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Music education researcher Lucy Green found that students who have more choice about their own repertoires are more successful and stay with music longer. Walker is one of many music educators promoting music education that reflects the cultural diversity of learners. Music researcher Margaret Walker examines how music education in the West has traditionally advanced European exceptionalism and cultural superiority. Without altering pitch (a critical capability), students can change playback speeds, manipulate the nature of accompaniment they hear, activate a metronome and even click on individual notes in a score to show the fingering and sound of the note for specific instruments.
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However, research conducted during the pandemic suggests that teaching students how to play instruments online can offer music teachers the chance to redefine curriculum, set new goals for students and consider new criteria for evaluation.įor students who have access to instruments at home, music teachers can use a flexible accompaniment app like SmartMusic.
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However, singing and playing instruments online comes with its own set of technological issues, the most prominent of which is time lag - what some of my students refer to as “glitchiness.” Beatboxing musicians who create complete musical works manipulating their breathing, mouths and throats inspired this tool’s development.Įven before the pandemic, some music researchers were interested in helping educators overcome hurdles with teaching instrumental music online and how online lessons could benefit children in rural locations. As school budgets are always stretched, it’s important for programs to be very inexpensive or preferably free.Īt the elementary level, students can enjoy and learn from apps such as Incredibox, where students can explore beatboxing, combining rhythms and sound effects to create unique pieces. This often leaves online tools as the default. Going online has forced music educators to adapt existing ideas, or adopt existing technology, to discover, invent and share ways to reach students to keep music education alive.ĭuring the pandemic, most school-based music teachers have faced the challenge that elementary students don’t have access to instruments at home. However, as many teachers and students have discovered in the last two years of on-and-off virtual school, music lessons during the pandemic have unearthed some pleasant surprises. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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