iPad Apps for the Music Classroom and Creative Concert Repertoire Lists

During class this week, we had the opportunity to look at various music iPad apps, and see if we could find any which would be of any use in the music classroom. hile I found many of the apps that were at our fingertips rather entertaining, I didn't find that  many of them were rather useful. A lot of them seemed to be more for the sake of entertainment rather than education, save for a few of the musical instruments.

One of the ones that stuck out to me most was a trombone app, which not only made noise at the touch of a finger, but had guidelines for slide positions for each note. I could certainly see this as very useful for student trombonists if they encounter any difficult sections in their music, or any notes that they are unaware of, and should assist them with how their parts will sound. I think if made with proper detail, any instrument app for an iPad OR iPhone if it is available to the students can certainly help them have a better understanding of the instrument.

Another, was Bebot. Yes. You heard me right. I find Bebot useful for educational purposes. Why? Not do I see it great for demonstration of pitch and tuning in instrumental sections, but I can also see it being useful for singers, as the different qualities of tone the little robot produces based on how high/low your finger is on your screen seems like it can help teach students to develop the appopriate vocal tone... But as I am not a voice major, I cannot say for certain, and this is merely speculation.

Personally, I feel that if there are going to be iPhone apps for instruments, they have to be made by someone very knowledgeable about the instruments themselves, and know their ENTIRE way around them. If it's not accurate, then it's completely useless.

Later on within my week, our Symphonic Band had received new repertoire after playing a FANTASTIC concert the week before and one of them was this recently composed peice to be incorporated with a good old silent Felix the Cat cartoon! Which we all found extremely awesome:

 

(For the version showing the band with the video projected next to it, click here!)

 

Although it's going to be a really difficult peice, I think it will certainly be a very fun peice for us to work on, despite the fact that I barely survived sightreading it. (CURSE YOU VERY NEW E-FLAT CLARINET REED!!) What I really like about this day of age in musical ensembles is that there is many repertoire out there that composers somehow incorporate technology into whether it is a video or an audio track. I certainly think that there needs to be much more repertoire like this that can be accessible to high school band programs, as they are great spring concert repertoire choices that could not only entertain parents, but attract the attention of many possible new recruits. I had recently gone to a Music Educator's conference in Manitoba, and one of the listed reasons for band programs to decline was the day and age of technology being an important factor. Well, why not spice up the repertoire a little?

 

The issue with this is that many of the peices like this that are composed end up being terribly difficult... I beleive that many of the composers for band should take many examples from many of the new music composers and help bring this technological creativity to a junior high or highschool ensemble respectively. If the repertoire is both fresh, and manageable for a school ensemble, students may look at band programs with much more praise.

 

Of course I am not saying that this should be done constantly, but once in a while, we should give the students something that they'd never expect to be made for a band.

 

 

Well, that's it for now. To end this post, I'll give you another great example of music and technology being incorporated together by Eric Whitacre, one of my favorite composers:

 

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you... "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas"!