codes.”
Latency
“I’m finally back to playing duets! Musicology is truly like being in the same room!”
Here is a quick reference comparison chart.
| Musicology | Zoom | Facetime | Google Meets | Skype | Muzie | Rock Out Loud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteboard |  |  |  | | | | |
| Interactive Keyboard | | | | | | premium feature | |
| File Upload & Storage | | | | | | premium feature | |
| Grandstaff Drag/Drop | | | | | | | |
| Full Duplex Sound | | | | | | | |
| Security | | | | | | | |
| Low Latency | | | | | | | |
Update: It’s getting very close to July and the launch of our exciting browser version. It will be available on several different browsers and includes features like screen share and multi cameras (for those that have gotten into a groove of teaching with these tools.)
Don’t forget to join our FB group Team Musicology and feel free to look around and see what others are saying about us 😉
7 Responses
Browser version – Does this mean that the musicology app will be available for laptops? I hope so 😍
Yes, I am wondering the same thing. Hope so also 🙂
@Prosad as well 🙂
Yes, Suzanne! Musicology will be available on all devices this summer!
I’m interested but don’t have an iPas. I use my MacBook Pro to teach. Hoping musicology will be available soon for computer
Yes, Linda! Musicology will work on your MacBook Pro as a web app this summer!
I’m using Rockoutloud now and have found that the whiteboard is hard to use and that I can’t hear my students very well when we play duets. I’m so weary of working with different platforms and learning all about them: I’m not looking forward to trying Musicology, but I need to find the best one.
I have trouble finding you: I type in Musicology and it goes to another site. What should I type in to find your website every time?