The question,
How has/will music technology effect music education?
Well, if you don't think it has yet then your doing something wrong. We live in a time where you can download tuning software for free on just about anything and with the proper software you can make even the worst of singers sound in key.
So for the"has"
Music is now more accessible than ever. Anyone with a key board and a slight idea of how to spell an artists name can find just about any song they want, even if it hasn't been recorded for an album yet (YouTube). And just like that people are also able to search for just about any lesson they want, whether it be how to play an E major chord on the guitar or how to have the proper embouchure to play the clarinet. Just about anything you can think of in the realm of music has a free lesson somewhere online.
This new music technology boom has also begun to catch on in the classroom. We now have programs like Logic where students have access to just about any instrument they want and with enough knowlege and time for trail and error, students can write a symphony with ease, just by playing a midi keyboard.
Seeing the opportunity in this, many teachers use these student made compositions to teach the creator and the class as a whole about the theory behind the composition. Some teachers sight examples such key signature, chord structure, ect. The teaching opportunities with student made compositions can become very in depth and is only limited by the teachers ability to explore the composition and the complexity of the composition itself.
Other teachers have begun to film themselves playing the instrument or piece they are teaching students and putting these videos up on their website to help guide students while practicing at home.
Now we even have Guitar Hero style video games where the player uses a real guitar to learn how to play a composition.
These are just a few small examples to help form the big picture of where music technology is/ and where its going in the classroom.
Now for the "will"
At this point with more and more free software being made I can only assume that music technology will slowly begin taking over the music classroom. In reality the only thing I can see holding students back would be the school administrations absence of such knowledge, their interest in the arts and the schools technology budget.
In the near future, I believe that we are going to see allot more composition based software. Specifically because most of these midi software notates what the user is playing. Due to this the user can go back and analyze what they have just play in a notated from. This opens up endless possibilities for ear training, chord/ note structure lessons, song anylisis, ETC. Really anything that is taught in a theory class can be done on these programs, except now students and teachers can see the piece being played while the software highlights the notes.
I also believe that soon there will be allot more games that can be used in the classroom such as Rocksmith, where students can play the actual instrument to a backing track and the game will critique their performance.
Some companies are even coming out with more child friendly electronic instruments such as the Korg Wavedrum. This drum allows students to experiment with all different types of sounds and can make learning and early childhood rhythm compostion incredibly simple while using an array of sounds with just a click of a button. What makes it even better is the drum can be played with sticks or your bare hands.
Many fear technology because it can bread laziness and a cumbersome lifestyle, but when it comes to music, I believe that technology could really help push students in the right direction and make learning music more accessible by those that may not have be able to participate otherwise. With the accessability of these new technologies we may very well make the world a more musical place. Isn't that what we the music educators want after all?
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