Creative Thinking and Music Technology

As a music educator, I am constantly seeking new ways to engage and motivate my students to learn about music. In my music classes I focus on music performance and I attempt to provide creative and fun opportunities to perform music. However, as I continue to gain knowledge through this course and readings, I am finding that there are countless options that I can explore to enhance and supplement the activities in which my students participate. I believe that I have always realized that technology is available to me as an educator; however, I have not realized the true potential that technology can provide to the music educator and to music students. Reading about some of the creative uses for technology in music education provided me with ideas about how to utilize technology in music more effectively, how others are using technology in music in exciting ways, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm about how to incorporate technology into my teaching to help make music more exciting for my students.

As I read the article, “Creative Thinking and Music Technology,” I was thrilled to find that I have utilized some of the suggestions for using technology in my own music classes. For example, I have always found it extremely useful to play recordings of pieces that students are playing in order to help them to develop ideas about how to perform the pieces of music. I liked the idea of using an mp3 player to play audio clips for the students. In addition, I am currently trying to start a listening log for my students, so that they can hear a variety of music in order to expand their musical concepts in hopes of making them better performers. My idea is to begin by playing recordings from a variety of music genres on a weekly basis to expose students to different types of music to help develop their appreciation of music. This is a basic start to the idea, so hopefully it can evolve over time. Along with exposing my students to recordings, I have found it extremely valuable to record my ensembles so that I may more critically critique them, as well as to allow the students to self-critique themselves. I have found this idea valuable because it allows students to more easily recognize their proficiencies and deficiencies, which ultimately helps them to improve. However, another aspect that the article mentioned that would be a great extension to this concept would be to do a comparison of a recording that was done early in the rehearsal process versus a polished recording to show the students the progress they had made, which may help to build confidence in their abilities. Also, as the article mentioned about email and course management systems, I have found email to be an invaluable form of communication with students and parents. In addition, although I have not used a course management system such as Blackboard or WebCT to teach a course, I have found it helpful to use a digital grade book, Progressbook, to communicate information about grades and the classes to students and parents. Email and a digital grade system have seemed to help keep everyone more informed.

Along with some of the aforementioned ideas that were highlighted in the article, I have had some basic experience with using notation software, for music education. I have experimented with some of the basic uses of notation software such as using it to write parts, or have students experiment with composition. However, it was interesting to discover how many ways that notation software can be used. For example, the article “Creative Thinking and Music Technology” mentioned the use of the playback feature of notation software to demonstrate musicality to students. In addition to this concept, I was impressed with the capabilities of Sibelius for the music educator. I have understood the basic notation features of Sibelius; however, after reading about the music education applications of Sibelius through the Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide to Sibelius Music Notation Software, I was amazed by the capabilities of Sibelius and all the items that I could use to enhance the musical experiences of my students. Features such as the ability to add note names and fingering, and the ability to re-orchestrate parts and create accompaniment parts could have a vital role in a performance-based music class. The ability to add note names and fingerings could provide an opportunity to make accommodations for special needs students or to help provide scaffolding for struggling students or students who have just switched to a new instrument. It could also provide students with the experience of performing in a small ensemble by using the feature of creating an arrangement for student performance. It also seems fun to have the students try to create their own arrangements. I was also amazed to see how many options there are for creating exercises and worksheets. With these abilities in Sibelius, it makes it relatively easy for an educator to provide solutions to areas of difficulty for students. As I continue to explore Sibelius, it will be enlightening to experiment with all the features that are available and to see how they may help enhance the music learning process.

In addition to the many ideas that I have had some experience with through my own teaching, it was interesting to see the numerous other ways that technology has been used or could be used in music education. I thought the idea to use technology to create a film score was an interesting idea. Students seem to enjoy performing movie music, and this would be an excellent opportunity for them to create and possibly even perform their own movie music. This might even provide a chance to create an interdisciplinary lesson. Another opportunity to utilize technology could be through creating multimedia presentations. As the article on “Creative Thinking and Music Technology” mentioned, students could create a presentation on a composer. However, students may also be able to incorporate their own performance into a multimedia presentation that could be used for assessment, or maybe even to create a great memory for the students in the future. Along with some of the creative ideas mentioned in the article, “Creative Thinking and Music Technology,” it was also interesting to learn about some uses of technology in music education that have been extremely successful. The example that I was able to explore through my reading was the Vermont MIDI Project. I appreciated how I was able to learn about the Vermont MIDI Project, as well as how it was established, and how it has evolved over time into a very successful project in music education. It is amazing how technology through the Vermont MIDI Project has allowed so many students to have a unique musical experience. I particularly liked how the article mentioned that through the project, “students acquire confidence in a new mode of self-expression, enjoy greater self-esteem, and gain greater respect for the effort that goes into creating the music they hear every day” (Estrella 5), as well as learning how to accept constructive criticism. These are excellent qualities because, even if students do not make music a career, they are gaining an appreciation for music and learning lessons that will benefit them in all aspects of life. I think that the Vermont MIDI Project is one of many examples of how great a resource that technology can be in music education. With creativity, the possibilities for enhancing and meeting the standards of a music education are endless as one considers the many ways that technology can be utilized in music.