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Week 11 iPads can do anything!

This.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhR2eKtDjck

I mean, c’mon. This is awesome and I wish I had this classroom experience when I was in primary AND secondary school. Now if you have been reading this blog... and you’re crazy not to ;), you would know that I am not a gamer, but this exercise is next level fun.

In our experimentation with the iPad orchestra, we played “smells like teen spirit” and as masterful MTeach students, picked it up quite well. We then progressed to analyse the positives and negatives of this in a classroom contexts. We criticised it’s accessibilities, capabilities, limitations, legitimacy of it in the music world, etc. 

This.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRYkC6fY190

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Week 10

In the conversation of planning our Tech-infused projects, the assignment has me scratching my head about what I can do for my tech infused project... There have been 3 particular classes that have popped out as potentials. One was week 7′s improvisation class - where we scaffolded the notes of Bb Dorian into experimentation, another being Jim’s class in week 11 on Wednesday evening with the powerhouse composition activity and finally, James’ Pokemon rhythm examples composition class. Each of these pieces scaffolding a composition in it’s own respective way, but I think it might be good to synthesise these methods.

Stay tuned for more :)

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Week 8 Gaming music :)

Well. This was an interesting lesson for me, controversial thoughts, however I really do have to thank my parents for not letting me play that many games as a kid. The first reason being, I try to get away camping as often as my calendar allows so there is an innate need of the outdoors for me and secondly, I wouldn’t have practiced my music so much if I did! That’s my opinion piece/rant complete.

Saying that, Rebecca Li did give a really interesting presentation on her research and her experiences with gaming music. With a very interesting research and coursework background, Rebecca did provide some insight into the parallels and differences of video games to classroom environments. We explored bemuse.ninja - a rhythm based learning with parallels to guitar hero or tap tap revenge. This was a fun and interactive learning exercise which touched on her game-based learning aspect of having lives, in retrospect, being able to make mistakes in class. This app acted as a tool for accomodating mistakes and further persevering to correct them.

Revisiting this blog a week later:

I had my private tuition students (piano) and they were having trouble learning notes in treble and bass clef, so I downloaded this cool app called Staffwars which has a quasi space invaders vibe to it.... THE KIDS LOVED IT! It even got me hooked trying to get as high a level as I could. In a comparison with an app like Tenuto, which is a theory test app... This is miles ahead in terms of motivation and engagement.

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Week 7 - Improv, brought to you by academics

We find ourselves back at the Conservatorium on a Monday evening and we are exploring the soundscapes of Goovin’ again - brought to you by the same people that brought you ‘my girl’ (or Sydney timetable). 

Today’s activity was an attempt to scaffold improvisation in a combination between ‘sound before sight’ and ‘sight before sound’, brought to you by Barbara Freedman. To elaborate on this, once the class had established our Groove, brought to you by Ethan Hein, we then paused and James wrote the pitches of a Bb Dorian mode and Bb Blues on the white board to provide us with the ‘accessible’ pitches to solo with. This is a real head scratcher for me, how is it that when students claim that they can’t improvise and then they are given the means to, suddenly they can... Going in their own time and not just ascending and descending the scale. Giddings (2013) elaborated on the inherent creativity in this process and emphasises that students will learn the scale more effectively if they improvise it over a chord progression. Looking from a different perspective, when I am improvising in non-western modes and scales, you really get to know your intervals and do find an appreciation for the scalic elements (leading tones, b5′s in blues, etc.).

I personally find this method of scaffolding quite interesting and think that I may look further into implementing it into composition classes and teaching improv in my units of work.

Giddings, S. (2013). Inherent creativity and the road to happiness: improvisation and composition in the music classroom.(music makers: creativity matters). Canadian Music Educator, 55(2), 44–46.

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Week 6

Our initial experience to this weeks 5pm class was walking into papa was a rollin’ stone, a song I was very familiar with due to a childhood of music sessions on the way to Saturday sport and dinner parties. James says in a usual ambiguous instructional pattern, I hear a bass line, a vocal line, a trumpet line.... figure it out. To the point which the class grabbed some instruments and started jamming to a groove. Learning by ear, playing into the ‘sound before sight’ idea that was outlined by Freedman. 

The end of the class fostered some really interesting conversations about Ethan Hein and his research into grooves vs songs. I’ve linked it just below here:

http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2020/songs-vs-grooves/

This should definitely be one for your reading list also!

Lucy Green in an article illustrates that, ear playing is can enhance aural development, is beneficial for playing from memory, improvising and performing rehearsed music as it also provides scope for simultaneous stylistic learning. So looking at this from an objective perspective, if there are so many benefits and enhancements from ear learning, why isn’t this the norm? Food for thought...

Freedman, B. (2017). Music Fluency: How Technology Refocuses Music Creation and Composition. In The Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199372133.013.35

Varvarigou, M., & Green, L. (2015). Musical “learning styles” and “learning strategies” in the instrumental lesson: The Ear Playing Project (EPP). Psychology of Music, 43(5), 705–722. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735614535460

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Week 5 You don’t have to compose with a quill and parchment!

In this weeks lesson, we put down the instruments, the drum machines, the samplers and the babushka doll learning patterns to reflect on the work that we had been doing throughout the first 4 weeks. In a contemplative state, we were talking with other members of our specialist subjects to compare and consider our individual experiences in Composition in Music Education and Technology in Music Education.

The main point that stuck out at me was the ability for the lecturers to take the fear of BPS (blank page syndrome) and stigma of classical composition for students in schools and universities. In this class, we were just musicking and we didn’t even know that we were composing! So cool! Much like in Giddings’ (2013) approach of acknowledging students’ inherent creativity and skills, there was no over-complication with less effective ways of fostering creativity in this classroom. My personal view of this was a ‘safe space’ for musicians alike to share ideas and opinions of composition. Freeman (2017) further enhances this with the idea of students developing their knowledge of composition and skills of creativity, by aligning it with language skills in music. This concept aims to develop a fluency in (musical) language and rather than attempting to teach creativity, there is an acknowledgement of students’ existing understandings.

Freedman, B. (2017). Music Fluency: How Technology Refocuses Music Creation and Composition. In The Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199372133.013.35

Giddings, S. (2013). Inherent creativity and the road to happiness: Improvisation and composition in the music classroom. The Canadian Music Educator, 55(2), 44-46. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/scholarly-journals/inherent-creativity-road-happiness-improvisation/docview/1490483935/se-2?accountid=14757

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Scratch Junior composition :)

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Week 4 Scratchy Junior

This was one of the more interesting compositional softwares that I have used. If you have been reading my previous blogs, you would have noticed that my personal experience is aligned with Sibelius and more western music notational softwares. However, when exploring the Scratch Junior app in class, I realised how my experiences in the Loopy app related to this. As apparent in the name, Loopy is a looping app that has proven very useful in my past for making quick harmonisations for choral arrangements and pop songs.

The experience that we had with Scratch Junior was one of a musical display and demonstration by James, to which we were then handed iPads to explore the app and create some ‘compositions’. This combines the knowledge and experience with Flip Sampler explored on Wednesday night in week 2 and simplified its appearance and process to make it ‘kid friendly’.

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Week 3 Link it up!

Today we revisited the illustrious DM1 app, coupled with ableton link to explore the first iPad rhythmic orchestra. To my surprise, the ability to like iPads with ableton link is somewhat universal and synonymous with a range of apps. Looking at the iPad drum machine from a different perspective, one immediately sees the individual elements and at a glance could struggle to see a collaborative process. This perspective can then be referred to Ableton link where their minds could be blown. The process of abelton link was the first step to collaboration in a classroom context, this was then further enhanced by plugging our iPads into small mixers with 4 headphones in order to hear the work of our peers.

Whilst I did feel a reluctancy to experiment with rhythmic samples and creations, I more-so opted for a collaborative exercise and turned my volume down and the groups up. Among the many ‘different’ rhythmic ideas that were being played by the others, I felt that my contribution to filling in the quieter moments and playing with texture escalated this exercise of aligning beat into a more distinct music making (debatable, I know!).

Further incorporating the home-studios (DAW’s) that were discussed last week and synthesising the concept with collaborative processes this weel, Ruthmann (2008), Thorgersen & Zandén (2014) and Green (2002) in Humberstone (2017), outline the benefits of resources to the bedroom musician, and their influence on engagement to a student. The element of interest was contrasted with the classroom compositional activities which are undertaken in class. In this, what Humberstone (2017) idea of interest coincides with my personal experience in this weeks activity, where the flexibility of the exercise allowed me to differ from the rhythmic focus and explore textural aspects.

Humberstone, J. (2017). A Pluralist Approach to Music Education. In The Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199372133.013.40

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Week 2 Digitál Workstations

This was a very interesting exploration in the world of ‘workstations’, coming from a transition of step sequencers on the preceding Monday. Coming from more music creation and notational softwares on the iPads and experimentation of DM1, which challenged my technological side, this was an effective exercise as for the more analog inclined students could explore the soundscapes with physical musical equipment. For me the MPC element really hit home for me. This was due to the touch sensitivity which gave the sensation of playing an instrument. The digital workstations that were explored around the classroom gave some insight into the different softwares and hardwares. As I personally work a lot with Sibelius, it does at first feel like a different ball game when working with samplers, pads and drum machines… But with perseverance, there is great reward.

On the topic of DAW (Digital Audio Workstations), Andrew King (2017) discusses the changes in home studio and the music technology scene, analysing the affordability and accessibility of home studios in modern contexts. If companies are focused on developing personalised tools and facilities at an ease of affordability, perhaps there is scope for schools to be able to afford these products and to possibly differentiate their learning environments.

Evangelos Himonides, S. Alex Ruthmann, & Andrew King. (2017). The Routledge Companion to Music, Technology, and Education. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315686431

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Week 1 DNMing with DM1

We first embarked on the Music Curriculum Extension 1 journey with the experimentation through DM1. Now I have to admit that I feel that I am more of a harmonically inclined musician, in other terms, possess two left feet rhythmically. However through the exploration of this app and it’s initial interface, rhythm seems so easy without all the beams and semiquaver rests! Of course I am over-dramatising this concept but from someone with little experience with touch pads, drum machines and tech interfaces, one can only ponder the practicality of this in a music classroom. In a babushka doll learning style, we started were given 10 minutes to unpack (multiples of Russian dolls if you would) and understand how the app works. As emerging pre-service teachers, some made short work of creating some vibe-y and strong rhythmically pulsed compositions. Myself rather being more inquisitive and sticking to my harmonic roots, discovered instrument changing. So with the creation of a simplistic beat and some basic harmony, I had a composition! Some eyebrows can be raised to whether this is a composition, however:

This explored duration through a 9 square interface on the home screen

Texture of different instruments and accents/dynamics of the different notes (or programmed sound) - by holding the button down.

Change of timbre of the different instruments and further changing pitches.

Pitches: Modulation of instruments, change of octave fields, pitch bends (keyboard wheel).

Texture/timbre/pitch of automating the effects through plug ins.

The process of learning how to use this app was intentionally unclear, in that the 10 minutes of exploration of the app posed as experiential learning. I did some wider reading and found this cool article called the ‘The laptop orchestra as classroom’ (Ge Wang, Dan Trueman, Scott Smallwood and Perry R. Cook, 2008). I found the approach to having composers in classroom contexts, designing the eInstruments (software based instruments), teaching the students how to play them and rehearsing the group as a whole, a really interesting concept. Whilst this process seems to follow a traditional group rehearsal or classroom music format, there is a point of dissonance in the article. The classroom approaches that are illustrated are contradicted by an ‘experiential’ learning process, where students are to learn by discovering the app. Of course one can realise the possible anarchy in a classroom context if the students were to be left along to discover software on their devices, however this has left food for thought.... Was the method of learning that we undertook more experiential than being taught by a software developing composer?

Wang, G., Trueman, D., Smallwood, S., & Cook, P. R. (2008). The Laptop Orchestra as Classroom. Computer Music Journal, 32(1), 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1162/comj.2008.32.1.26