Thoughts on Using SmartMusic

Today I recorded the first 25 measures of J.C. Bach's Concerto in C minor Mvt. II, Adagio molto espressivo using SmartMusic.  I have played along before with SmartMusic's method books for beginner woodwinds which works great for showing immediate rhythm and pitch accuracy.  However, I found recording a solo piece using SmartMusic to be far less seamless.  The selection of solo pieces available on SmartMusic for my primary instrument (viola) is geared more toward beginner-intermediate level solo pieces and/or method solo books like Suzuki, and not so much toward advanced repertoire solo pieces.  The pieces I am currently working on in my Applied Lesson were not available on SmartMusic, so I had to backtrack in my study and play something that I had not worked on in a while.  In my first few takes I struggled with tempo between the accompaniment and solo.  The different takes also sounded very distorted and the accompaniment overpowered the solo line.  I had to try standing in a few different locations to get the "best" possible sounding recording.  After quite a few more takes I had given up playing along with the accompaniment, but I had discovered how to lower the recording and microphone volumes which helped lessen the distortion. In the recording I finally deemed "best", I was attempting to follow the green line on SmartMusic which marked the beat of the metronome, but I had also set the take to follow me through varied tempo changes, which did not happen.  I consistently found myself waiting for the green line in the recording to catch up to where I was in the music, giving my recording an unsteady pulse and distracting me from focusing on pitch.  Overall I would definitely use SmartMusic in the classroom when working on basic method pieces, and even beginning Suzuki pieces where a steady, consistent tempo is stressed.  SmartMusic has the capability to give both teacher and student immediate results on the student's progress, and even redirection from the teacher if the student is practicing something in the wrong way.  Smart Music also provides the student with an accompanist while practicing their solo repertoire which is helpful if the student doesn't have frequent access to an accompanist until right before the performance.With regards to more advanced solo pieces, I feel that using SmartMusic is not the best option.  By this level, students are experimenting with expressive qualities that will result in their pieces having a fluctuating tempo that SmartMusic may not accurately be able to follow.