One App at a Time: Moosic Studio

Wow, sometimes I wish I could start all over. Well, that may be an overstatement, but there's something about the tools offered to piano teachers now a days that are so nifty and savvy. Not surprising that I would say something like this as you know I'm a huge fan of iPad apps and any tech tool that enhances my teaching style. If I was forced to begin again,  I'd be highly interested in using a recently released iPad app called Moosic Studio to keep my studio in order. What intrigues me the most about Moosic Studio is the fact that this app was developed by a husband for his wife, a piano teacher. No one is aligned to the daily woes and needs of a piano teacher more than a spouse. Can you imagine the luxury of having someone in-house who listens and builds a product to suit your personal studio needs? Once you take a look inside the app, you'll see that this teacher married well :-).

Usually I devote this column to apps that I've experienced first hand, but I must admit, I have not yet employed the app to its full potential.  I already have a system in place for scheduling, etc and because of time constraints, I can't foresee changing over to this system right now. That being said, for any of you who are launching a studio, looking for a way to streamline lesson scheduling or desperate for a means to organize your studio with the ease of an iPad, here's a fine solution.

My Point of View

Instead of providing a general outline of the app's features, let me zero in on a favorite. As I make it a point to follow-up lessons by emailing lesson notes, I was particularly interested in seeing how Moosic Studio provides lesson feedback. I was pleased to find a fabulous system obviously custom-made for piano teachers. Once student general information has been entered, tapping on the individual's name will lead to a screen where a great deal more information can be stored for that particular pianist. One category is labeled Assignment History. Selecting this option will take you to an array of additional category titles with sub menus.

• Lesson Dates of all past lessons
• Attendance: On Time, Late, No Show
• Books: Brought Books, Did Not Bring Books
• Lesson Event/Performance: Outstanding, Good, Needs Improvement
• Teacher Comments (not shared with students)
• Lesson/Event Notes
• Circle of 5ths: Hands (together, separately), Pentascales, Tetrascales, Scales, etc...
• Assignments: Add Book Assignment, Sight Reading, Apps/Online, Notes
• Attach Media: Audio Recordings, Video Recordings, Timed Events

All of these items can be selected and completed during the lesson. There is ample space to write comments, and yes even make video and audio recordings that can be shared with a student via Dropbox and other apps. However, the most extraordinary portion of the app is that all these menu items mentioned above are neatly organized into a lovely template that can be:

• printed at the lesson
• opened in another app such as Dropbox, Kindle, Notability, forScore, iBooks, Evernote, Google Drive
• emailed directly to the student

Oh my,  I've been looking for something like this that totes versatility and ease of communication with student families and finally found it!

The Developer's Point of View

From my conversations with Carlos Fontiveros, the developer, it is clear he is continually updating Moosic Studio and adding new features to piano teachers' wish list.  Below is his description of the latest updates:

"We've come out with an update for Moosic Studio and the big focus was to re-design the Lesson Assignment sheet. The initial Version 1.0 sheet was not optimized at all and included every assignment whether it was entered or not. This also caused the Lesson Assignments to be multiple pages which is not good for anyone. The re-design fixed this by making each assignment dynamic. Each Assignment section only shows up on the sheet if the teacher has assigned something. If they haven't, it won't show up on the printed/emailed page.

We also added some more Instrument Types and Skill Levels to match some of the more popular music series books.

We're actively working on the update that I think everyone wants to see and that is Billing and Invoicing.. You can see the mock-up screen shots up close on my Facebook page.

This is going to be a huge update that I know will solidify our place in the music studio management space. After this update, we'll be adding the following:

• Student Repertoire Tracker
• Studio Notes (centralized place for teachers to jot private notes, assign notes to a student or individual lesson)
• Ability to import CSV files for Students/Parents and also music libraries."

This post uncovered a small portion of what this powerhouse app offers. In addition, it seems Moosic Studio will have strong support from the developer. I imagine there is pressure to please as his number one customer lives in the same house. To get the full scoop check out the app website www.moosicstudio.com for a rundown of all the features.

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Leila's Opinion of Moosic Studio: $39.99

Application Potential: 5/5 If  you have not found a system suitable for your studio and own an iPad, this may be your solution. In addition, it appears that Carlos Fontiveros, the developer is highly sensitive to the needs of piano teachers.

Ability to Use with Ease: 4/5 Like all software, you may find that you will need to work around some issues to fit your scheduling and billing requirements.

Assessment of Investment: 5/5 The Moosic Studio site says it best: "Raise your hand if you like to pay a subscription fee EVERY month to manage your music studio. We've found that not many (if anyone) likes to pay a monthly subscription that amounts to hundreds of dollars each and every year. Wouldn't you like to spend that money on something else... maybe a new iPad?" 

Total Score: 14/15

Interested in receiving the Moosic Studio app for free? Carlos has generously offered two free codes! To qualify, please leave a comment about how you presently communicate weekly assignments to your students/parents AND sign up for the 88Pianokeys.me newsletter (here).

Hurry, as the offer is good only through Friday, May 3!

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