The activities this week have centered around creating music with technology. We have looked at methods, tools, and best practices for maximizing student learning.
One resource for research and best practices is the Music Creativity Through Technology website (musiccreativity.org). This website seeks to educate and inspire young musicians through the use of non-traditional music programs.
While our performing ensembles do a fantastic job of teaching literacy and musical technique, they are often lacking in both creative and technology-based activities. In addition, the number of students enrolled in a traditional performing ensemble is typically a relatively small percentage of the total school population. In order to engage students in music education and challenge them to take ownership of their learning, many schools are turning to non-traditional music technology tracks.
The “Profiles” page on the Music Creativity Through Technology website gives examples of schools where students learn musical knowledge and skills through technology, and showcase their work through compositions, arrangements, and improvisations
As more schools consider technology-based music education, we must consider the affordances and constraints of this approach. One main decision has to do with the role of music literacy. Many resources we have looked at do not incorporate standard notation in the composition process (such as GarageBand, IncrediBox, Soundtrap).
This is a question I have struggled with throughout this course: Should all music students be required to use standard Western notation as a part of their music education? Are students at a disadvantage in technology-based courses where traditional notation is not utilized? To answer the question, I consider my music pedagogy training.
The “Profiles” page on the Music Creativity Through Technology website gives examples of schools where students learn musical knowledge and skills through technology, and showcase their work through compositions, arrangements, and improvisations
As more schools consider technology-based music education, we must consider the affordances and constraints of this approach. One main decision has to do with the role of music literacy. Many resources we have looked at do not incorporate standard notation in the composition process (such as GarageBand, IncrediBox, Soundtrap).
This is a question I have struggled with throughout this course: Should all music students be required to use standard Western notation as a part of their music education? Are students at a disadvantage in technology-based courses where traditional notation is not utilized? To answer the question, I consider my music pedagogy training.
I have levels training in the Kodaly philosophy, which puts a primary emphasis on music literacy. Zoltan Kodaly said, We should read music in the same way that an educated adult will read a book: in silence, but imagining the sound.”
In Kodaly’s mind, there was not a separation between music literacy and music audiation. His goal was for students to visually encounter a symbol and connect it to a known sound. When a student wants to edit a MIDI sequence in a piano roll by making one note longer, he clicks and drags the note horizontally. When he wants the sound to move to a higher pitch, he drags the sound down. Though it is not standard notation, this piano roll is an effective way for the student to visually interpret symbols in order to accomplish a musical goal. Perhaps it is not the method of literacy Kodaly had in mind, but I do believe this is a valid way to “imagine the sound”.
I believe it is imperative that all musicians have a way to communicate their musical thoughts visually as well as aurally. Whether this is with traditional or graphic notation, the purpose of notation is simply to communicate musical ideas. When I make decisions about how to educate my students, I believe to the extent that a notation system accomplishes the goal of communication, it is acceptable to use. We do use standard notation in my classroom but I want students to have a deep knowledge of what those symbols represent, and how they connect to a larger musical language.
I enjoyed working with both midi files and digital audio in the Soundtrap project. During the composition process, I experienced MIDI in the way the assigned Lynda video described it. That is, MIDI is a set of instructions for how to make sound. I experienced this as I inputted different melodies using a MIDI keyboard and experimented with which instrument would play them. Guitar, flute, cello, or trumpet could have easily appeared in my composition through the use of MIDI. I could also experiment with articulations, velocity, and sound effects.
Though I enjoyed playing with all the possibilities MIDI offered, I also chose to utilize digital sound in my composition. Percussion is my primary instrument so I set up a microphone and recorded a few vibraphone improvisations over the MIDI composition, as well as a fragment of the melody from my favorite folk song. I also sampled a few sounds to add to the beginning and end of my composition. The use of both MIDI and digital audio gave me more musical possibilities to work with as I composed.
Click here to view my Soundtrack project.
This week's topic was exciting for me, and gave me tools to improve my skills both as a musician and as an educator.
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