Tag Archives: Ipad

Russell’s Evernote Tip #1 – Playing Piano in the Dark

November 18, 2011   Russell Martin   No comments
piano hymn god our help

For the past 3 years I have played music for a very special service at our church. Each year the Alzheimer’s Alliance holds a candle light service to honor caregivers and remember family and friends with Alzheimer’s who have passed away in the last year.

The lights in the service are kept pretty low, and are brought down completely when it comes time for candles to be lit. Enter the iPad and Evernote.

Before the service I snapped a photo of the hymns from the hymnal, as well as a copy of the bulletin. I created a new note and attached the photos. The notes automatically synced with my iPad. During the service I set my backlit iPad on the piano stand and could read all the songs and order of worship completely.

For an added bonus, those songs are stored in Evernote forever. Since the service tends to use some of the same songs, next year I am ready to go.

Do you use evernote? Have a tip to share? Leave it below.

I got started with Evernote after reading how Michael Hyatt uses it. Check out his Evernote tips archive.

Popularity: 1%

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5 Apps I Use to Teach Piano and Guitar Lessons

February 01, 2011   Russell Martin   2 Comments

For the past 5 or so years I have taught a handful of students guitar and piano lessons. Here are some of the iphone and ipad apps that I use on a regular basis when I teach.

1. Guitar Tool Kit- This one app contains a metronome, tuner, chord bank, chord finder, scales reference and more. I use the tuner for myself and also for my guitar students. The needle makes it easy to see whether the are flat or sharp. I use the metronome for both guitar and piano.

2. Flash Class-When I was taking piano lessons I took index cards and made flash cards to learn the notes. Flash Class allows me to drill students on learning their notes. It has various modes of testing. You can set the time limit per game, and per note. A learning mode repeats notes a student misses, to help them learn.

It comes with many standard practice decks like “Middle C Position” , “Treble Spaces” etc.. but also gives you the ability to make as many custom decks as you like. I have made one for guitar 1 string, guitar 2 strings and so on. This way I can drill students on learning their notes as the progress to the next string

3. Adobe Ideas- This drawing app is great for demonstrating anything I would use a chalkboard for. The best thing is that it allows me to use layers. I can draw a treble staff on the bottom layer, then have the students draw in notes, rests etc… using different colors on different layers.

4.Pocket Drums- This is a drumset on the ipad. It has many features like 8 kits, metronome, recorder and the ability to play with tracks in your music library. I use it mostly to help students learn things like down beats and up beats, and counting. We’ll play down beats on the bass drum, and up beats on the snare. Then maybe play 8th notes on high hat, creating more complicated patterns.

5. Evernote- No, not really a music app, but it is great for keeping track of students contact information, progress, assignments, payments etc… I create a page for each student. Since it updates iphone, ipad, and computer, I always have the information with me. I can also easily email assignments to parents.

Popularity: 9%

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12 Days of Christmas Videos- #7 IPad, Iphone Christmas Band

December 19, 2010   Russell Martin   1 Comment

We are on the downhill side of our 12 Days of Christmas Video countdown. Some of the videos have been classic christmas moments from times long ago, like The Chipmunk Song, and the Hallelujah Chorus. This next one is as new and awesome as it can be. Let me introduce you to North Point Community Churches IBand.

Cool huh? Did you know this is video #7 which means there are 6 more you may not have seen. Make sure and check them out!

#1 12 Days of Christmas

#2 Christmas Lights Gone Wild

#3 The Chipmunk Song

#4 Halleluiah Chorus Flash mob

#5 Christmas in Fast Forward

#6 Silent Monks Hallelujah Chorus

Popularity: 1%

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Top Ten Iphone Apps I Use for Ministry

June 06, 2010   Russell Martin   10 Comments

The other day my friend who is a pastor emailed me, “Hey I just got an iphone. Got any good ministry apps?”

I sat and thought about it. Which apps do I use most in my day to day ministry?  Here is what I came up with. What would you add?

Pocket Informant- Keep personal, work, and multiple google calendars organized with this app. Also handles tasks, projects and more.

Facebook- Manage your personal facebook and church facebook page from this app. Add photos, status updates and send messages while sitting in line or waiting for your next meeting to start.

Pandora- Create your own radio station to listen to while you prepare that sermon, or play music while you wait for a service to begin.

Hootsuite- Manage multiple twitter and facebook accounts and pages. Post status updates to one or more. Create search columns to see what others are saying about your church or ministry. Track retweets and clicks on your posts and see what’s being repeated.

Planning Center Online- Manage your Planning Center orders of worship, schedule participants, send reminder emails, manage song library and more from this app. (Subscription to Planning Center Online required)

Google- Google search, voice search, plus one stop access to documents, gmail, tasks, Buzz, Calendar and other google services.

Foursquare- Let others know where you are. Check in and become the mayor of your church. Put up tips about your church including service times and upcoming events.

You Version Bible- Bible search, several different bible versions, notes and bible reading plans. Great bible resource.

Animoto- Create videos of ministry events, children’s programs, and youth nights by uploading photos and videos straight from your iphone and have them put into a great video with background music, and transitions.

Flickr- Got flickr? Access your photos, add tags, and search flickr photos

Ustream Broadcaster- Show live video on your church website from wherever you are using this cool app. Also adds video capability to your iphone 3G.

Dropbox- Use Dropbox as an online flash drive. The Iphone app gives access to all your files. Listen to music, browse documents and more. Click here to find out more and get 2.25 gig of space free!

A Few Extra Favorites-

Words with Friends- Relax, keep in contact with friends, and stretch your vocabulary with this tile based word game.

Google Reader – It’s not an app but an iphone optimized version of google reader. Great to read your RSS feeds on the go.

Popularity: 7%

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