In both cases, it was not difficult for her to use it. Both means were useful to her, although she justified the
usefulness of each means differently. Regarding the instrument, she believed that, when she used to study
the scores, not only did it provide a sonorous model of the music sheet, but it also forced her to use strategies
to independently face the vocal music reading of the music-sheet, which she believed that the score-writer
could not do. According to Violeta, the main advantage of the program was its quickness, since it allowed
her to focus on memorizing the sonorous model and rehearsing it. In level 1, she preferred to use the
instrument, as she found it faster, and then in level 2 she preferred to use the notation software, stating the
same reason.
Zeus: “[…] I found the score-writer to be easier to use. You just click on it, write it there, click play, go back
as many times as you wish, and simply use those notes as reference to memorize […]”
Zeus is a 21-year-old man. He started learning to play the bass and the guitar when he was 14 years old with
his friends by imitation and by ear. He did not learn to read music, although he started researching on his
own about aspects of musical theory. The subject was quite difficult for him, especially musical reading and,
more specifically, the rhythmic element. The instrument he used to help him study the vocal music reading
of the music sheets was the guitar. Before starting with the training session, he already had some experience
in the use of music notation software. Zeus completed all the parts of the oral test. In all cases, he spent less
time studying with the program than with the instrument. The vocal music reading quality was greater when
he used the editor as the support means. In level 1, he used the guitar to know the tune of the notes he was
going to sing, although he did not interpret the music sheet in the guitar; he only used it to know how to
tune the notes that were written. He worked in this way by fragments, and then he used the guitar to do the
harmonic base. In this level, he did not find it difficult to use the guitar, as he was familiarized with it, and
the music sheet was not difficult for him: “[…] when playing the instrument, I have no problem. I do play. In
fact, I’m currently doing this in my free time. But […] when it comes to sight-reading, if there aren’t big
changes in the rhythm, if it’s about crotchets and minims, it’s fine.”
In level 2, despite the fact that he used the guitar in a similar manner, it was more difficult for him, as he was
not accustomed to accompanying during the singing reading of music sheets of certain complexity:
But here… especially because of the changes in rhythm, which already have some
spark, it has a natural sign here and… the silences, which require more concentration
and more…. skill at reading and playing at the same time… I found it so difficult,
because of the key signature.
The way in which he used the score-writer in the music sheets of both level 1 and level 2 was the same. He
stated that it was not difficult for him to use the program. The means he found most useful was the notation
software. He also highlighted the capacity of the program to generate a correct sonorous model and its ease
of use. Regarding the instrument, he pointed out the automatism generated when associating the written
notes with the position of these in the instrument and, therefore, their sonorous association: “You’re not
only singing… making music with your voice; you’re also making music with your hands. So, for example, if
I’m going to play a G, I already know how it sounds, because I’ve played a G many times.”
In the level-1 music sheet, he preferred using the instrument, as it was easy for him to sight-read music
sheets at that level, and he found it more comfortable and easier to use the guitar. However, in level 2, he
preferred using the notation software, as it was faster and allowed him to focus on the sonorous model.