First insert a score that contains only a single line of pitches. You may create and upload a pre-made Music XML file (see instructions here) or you can generate a pitch/pitch class exercise using Harmonia’s Pitch Generator.

To add a score using the Pitch Generator, select “Generate Score” from the Insert menu and choose Pitch Generator. (Note: the Insert menu is only visible when signed in with a teacher account. Contact us if you are an instructor and would like a teacher account.) Using the Pitch Generator Editor on the right, configure the exercise to your liking.

• Select the allowable clefs. Decide if you want clefs to appear in each measure, or only one at the beginning of each score.
• Determine the type of accidentals (if any) to be allowed.
• Select the number of pitches per score to generate using the number slider.
• When configured to the desired specifications, click the Generate button.

Once the score is generated, check the analysis and decide if any changes should be made to the score. Move any note and change pitches as desired before turning the score into an assessment. Note that any desired changes must be made to a score before it is turned into an assessment. Click on the Analysis tab in the sidebar Music Editor to change the analysis to Pitch (letter name and octave designation, i.e. C#4), Pitch Class (letter name only, i.e. C#), or Scale Degree (number only; based on fixed do).

Creating an exercise

Once a score and theory line are ready, select “Convert Score to Assessment” from the Teacher menu. Select the desired assessment type from the pulldown menu and then configure the score by clicking on the Assessment tab in the Music panel on the right. (Click the Controls icon at the upper right to hide or show this panel as you work.)

• The Music Editor sidebar displays different options now that the notation is an Assessment.
• If you selected an analysis type of assessment, the pitches on the staff are automatically greyed out and locked so they cannot be altered/edited by students. The pitch, pitch-class, or scale-degree labels are hidden in the theory line and replaced by green boxes, where students will fill in answers. In the Music Editor on the right, teachers can configure the assessment in a variety of ways.
• The Theory Line controls are available for all analysis assessments. To use these buttons, first click on a boxed theory-line entry on the score to configure. These buttons provide the following functionality:
• Show Answer displays the analysis symbol (answer) a student would otherwise provide and makes that symbol inactive and ungraded in an assessment.
• Clear Answer - If the entry currently shows the answer, the Clear Answer button will replace it with an empty entry, and that entry will become active and gradable in the assessment.
• Hide Entry makes the selected entry in the theory line invisible and ungraded in the assessment. Note that a hidden entry will appear as an entry with a dotted border for teachers, but when a student views the assessment, a blank space will appear in that position.
• Unhide Entry - If the selected entry is currently hidden, the Unhide Entry will make it visible and active in the assessment.If you want to create a composition assessment, first click on the Analysis tab in the Music Editor to change the analysis displayed to the desired type. In the pulldown menu under Analysis Display, select from Pitch, Pitch Class or Scale Degree. Then, in the Teacher menu, Convert the Score to Assessment by selecting the desired analysis type that matches the display below the score.
• In composition-based exercises, the theory-line display below the staff is automatically greyed out and locked and cannot be altered/edited by students. To configure the score for assessment, click on a note and select from the following options in the Draggable Group in the Music Editor on the right.
• Convert Note converts a single note into a draggable rest. Draggable rests become pitches when a student moves them; the pitches act like "answer spaces" for notations when a student completes an assignment.
• Convert Voice converts all the pitches on a staff into draggable rests.
• Convert All converts all notes into draggable rests.
• To lock any pitches and to prevent students from editing them, click on the desired pitch(es) and click the Lock Note or Lock Voice button in the sidebar. The pitches will become grey when locked, and will not be graded.
• Once the assessment is complete with configured scores and added text for instructions or other desired insertions, save the document by navigating to the File menu and clicking the Save command.
• The automatic grading feature only works if the document is uploaded to an online course for download through the Harmonia Cloud menu. To do so follow the instructions on this page.

The Grading Editor

Before saving and adding an assessment to your Harmonia course, check the grading scheme to make sure it corresponds to your grading needs. Harmonia currently offers Additive Grading, in which the total points achieved in the assessment is calculated as the sum of all item point values minus their individual error deductions. Look to future releases for Subtractive Grading to be offered as an additional grading choice.

To make any changes to points values, click on the Error Deductions... box. Depending on the assessment type, specific possible errors will be available for editing in a pop-up window. Use the pre-set deductions or make your own changes.