Module 4
This week's module focused on performing music with technology. There are several research and best practices related to the acquisition of psychomotor knowledge and skills for music performance. Some of the factors involved in this are musical practice, motivation and feedback. Practice is crucial and students should establish the beginning and most important skills, such as, posture, breath support and diction. Students can record themselves and teachers and/or peers can provide feedback. Students can also use metronomes and tuners while they practice. There are applications for that on their phones so they do not have to buy a device. Students can even create their own accompaniments by using software like Noteflight or MuseScore. SmartMusic is a great resource for students when they practice because it has everything from a tuner and metronome to allowing students to sing/play their part with an accompaniment. According to Bauer (2014), "students may develop a sense of tonality more quickly and more thoroughly if they are playing in a harmonic context (p.82)," with the use of SmartMusic. Students are also more motivated to practice because students feel confident that they will be successful and achieve the activity since these technological devices are readily available to them. It is important as a teacher to give students formative feedback. This allows them to know how they did and the necessary steps they need to take to improve. I do this with Google Classroom. Students record themselves and I am able to provide them with formative feedback. It's great for them to go back and listen to themselves as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about SmartMusic this week. The affordances of this site is that students can have access to any repertoire that I assign them. It helps them practice, allows feedback to be given and it can definitely motivate them to practice and perform. The constraint is definitely in the price. I currently do not have a music budget and I teach in a Title I school. A lot of the students do not have computers at home and the school computers are quite dated.
This week I worked with Audacity. This composition assignment was difficult. I've had so many different versions of the MahNaMahNa remix, but ultimately went with this one. I have the main theme of the song in there with a little twist. In the beginning, I used the fade in effect. Next, I had the muppet with just a rhythm track and decided to add the instrumental one afterwards. The middle section is the main melody of MahNaMahNa. I chose the ending because it was the only way the composition would sound complete. I can definitely see myself doing a project like this with my students next year. I think they would enjoy it. The value of this remixing assignment is that you can take a familiar song, and make it your own. I'm sure that no one in the class will have the same song in the end because there's so much you can do with it. Students can think creatively and critically when doing this assignment.
Bauer, W.I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Check out my remix on soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/minayad/minayamanamana
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about SmartMusic this week. The affordances of this site is that students can have access to any repertoire that I assign them. It helps them practice, allows feedback to be given and it can definitely motivate them to practice and perform. The constraint is definitely in the price. I currently do not have a music budget and I teach in a Title I school. A lot of the students do not have computers at home and the school computers are quite dated.
This week I worked with Audacity. This composition assignment was difficult. I've had so many different versions of the MahNaMahNa remix, but ultimately went with this one. I have the main theme of the song in there with a little twist. In the beginning, I used the fade in effect. Next, I had the muppet with just a rhythm track and decided to add the instrumental one afterwards. The middle section is the main melody of MahNaMahNa. I chose the ending because it was the only way the composition would sound complete. I can definitely see myself doing a project like this with my students next year. I think they would enjoy it. The value of this remixing assignment is that you can take a familiar song, and make it your own. I'm sure that no one in the class will have the same song in the end because there's so much you can do with it. Students can think creatively and critically when doing this assignment.
Bauer, W.I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Check out my remix on soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/minayad/minayamanamana
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