Like many, I have been playing with DALL-E3 - from Open AI - for quite some time now. While I see images created by this pretty amazing AI model on websites LinkedIn a LOT, I really only use it for AI demonstrations. OpenAI developed DALL-E, which was first released in January 2021. The name DALL-E is a combination of the Spanish surreal artist Salvador Dalí and the Disney robot Wall-E. DALL-E3 can generate images in a variety of styles, even for concepts that don't exist in the real world. It can also imitate different artistic styles and works of real humans. In my experience, the images that DALL-E3 creates for music education based prompts are often riddled with mistakes and can even be pretty problematic. For example, take a good look at the image above. The prompt that I typed to generate this image was “Create an image of a middle school string orchestra rehearsing being conducted by a robot.” Notice anything? To me, it appears that every student in the image is of Asian descent. I didn’t specify the race of the students at all and yet this is what I got. The stereotype that Asian students play string instruments is not only wrong, it’s pretty offensive. Aside from that aspect, the image is riddled with bizarre things, including: they are playing their instruments with the wrong side of the bow, some of the bows are curved, some instruments are missing, and the music on the board is pretty funny. I think that if you are looking to have some fun with AI, and to show students that AI isn’t quite “there” yet, you should actively solicit prompts from your students and then find all of the anomalies in each image. It is a perfect “fun” activity if you’re either discussing AI or you have a few minutes to spare at the end of a class. Here are a few images complete with the prompts I entered. See if you can find what’s wrong!

As a part of the brand new Modern Band Bundle available exclusively in the MusicFirst Classroom, we employed several amazing music educators to create curriculum that will help music educators get a modern band program up and running in their school. One of those authors is the amazing Steve Holley - a music educator/bassist/author living in Denver, CO. Steve is currently the President of APME - the Association of Popular Music Education, and has written numerous publications on building and fostering popular music programs in schools. His curriculum - titled Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble - is fantastic and includes TONS of resources on the what, why and how of building a popular music program. Whether you’re working with a modern band, a flex ensemble, or any group interested in performing contemporary music, this course provides the tools to inspire and guide your students to getting an ensemble up on stage at your next concert. Here is a link to an overview of the syllabus. So what is in this course and why should you include it in your int your teaching? I’m glad you asked.

Sometimes a goodbye is a GOOD thing! When we first launched the MusicFirst Classroom back in 2014, we quickly realized just how much students (and their teachers) relied on mobile devices to access content and assignments. Back then, the wonderful folks on the Apple iOS team did not allow access to the microphone on their devices in any browser other than Safari. As very little music software could run natively in that browser (which is still largely the case), and the device microphone was not available to the Chrome browser, we were forced to create what is known as an iOS Helper app for the MusicFirst Classroom. Software developers know that every time you have to create something custom for a specific device or browser, it makes everything more complicated (and expensive). We launched the MusicFirst Student App in October of 2015 - making it possible for teachers and students to access our amazing platform and software on any iOS device. Was it a great app? No. The reviews on the iOS store (entirely written by students) were terrible. Never fun to read those. Did it serve its purpose? Absolutely. That said, the development team and MusicFirst was constantly looking for ways to get rid of the app - making it a more seamless experience for users. We always wanted the Chrome browser to be the way that our users accessed out tools. Well, as of two weeks ago, I am very happy to report that the MusicFirst Student App has been decommissioned and is no longer available. That means that everything (including access to the device microphone) is now running natively in the Chrome browser on iOS devices. While this might not seem like a big deal to many, it is a HUGE win for us and our customers. Thanks to Michael Avery and his team for making this a reality. Onwards!

Like many others today, I woke up to the very sad news that one of the greatest musicians of our time, Quincy Jones, had passed away at the age of 91. This incredible legend had such a massive influence on most of the music that I grew up with. I thought it would be good to share some wonderful resources about Quincy Jones so that you can help your students understand just what an icon he was. I hope that you find these useful.

Bret Pimentel’s is a woodwind player who has created some incredible resources for music educators who teach woodwinds, and their students. I stumbled upon his page recently, and I was blown away by the many tools that can be found on his resource page for music educators and students. The site provides several valuable tools, and three of my personal favorites—the Fingering Diagram Builder, Note Image Generator, and Random Note Picker—are really useful for music educators looking free, high quality, online teaching materials and customizable tools that can help create meaningful and personalized learning opportunities for students. Here’s a closer look at these three resources and how they can be used in music education, along with a mention of additional tools that further support music educators.

I was out in Madison, Wisconsin this week for the Wisconsin State Music Conference, and I had the pleasure of meeting one of our amazing customers, Guy Gregg - a high school band director at Oak Creek High School in suburban Milwaukee - who helped present a session on behalf of MusicFirst. Afterwards, we went to dinner and shared stories of teaching and music technology. Guy told me about an app that he uses with his music theory students called Bandle. I had never heard of it. When he described what it is and how he uses it I told him that I would be writing a blog post about it. Here it is!

SPOILER ALERT: don’t look below if you want to play the game today (10/25/24).

One of my colleagues, Robin Hodson, sent me a link to a fantastic new tool that he found online called Sodaphonic. This simple but powerful little tool allows you to do a bunch of things with audio - all in the browser - for free (though there is a freemium model that allows you to upgrade for $5/month). There are 3 tools included with Sodaphonic: an Editor that allows you to record and edit audio, Boombox which you can use to record you voice and share it instantly, and Format Flipper (my personal favorite) where you can convert audio files from mp3, ogg, flac, wma or wav. Sodaphonic isn’t a DAW, but it is a great audio editing suite that is easy to use. Here is a little more in depth review of each tool.

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to engage your students in music composition and technology this fall? The Fall 2024 Electronic Music Showcase from Music-COMP is the perfect way to get your students inspired and involved! Whether your students are experienced composers or just beginning to explore the world of electronic music, this program offers something for everyone. I am on the Board for this incredible organization, and this event is something that I think you and your students will love. The best part? You don’t have to be from Vermont to participate!

At MusicFirst, we’ve spent the past decade listening to and learning from millions of teachers and students who use our products daily. This wealth of information has given us a great understanding of exactly what tools music teachers need. Starting this January, we will be expanding offerings within our bundle solutions. We're still the same MusicFirst Classroom you love, now with more streamlined functionality and easier-to-use content. Check out all of the new features below!

This past weekend, I had the honor of presenting two keynote addresses at two amazing music technology-focused events in the greater Boston metro area on behalf of MusicFirst. The first event was on Saturday, October 5th at North High School in Worcester, MA. MusicFirst, along with Berklee College of Music, the Worcester Public Schools, and MMEA sponsored the first Massachusetts Music Tech Day. We had 4 fantastic presenters who covered a variety of topics on how to integrate music technology into all facets of a comprehensive K-12 music curriculum. We were joined by a great group of music educators from around the state of Massachusetts and a good time was had by all. We also had some fantastic prize giveaways from our friends at Korg Education, Focusrite and Novation. To access all of the handouts and links shared that day, visit our Mass Music Tech Day landing page. Here are some photos of the event:

I often see posts on social networks asking for free online pianos and keyboard resources. While there are many out there, one of my personal favorites is an incredible curated collection of online synthesizers and web piano apps called Playtronica. This amazing free website hosts links to 54 online tools - all of which can be used with or without a USB MIDI keyboard. If you ever teach your students ANYTHING about synthesis, this site should be at the VERY top of your list of resources in my opinion. The collection is vast and covers some famous synths as well as innovative synthesis tools tht can provide your students with hands-on experience playing some of the most iconic patches as well as programming their our sounds. The only thing that they ask in return for accessing all of these terrific free resources is your name and email. Here is a quick look at three of my favorite online synths that are included in their list.

We are thrilled to announce the addition of another amazing resource to the MusicFirst Classroom - specifically as a part of our brand new Modern Band offering. Written by the amazing Dr. Ethan Hein, our new Pop & Contemporary Theory Course is a brilliant addition to any music curriculum that incorporates popular and contemporary music. This course has 38 complete lesson plans - each one focusing on not only a music theory concept, but also techniques of popular music production, suggestions of musical works that both utilize and demonstrate each theory concept, links to pop music resources, and really well written lessons and tasks that have students demonstrate their understanding of the theory concepts. In short, this is a full year’s worth of high quality content and it is now INCLUDED with every MusicFirst Classroom subscription! You can find it in the Modern Band section of the MusicFirst Classroom Content Library. What follows is a preview of just one of those lessons.

Last week I had the honor of attending the FOBISIA 2024 Conference at the Denla British School in Bangkok, Thailand on behalf of MusicFirst. I also had the pleasure of presenting one of the Keynote Addresses to the delegates there. It was an incredible event and it was so wonderful to spend time with such a wonderful group of music educators who have dedicated their lives to teaching in Southeast Asia. Yes it was an incredibly long journey, but it was 100% worth it. One of the added bonuses of the trip was that I got to spend some quality time with my dear friend and colleague, Marcel Pusey - who runs OGenPlus and Cool4School. He is a gifted musician and presenter.

We just announced the schedule for our upcoming Massachusetts Music Tech Day - sponsored by MusicFirst, the Worcester Public Schools, Berklee College of Music and MMEA. This is a FREE in-person event is designed specifically for K-12 music educators and administrators like you. The date is Saturday, October 5th 2024 from 8:00am - 3:15pm at North High School - 140 Harrington Way in Worcester, MA 01604. We have a great schedule of events - with something for everyone. I’ll be kicking things off in the morning by presenting a keynote address on fostering creativity. Following that will be a session on using Canva presented by Stefani Langol and a Modern Band session presented by Adam Calus. The next hour has a session on MusicFirst Elementary presented by Amy Burns, and a session on DJ-ing by Meaghan O’Connor-Vince. The noon hour is reserved for lunch, which we are catering in. After lunch there are two more sessions! The 1pm sessions include a podcasting session presented by Stefani Langol, and a session on making music with iPads by Adam Calus. Following that are two more sessions - one on creating play-along videos and one on creating beats. In the last session, I will be giving away some INCREDIBLE prizes to attendees from Focusrite, Korg & Novation! We have designed the schedule to address the needs of elementary and secondary music educators - no matter what you teach! To register for this FREE event, simply fill out this registration form by clicking on the button!

I came across a new AI-powered tool yesterday called Answer AI and it reminded me yet again that teachers need to immediately reconsider the way they assess their students knowledge and understanding. Answer AI essentially allows students to take a picture of their homework assignment or quiz, and the AI-assistant completes the assignment for them. That means if you give your students a quiz using Google Forms, Quizziz, or the quiz functionality of the LMS that your school uses, students can complete the quiz with zero mistakes (provided that the assessment content is publicly available knowledge) by either copying and pasting the content of the quiz or taking a picture of it. Answer AI is available as either a FREE Chrome browser extension OR an iOS or Android app for mobile devices. These are the features that are available to students when using this app:

Inside Music is the first notation-based composition curriculum that combines video instruction with Flat® and Noteflight® to create a flexible, accessible, and highly engaging learning experience. Created originally by the incredible team behind the Vermont MIDI Project (now Music-COMP), Inside Music may be used to fulfill state and national composition standards as part of a composition-based course. The Inside Music curriculum is based on fifteen years of classroom research and implementation. We recently acquired this incredible curriculum so that it can be made freely available to ALL MusicFirst Classroom users. We are absolutely THRILLED to offer this one-of-a-kind collection of ready-made lesson plans integrated with your choice of online notation programs.

In a few weeks I will be heading to Bangkok, Thailand to present a Keynote Address at the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) Music Teacher’s Conference at the Denla British School. My Keynote Address is titled Music Education at the Crossroads: The Impact & Implications of AI and I am very much looking forward to waving the flag for MusicFirst throughout the event. We have quite a few schools in this system that subscribe to a variety of our platforms and individual software titles, and I look forward to interacting with current and future customers while I am there. I will be joined by my dear friend and colleague Marcel Pusey - one of the creators of OGenPlus. Both of our companies are sponsoring the event, and I can’t wait to visit Thailand - a place I’ve never been before. If you are reading this post and ANYWHERE near Bangkok from September 26 through the 28th, I hope to see you there. I’m presenting my Keynote Address on my birthday, so perhaps you can help me celebrate! I’ll post a recap on my way home from the event - it’s a LONG plan ride!

A few weeks ago I saw a post on LinkedIn that brought up a topic that I hadn’t considered before. The post was written by Jack Diserens and focused on retention and pride when using AI music composition tools like Udio and Suno. The crux of the article was that because it is so easy to “compose” music utilizing one of these tools - no investment or effort - they become one trick ponies. Because the user invests almost no effort in the process of composing, they have no pride in the product. Because of this, users tend to play with these tools a few times and then move on when they get bored of them. And THAT is the dirty little secret of these AI music tools. Just like the company I run, MusicFirst, the success of these businesses rely on strong retention rates - meaning people keep coming back to them and perhaps more importantly, keep subscribing and paying for them. Without strong retention numbers, investors in these companies will start to invest elsewhere. All of this made me think of just how important the process is when it comes to musical composition. Have you ever had that moment when you write something you really like and can’t wait to play it for others. It is a special moment made even more meaningful by the fact that you composed it. AI tools simply don’t afford you that same experience, and I believe that is a good thing - for both composers and students. Without any expending ANY effort in the process there is simply no pride in the product.

Next month I will be presenting a Keynote Address at the AI in Music Education Symposium at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA on Monday, October 7, 2024 from 9am - 4pm, alongside two great friends and colleagues, Dr. Rick Dammers and Dr. Benjamin Guererro. The event is organized by my very dear friend Stefani Langol and focuses on Innovations, Applications and Considerations of utilizing AI-powered tools in the K-12 music classroom. The event is FREE, you can get PDPs (if you’re an MMEA member) and even includes lunch! I am REALLY looking forward to presenting some of my findings alongside two other leaders in this field. We will be sharing LOTS of resources and covering the ethical and philosophical implications of this exciting (and often scary) technology. If you are anywhere near the Boston area on Monday, October 7th, I would LOVE to see you there! To register for this event, visit this LINK and sign up today! I hope to see you there!

I have been working in the ed tech space - specifically music education - for more than 35 years. For the past 25 years, those ed tech tools have included online resources including websites that help students learn, explore, create and perform music. At first these websites didn’t require any type of login to use them (think about MusicTheory.net), but over the past 12 years, users have had to create accounts, and include some type of PII (personally identifying information). That information could be an email address, your name, your address, your age, and even your credit card information. When it comes to having students use these tools - whether they are free or paid - teachers and administrators face an increasing need to understand laws that protect student data and privacy. Among the most significant for U.S. educators are COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). These regulations directly affect how educators can use technology in the classroom, where digital platforms ( like the MusicFirst Classroom) and apps (like Soundtrap and Flat) have become valuable resources. Understanding these laws is essential for protecting students, ensuring compliance, and making informed decisions when selecting technology. This post is an attempt to help music teachers understand the what and why of these very important laws.