Changes in technology have always had an impact on music. Strengthening of the piano frame and mechanism in the 19th Century allowed composers like Franz Liszt to write brilliant, thunderous music, music that would have broken earlier pianos. The invention of the electric guitar in the 1930s has led to the development of an entire world of new genres and styles of music. And in the first half of the 20th century, the combination of recording technology and the radio transformed the status of pop/folk musicians from wandering minstrels to international celebrities.
More recently, the music industry and our society in general have embraced 21st Century technology whole-heartedly. Recording studios work almost exclusively with digital technology. Composers are using computers to create new genres of music, creating and manipulating raw sounds. Digitization of music has changed the way we purchase, access and consume music. Artists market and distribute their work directly to the public, building extensive fan bases online. The Recording Industry Association of America reports that only 37% of music is purchased legally; the rest is downloaded illegally or shared through peer-to-peer networks. Mobile devices and personalized music streaming services mean that users hear only the music they choose to listen to, a significant change from the experience of listening to the radio for past generations.
In my experience, music education has not kept up with these changes. Few music programs I am aware of include digital recording; computer-based composition; or frank discussions of copyright issues related to music downloads. I recently attempted a project in which students would incorporate music they owned into a multi-media presentation, only to realize that most of my students don't legally own any music: virtually all of the thousands of songs on their iPods, phones and other devices have been obtained without paying for them. Most elementary music programs seem to focus on analog instruments; as far as I am aware, music technology courses are found only in the senior levels of a limited number of high schools.
When there is such a dichotomy between our students' music experiences in school and outside of school, we risk high levels of disengagement (Kearsley & Schneiderman, 1999; Gouzouzasis & Bakan, 2011).
One of the ways technology could be used in music education is in learning to compose music. Composing music has traditionally been viewed as a pinnacle of musical achievement, one which students engage in only after substantial training in theory, orchestration, harmony, and musical analysis. Composition has traditionally been notation-based; to write music (note the verb), one must be able to manipulate the written form of music. Translating an imagined aural object into a visual code - notes, rests, and so on - is an immensely complex cognitive task. Not surprisingly, many music teachers focus on improvised creativity in which music is memorized rather than notated, or focus on styles of music which use shorthand symbols and learning by ear, such as the chord symbols and sung melody of a pop song. Longer, complex compositions are rarely seen in elementary schools; in high schools, this kind of composition is usually reserved for a select few grade 11 and 12 students. Yet creativity is an essential facet of the human experience. If students create their own works of art, their own pieces of creative writing, their own plays, why shouldn't they create their own music?
New technologies offer several possible pathways to giving students access to meaningful experiences as composers:
More recently, the music industry and our society in general have embraced 21st Century technology whole-heartedly. Recording studios work almost exclusively with digital technology. Composers are using computers to create new genres of music, creating and manipulating raw sounds. Digitization of music has changed the way we purchase, access and consume music. Artists market and distribute their work directly to the public, building extensive fan bases online. The Recording Industry Association of America reports that only 37% of music is purchased legally; the rest is downloaded illegally or shared through peer-to-peer networks. Mobile devices and personalized music streaming services mean that users hear only the music they choose to listen to, a significant change from the experience of listening to the radio for past generations.
In my experience, music education has not kept up with these changes. Few music programs I am aware of include digital recording; computer-based composition; or frank discussions of copyright issues related to music downloads. I recently attempted a project in which students would incorporate music they owned into a multi-media presentation, only to realize that most of my students don't legally own any music: virtually all of the thousands of songs on their iPods, phones and other devices have been obtained without paying for them. Most elementary music programs seem to focus on analog instruments; as far as I am aware, music technology courses are found only in the senior levels of a limited number of high schools.
When there is such a dichotomy between our students' music experiences in school and outside of school, we risk high levels of disengagement (Kearsley & Schneiderman, 1999; Gouzouzasis & Bakan, 2011).
One of the ways technology could be used in music education is in learning to compose music. Composing music has traditionally been viewed as a pinnacle of musical achievement, one which students engage in only after substantial training in theory, orchestration, harmony, and musical analysis. Composition has traditionally been notation-based; to write music (note the verb), one must be able to manipulate the written form of music. Translating an imagined aural object into a visual code - notes, rests, and so on - is an immensely complex cognitive task. Not surprisingly, many music teachers focus on improvised creativity in which music is memorized rather than notated, or focus on styles of music which use shorthand symbols and learning by ear, such as the chord symbols and sung melody of a pop song. Longer, complex compositions are rarely seen in elementary schools; in high schools, this kind of composition is usually reserved for a select few grade 11 and 12 students. Yet creativity is an essential facet of the human experience. If students create their own works of art, their own pieces of creative writing, their own plays, why shouldn't they create their own music?
New technologies offer several possible pathways to giving students access to meaningful experiences as composers:
- manipulating pre-recorded 'building blocks' of sound rather than notation
- creating music on simplified and assisted 'screen' versions of instruments that students can play with minimal prior performance skills
- using notation-based software which gives students aural feedback during the creative process
In the Research Methods course, I conducted a literature review for a proposed research project, considering how technology is and could be used to teach composing in schools. Click here to read the review.
The following artifact gives one example of how technology could be used to teach and learn composing, using GarageBand on iPads. This app uses several of the pathways mentioned above: manipulating pre-recorded 'loops' of sound, and playing 'smart' instruments.
This artifact is provided here as a video; to view the formal paper, click here. These artifacts were completed as part of the Technology and the Curriculum course.
This artifact is provided here as a video; to view the formal paper, click here. These artifacts were completed as part of the Technology and the Curriculum course.
Completing these artifacts reinforced my passion for integrating technology into the music curriculum, a goal I will continue to pursue in the future. But what about changing the music curriculum itself? This is considered on the next page.