Why Music Technology?
Sometimes the simplest questions are the hardest to answer. Sometimes they’re not. I have spent the last 35 years of my career integrating technology into my instruction, and I’ve trained tens of thousands of music educators how to do the same. Up until 2020, I always encountered music educators who were either uncomfortable with the idea of bringing technology into their classrooms, usually due to a lack of training and/or funding OR completely against technology integration. After all, performing music has been done for generations without the use of technology - so why start now?
The pandemic forced nearly every music educator to use technology just to be able to teach. Many teachers embraced some of the new tools that they were exposed to - allowing their students to work on individual musicianship skills as well as exploring their creativity. Many music educators became so good at making their own instructional content, they opened up their own Teachers Pay Teachers sites, made dozens of YouTube and TikTok videos, and created amazing online learning spaces for their students. And some music educators couldn’t wait to discard all of their online learning tools and get back to old school music teaching. It is not my place to judge any of these negative perceptions of technology in the music classroom. Personally, I can’t stand Zoom meetings if it’s feasible to meet in person.
Now that the pandemic and all of its impact on music teaching is in the rear view mirror (hopefully forever), I have had time to speak with hundreds of music educators and have learned a great deal about how they are now integrating technology into their instruction. But there has been a question that has become front and center after the backlash of technology exhaustion during the pandemic - why should we use technology in the music classroom at all? Here is my answer:
I believe with every fiber of my being that a music teachers job is to try to get their students to love music as much as they do - by any means necessary. I believe that EVERY student has a musical being living inside of them; one that loves to listen to, perform, and create their own music. The students that remain in music programs find something in their teachers, their fellow musicians, or their community that makes them stay. A sense of belonging, purpose, or simply an outlet for their inner musician. Students that leave music programs usually leave because they either don’t believe that they also have that inner musician living inside them, or they find their belonging, purpose, or outlet for their talents in other programs. That doesn’t mean that their inner musician isn’t there - it just means that it has taken a backseat.
When I taught middle school general music, I found that technology was one of many tools that helped engage my students. It made the subject matter I was teaching more meaningful for my students for a variety of reasons. Could I have done it without technology? I often did.. If you use technology the way that I believe it is meant to be used - as a tool - it’s transparent integration becomes natural. For example, I used to teach my students about parallel organum (believe it or not). If you have forgotten what parallel organum is, it is when you add a voice underneath a chant melody in intervals of either fourths or fifths with adjustments to avoid tritones. I taught this concept to try to illustrate how harmony was added to melody - a very important step in composing music. In order to make this concept come alive for my students, I would give them a Sibelius file that contained a chant melody, and I would ask them to harmonize it using parallel organum. I taught them how to copy and paste the melody, and how to transpose it in a different staff. Could I have done that on staff paper? Sure. Would the students have enjoyed that activity - probably not. In this example, the technology served a simple purpose - to show students some simple functions in notation software, and to get their hands dirty actually harmonizing a chant melody.
In that same unit of instruction, I had my students create Illuminated Manuscripts - a project idea that I mentioned on this blog a few months ago. Here students only used two website to explore neumes and silly Latin phrases. The major part of the project was actually writing the neumes by hand using those same silly Latin phrases to make their own illuminated manuscripts. If I had the students use notation software or PowerPoint, it would have degraded the learning opportunity. Use technology when it makes instruction and learning easier and more meaningful - NOT just for the sake of using it.
One paradigm shift that has happened since I left the K-12 classroom back in 2007 is the widespread adoption of Chromebooks and the innovations in affordable, online, cloud-based software. Pre-2012 if you wanted to incorporate technology into your music program, it meant that you were probably going to lay out a LOT of funds to get a keyboard lab. I spent well over $75,000 on music technology in the two school districts that I taught in. And that was for relatively inexpensive, no-frills setups. In schools today, many students have a device assigned to them that practically eliminates the need for music tech labs - especially in elementary and middle schools (unless you are teaching piano skills). There is also lots of terrific software that puts powerful music making tools in the hands of those same students. That is the main reason why I started MusicFirst back in 2012. I saw that happening and saw the need. With all of that potential in the hands of the students, technology integration in a music classroom has never been more affordable and accessible. Since then, some very powerful opportunities for music instruction have happened, and I believe that this list demonstrates why every music teacher should be integrating technology into their instruction.
Building individual musician skills - outside of the music classroom. With tools like PracticeFirst, Sight Reading Factory, Auralia, Musition, as well as numerous free sites and select competitive products, students can work at their own pace - with guidance from teachers - to improve the skills that need improvement without impacting precious rehearsal time in school.
Our students are digital natives. It’s true. They are. They have been learning with and consuming online content since they were born. Many parents have swapped out pacifiers for iPads (ugh). While performing on a musical instrument can 100% offer some digital-free time and is essential to musical development, technology can make learning more impactful.
Composing music is easier with technology. Whether students are notating music, composing with a digital audio workstation, or remixing and dj-ing, the music industry is immersed in technology. Few (if any) composers still use manuscript paper as the exclusive route to publication. At some point, handwriting is converted to a digital score. Every record made today in every genre of music uses technology during the creation process. And if you go to any club or party, there is likely to be a DJ laying down the soundtrack to a good time. By providing access to low-cost tools like Soundtrap, Flat, Noteflight, Soundation Education, Hyperscore and O-Generator (as well as countless other free and low-cost tools), you are potentially unlocking a composer in every one of your students and nothing compares to the feeling of hearing your own musical creations and sharing them with friends and family.
Administrative tasks can be streamlined. There is no doubt that the easiest illustration of technology in a music classroom is the various administrative tasks that are made infinitely easier with technology. Attendance, grading, instrument and uniform inventory, curriculum, maintaining digital portfolios, and of course assessing student work are all made far less time-consuming with technology. LMSs, like the MusicFirst Classroom, Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology and others have revolutionized the way we maintain all types of student information and work.
Addressing divergent learning styles. In my opinion, differentiation of instruction is SO much easier when you use technology. The students in our music classrooms all learn differently. Some have neurological, cognitive and physical challenges, some prefer specific types of instruction over others, and some more advanced students need more challenging assignments to keep them moving forward. Technology can address all of these divergent learning styles with adaptive instruments, varying software interfaces, and accessibility features that address the wide variety of issues that some of our students face when learning.
Affordability & Accessibility. Music technology has never been more affordable or accessible. Especially with widespread adoption of Chromebooks, tablets, and iPads but the wider school community, low-cost and free music software finally address the”Digital Divide” that has plagued ed tech for so long. Rather than purchasing an expensive desktop or laptop computer as well as shrink-wrapped boxed software, all students need to do is visit a website and they can start make music with some very impressive tools.
Technology & AI is the future of education. There is no doubt that the ed tech revolution is in full swing and it shows no sign of slowing down. To be clear, there are MANY examples of bad and unnecessary technology integrations out there. The best technology won’t make the worst teacher any better. In fact, it will probably make them even less effective. That said, there are endless examples of INCREDIBLE technology integration from amazing music educators. Many of them are dear friends of mine, and their collective work is something to be treasured by the music education community. Rather than going “old school” and relegating technology to the simple use of a metronome or tuner, I think that every music educator should look for pedagogically appropriate ways to integrate technology into their instruction right now. Start small. Get training. Choose what works and what doesn’t.
It’s FUN! I would be remiss to not say that music technology can be a LOT of fun for teachers and their students. There are numerous websites that I have reviewed over the past year that make me smile when I use them. Fun is OK in a music classroom. Making silly songs, watching funny YouTube videos, learning along with engaging curriculum like MusicFirst Elementary and Cool4School, making music history come to life with sites like Focus On Sound can make learning more engaging and fun for all students.
Well - that’s my WHY. Leaving technology OUT of instruction when it doesn’t make any sense is a GREAT thing. Utilizing technology tools to make instruction and learning easier is a GREAT thing. I hope that you find some of my insights useful and thought provoking. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.