Responding to Music with Technology

            Using technology in the music classroom to facilitate learning by responding to music offers limitless options. In class this week I became familiar with the online video resource Zaption, whose company motto is “Don’t just watch. Learn.” I find this particularly relevant to music educators because we have to make sure our students “Don’t just hear. Listen.” Incorporating multimedia in my classroom is possible with a projector and whiteboard and offers nothing but advantages to student learning. The Zaption video I created about our field show performance music only contained a few prompts, however my students were far more engaged than they would have been if I had simply shown them the video. Additionally, I think Zaption is a wonderful tool because students need concurrent stimulates to stay engaged. They are constantly on their smart devices while having a conversation, eating lunch, and doing homework at the same time. There are arguments that discuss how effective (or ineffective) humans are when multitasking, nonetheless, many students are accustomed to and demand this type of environment to stay engaged.

            In class this week I was guided to revisit the social bookmarking site Diigo. Although I became familiar with Diigo several years ago, I drifted away and I’m not sure why. It is incredibly convenient to have access to all of your bookmarks no matter what device you are using. The ability to source share within a specific group is a wonderful resource. I cannot think of a better place to look directly for quality internet resources. Something that I noticed from viewing my previous bookmarks from a few years ago is that Diigo is almost like a progress monitoring tool for teachers. I quickly realized what I tried, when I tried it, and what was successful.  

             This week I realized something about my approach to teaching that was very eye opening. I occasionally rehab property (usually during the summer months) and in my current project I am in 13 days in and much further along than usual. While reflecting on this I determined that I have become very good at locating the right tool for the job. I do not hesitate to go to my toolbox when something is not working or I go ask an expert for advice. However, in my classroom I have a student laptop that does not get used as often as it should and (until this technology course) I did not take the initiative to find the right tools and did not ask an expert. I am constantly watching YouTube videos for guide on home repair but never for teaching. So the question is why do I view these two jobs so differently? I have concluded that it is because I am formally trained in one but not the other. I have thought of myself as a lifelong learner because I have continued education and read articles and among other things, but have not truly been willing to learn for the best interest of my students. Until now.

Week 4 - Technology for Musical Performance

Technology for Musical Performance

The coursework this week identified multiple ways to use technology to better music performance, but also recognized some overall best teaching practices. The chapter Performing Music in Music Learning Today (Bauer, 2014) noted several valuable technological resources including the auto- accompaniment software Smart Music, digital metronomes, and interactive whiteboards. While I had already been using most of the above mentioned technologies to some degree, there are several new practices that I learned. For example, using Smart Music for an ensemble rehearsal rather than just individual practice or assessment seems to be a great resource for my small ensembles. Additionally, I will be using Audacity later this semester with my drumline class (a fine art credit for non-ensemble students) to record and arrange tracks. The precursor for that project will be the resources on Lynda.com including “Up and Running with Audacity” and “Digital Audio Principals.” Prior to this week’s lesson I had only used audacity as a tool to slow down or speed up recordings for students to practice with or for color guard routines and I am excited to see the students use it for a profounder project.

In addition to the technology resources, I found several good teaching practices from this week’s reading to be beneficial. While I am already using modeling and feedback to teach musical concepts and skills, the reading challenges me to guide students in self-regulation. Smart Music is a great tool for students to receive immediate extrinsic feedback, however I would like for my students to be able to increase their ability to monitor themselves. I have recently shown them the various technologies that can be used for recording and have established a system in which students receive “base points” if they send me a recording of them practicing. The “base points” are added to their playing test grade for the material they practiced. Although very new this system has worked well so far. I think the next step will be to have them submit two recordings: a pre and a post self-assessed track. While it can sometimes be a constraint for students that do not have access to technology outside of school, the advantages to using technology to supplement music performance are invaluable.

Bauer, William I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York: Oxford University Press.

Composing Music With Technology

The benefits from creating music with technology reach students who are involved in typical performing ensemble classes as well as those who not. As I learned this week in UF’s Music Technology course, modern technology can be utilized to help the estimated 80% of students who are not a part of a performing ensemble compose music. Digital audio workstations (DAWs) use MIDI, digital audio, and loops to allow users to create music even without understanding music notation (Bauer, 2014). There are two sides to the argument concerning music notation and its role in music education. While some believe that students must learn notation in order to be able to “create” music, much of the music we hear in present day is “created” with technology such as DAWs. The DAW that I became familiar with this week, SoundTrap, is incredibly fun to use and I feel that the final product is 100% music even though I did not notate anything for the composition. I must admit that prior to this week I fell more to the side of the argument that requires teaching music notation, but now I am now in favor of using programs like SoundTrap and especially so for students who do not perform with an ensemble. When I began using the program I was completely out of my element, as I am very concrete person who thrives when the notes are black print in front of me, but it did not take me long to warm up to the program. The ability to create a digital audio with the computer keyboard (and no notation knowledge) is probably my favorite feature. The bar lines and measures are easily mapped out and the playback feature shows users exactly where they are at all times.

This week also provided me with the valuable resource Lynda.com. The video lessons on technology provided by this website are outstanding. I enjoyed learning about the sound and different aspects of recording it. I also found some valuable lessons concerning music notation programs, with three of the lessons focusing on Finale. While the available software or DAWs may come and go, the most concrete idea I will take from the learning in this week’s class is the concept that students can be musical and learn to think in sound even if they cannot notate music.  

Important links

www.Lynda.com    

www.Soundtrap.com  

Sources

Bauer, W. (2014). Technology Fundamentals. In Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. Oxford University Press.

Technology in the music classroom provides endless possibilities for creating music. I have regularly used the free downloadable software MuseScore for notating projects of my own but have not turned the power of the program over to the students. This week, students in my drumline class took turns using the laptop to create a composition on either MuseScore or NoteFlight. Almost all of the students chose to use NoteFlight because it gave them the flexibility to work on their pieces outside of class without having to download any software. There were no guidelines or restrictions to the assignment and the completed pieces were pretty outstanding. As an educator, I aim for high performance expectations for the students because I truly believe they will rise to the bar, however this project showed me that I have had low or no expectations when it comes to creating music. I was completely blown away by what these students were capable of doing with a computer and a few short class periods and I will continue to explore ways for them to create written music.

The readings this week also challenged my approach to improvisation in the classroom. I am a mediocre improviser but I regularly trade fours with all of the students in jazz band and we also play along with Jamey Aebersold books and tracks. Before this week’s readings I felt as though I was doing a “good job” in “teaching” improvisation because it is so common for band directors to not incorporate improvisation at all. There are countless strategies listed in the article and textbook readings from this week that could benefit myself and my students, but the approach that stuck with me the most is how Christian Barhard II (2013) uses improvisation in the concert band setting. Incorporating improvisation in the concert band setting will not only reach more students, but could have additional positive effects on the jazz band since students play in both ensembles. We know that improvisation in any ensemble can increase student musical ability in areas such as sight reading and enhanced aural skills (Hallam, 2008).

I believe that by using a variety of the improvisation activities or games on a regular basis will make my students more comfortable with the act of creating music in my classroom and get away from the mentality that they are just there to recreate music. My classroom has several computers which allows students to take turns working on creating compositions, but probably more important is the option to use any of the improvisation games listed in Trevor Dimoff’s article (2003) without any technology. While it is easy to look the other way when it comes to improvisation in the music classroom, demanding performance schedules and lack of teacher ability are not good enough excuses to ignore one of the three areas (creating) listed in the Core Music Standards.

Barnhard, C. (2013). Improvising in Concert Bands and Orchestras. SBO Magazine.

Dimoff, T. Improvisation Games: Creating Spontaneous Music in Groups. Acadia U, 31 March    2003. Web. 4 Sept. 2015.

Hallam, S. (2008). Music psychology in education. London: Institution of Education, University   of London. (Original work published in 2006).