Publish at October 15 2018 Updated June 12 2024
Teaching music requires a special context. It often requires a larger room to store instruments. It also needs to be away from other classes, or in a soundproof room to prevent noise from disturbing other students in the school.
However, music teachers can benefit from the same digital tools as their colleagues. In fact, there is a plethora of applications that can be used for music education. Here are just a few of them.
The use of electronic devices in music is no longer seen as an aberration. Even professional musicians use their tablets to follow a score. So, the mobile device can be a great way to start learning music. For example, the Note Rush application asks the budding musician to identify a note on a staff. To heighten children's interest, the stave looks like a soccer pitch or a galaxy, with the note as a ball or planet.
In the same vein - and this one's free - Music Crab lets you learn the basics of music theory with the help of aquatic animals.
Other software programs, such as Meludia, are perfect entry points for use in lessons. In fact, in Estonia and Malta, governments are offering them free of charge to their citizens as an introduction to music.
To go further and revise musical notions, some can useEarMaster, which offers 2,500 lessons on intervals, chords, rhythms and more.
For its part, CCDMD's musical dictation will give you the opportunity to review the concepts of rhythm, melody and harmony free of charge, thanks to downloadable dictations. Finally, there are other applications for learning about specific instruments, for example, or finding out more about music. You can consult them in this list compiled by France Musique.
And once the basics have been learned, technology still has its place in lessons, of course. For example, it's not uncommon for musicians to have to cover a piece of music in a different musical or rhythmic style than the original. To teach young people how to do this harmoniously, iRealPro is an interesting application that lets you be accompanied by a virtual band, while developing chord grids for numerous pieces in different styles.
A teacher who has seen others use the application recounts here (.pdf) how he used it with his students. As his students learn percussion with different instruments, they were able to use the app to, for example, perform Pachelbel's Canon to a more pop-like rhythm. It also made them feel more comfortable transposing and even improvising music. A more stimulating approach than using the metronome, which, according to the same teacher, made less sense than the mobile software.
On another note, while some may join the school orchestra, it can be stressful to follow both the conductor's playing instructions and the score. While professional musicians have learned to do this with years of experience, it's not so easy for children, who already have to learn to master their instrument. A British teacher has therefore designed a perfect application for this audience. Syncphonia will be used by both parties. The "Conductor" (i.e. the teacher) can divide up the different parts of a piece and set the desired tempo, etc. The young musician can then play his or her own piece. In this way, the young musician will be able to follow his score, which, like a karaoke piece, will be highlighted when he has to play the notes. What's more, the pages turn automatically. A technological solution that reduces the stress of children who are afraid they won't be able to keep up with the orchestra.
References
"Apprendre La Musique En Ligne : Que Choisir?" France Musique. Last updated: September 26, 2017. https://www.francemusique.fr/savoirs-pratiques/j-apprends-la-musique-en-ligne-37092.
Lévesque, Anne-Isabelle. "Faciliter L'enseignement De La Musique à L'école." LAUGHTER. Last updated December 12, 2017. http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/2017/12/enseignement-musique/.
Rieppi, Thomas. "iReal Pro. A technological tool used for didactic purposes to support the recommendations of scientific research in instrumental teaching." Scholar. Last updated 2017. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/rmo/2017-v4-n1-rmo03108/1040303ar.pdf.
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