In my opinion, the piece of technology that had the most impact on music education is the CD/CD player. With it's creation in 1969 and then eventual spread to common use about 15 years later, the CD player revolutionized the musician's capabilities of musical interpretation. Today, recordings of live performances and studio recordings are widely utilized in the classroom to assist teachers in getting the students to understand what a piece they are working on is supposed to sound like. For example, students may be having a problem with a certain rhythm and if continuously trying to help them count it out on their own, a recording can really come in handy to hear the rhythm in context if they follow along with their own music that's in front of them. Recordings also can be used for inspirational means. I know that when I was in middle school and high school I was always in awe of the sounds I heard coming from the musicians on professional recordings and it always made me work harder to achieve such warm and emotional or bouncy and exciting sounds. CD players made using recordings a helpful and essential part of the instrumental/vocal setting.
Although CD players weren't specifically mentioned in the readings, I feel that it is just an extension of the phonograph which was clearly mentioned as being used in the classroom in the early part of the period we are discussing. The CD player is an upgraded and modern version of the mechanisms of the past.
Even the most distinguished musicians can improve with ease and momentum through listening to those that came before them.
Arielle, interesting photo. Can you help me understand your choice of technology and how it relates to schooling?
ReplyDeleteIn a band room, where I will personally be spending most of my time teaching, we are constantly playing tons of different music. One of the ways we can really get into the feel/mood of a certain piece of music we're working on is to listen to a recording of it being played by professionals. Because listening to recordings as a whole in class is so important to the learning experience in my content, I chose the CD player/CD as having the most impact. During my own secondary schooling my band director was constantly playing recordings of the pieces we were working on for us during class to help us hear what it what supposed to sound like. Overall, this strategy, along with personal practice time, helped our band become the best it could be.
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