Music education technology
Introduction
This should become an overview page about music education technology. It may take some time to get there - Daniel K. Schneider 16:51, 12 September 2011 (CEST).
We shall be particularly interested in tools that help learners play and compose music, i.e. use technology as cognitive tool or in other words learning with technology as opposed to learning from technology.
Hardware
Many kinds of keyboards (from cheap under $100 USB MIDI keyboards) to [[digital piano]s can can be connect to a computer via a so-called MIDI interface. In addition, some of of these keyboards include built-in educational technology.
Music audio/sequencer workstations
Garageband example
According to Wikipedia, retrieved 16:51, 12 September 2011 (CEST), GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package. [...] It can play realistic, sampled instruments, used for creating songs or playing music live using over 100 sampled or synthesized instruments, which can be played using a USB or MIDI keyboard connected to the computer, or using an on-screen virtual keyboard. [...] GarageBand can import MIDI files, and offers piano roll or notation-style editing and playback.}}. GarageBand was developed in the early '90s and first published on Jan 2004 by Apple. As of sept 2011, GarageBand is available as version '11, part of the iLive package included in each new Mac. These is also an iPad version available for $5.
GarageBand supports USB MIDI keyboards
Recent versions of GarageBand 5/'09 or later allow to download music lessons from GarageBand's Lesson Store for guitar and piano. There are two types of lesson available in the Lesson Store: Basic Lessons which are a free download and Artist Lessons which must be purchased. The first Basic Lessons for both guitar and piano are included with GarageBand.
Using music notation software
According to Tomas E. Rudloph, in http://tomrudolph.berkleemusicblogs.com/2010/01/15/using-notation-software-with-students/ Using Notation Software with Students] (blog), “many teachers have found that notation software is an excellent medium to encourage composition and to reinforce theory and other concepts.”. Notable links in this blog post were:
- www.vtmidi.org
- http://www.musictechteacher.com/lessons001.htm
- www.ti-me.org (TI:ME, Technology for Music Education, members only $40/year)
Links
Sofware links
- GarageBand (Official home page)