How much does this program cost?

The cost is $75/student registrant and $10/teacher registrant. This allows DEMTA to pay the mentors for their time and knowledge, the subscription fee for Noteflight Learns accounts, and various awards given to students along the way for motivation and praise.

Who are the mentors? How will they communicate with the students?

The mentors will either be other DEMTA teachers or hired music college students. To keep students safe and mentors safe as well, all communication with students will be shared with the program directors.

Mentors are assigned a small group of students to work with at the end of a composing session. Beginning composers are usually assigned a mentor that is really kind with an educational background. More advanced participants are usually assigned to masters level mentors. This is really helpful as the students in the project can ask for ideas for preparing college level portfolios and inquire about the best composition programs at colleges or universities.

What is the DEMTA teacher’s responsibilities for this program?

Teachers may be involved as much or as little as they would like or are able. Generally in the past, student composers had a more successful and encouraging journey when their teachers worked with them at the beginning of a session and then having mentors come in at the end. It is beneficial when students were able to get direction from more than one professional.

If a student will have little assistance from their private or group teacher, arrangements can be made for a student to join another teacher’s group.

What are some ways music teachers can help student composers?

From Jodie Jenson’s (a DEMTA teacher) experience with Colorado Composes, she recounts:

“The theme [was] watched by students either during the first week of the module in lessons or a special “Composes in PJ’s/Composer group lesson” was held. My studio has kids from as far away as Franktown or as close as just across the street. So kids coming to the Composes in PJ’s events always stayed for 1.5-2 hours. We held these composer sessions as a group because the kids really loved that social time. We would start as early as 7:30 AM with breakfast foods available during the video time.”

Teachers could also have students watch the Learning Module video during or after lessons. Planning for a little extra, unsupervised time right after the lesson can help.

How long are the videos?

Each video is around 45 minutes long. Students do not necessarily have to watch the whole video, but will benefit greatly if they do! Younger students may only watch “snippets” while more advanced students will want to watch more.