Over the past 15 years, technological advancements changed the landscape of any field, including the technology music lesson domain. This, of course, also goes for music. But we’re not talking only about the instruments here.
Digitalization of music is not a new thing; digital signal processing has been a thing for quite a while now. Not to mention the MIDI technology that allowed us to get any instrument on a regular MIDI controller, including those in forms of guitars. Aside from this, there are countless examples of technology impacting music education.
It’s not that rare to stumble upon people, especially those from older generations, arguing that technology is interfering too much with music education. It comes to the point where they say it all could hurt the overall results. But is it really like that?
Since this is an important discussion, we’ll dive into the topic and see what are some of the advantages of technology in music education. We’ll tackle things one by one, give some examples, and see whether there are any potential “dangers” that might hurt the music lesson experience.
Instrument learning apps
In this day and age, there’s an app for everything. Whatever is the activity, hobby, or profession; you’ll be able to install this little piece of software to your smartphone or a personal computer (devices that serve almost the same function at this point) that will help you in your work.
This also goes for music, especially instruments like guitar and piano. There are even apps with interactive tabs and sheet music that you can edit and write your music with. It’s pretty useful, and some services have become really popular among all ages and levels of playing
But can it hurt the music lesson experience? Well, any of these apps can be a very useful tool for learning music. This is pretty obvious, as they usually provide you with detailed explanations of how to perform songs or scales. However, the downside comes if you become completely reliant on them. The thing is, by learning music by ear, you develop your musical skills and put that music theory you learned in practice.
Of course, music-learning apps are extremely helpful, especially for beginners. But a music student should try not to become too dependent on them.
Technology music lesson: Sheet music, tablatures, and lessons databases
Back in the day, it was quite difficult to get good literature that was up to date. Another advantage of the internet is that many of the stuff is available for free. This includes actual music lessons by experienced professionals on YouTube and other platforms.
Anything that you might not figure out is available somewhere and is explained the way a beginner can understand. This goes for music theory, technique, and even how certain instruments or gear work. By having this much information, the bar has risen. Now, every teacher and student can find ways to learn things quicker.
Then we have an abundance of sheet music and tablature that are available online. Anything from beginner songs, up to the most advanced musical pieces of pretty much any genre. This opens up a whole world of possibilities, making it easier for music students and auto-didacts to learn things quicker.
MIDI technology
MIDI is actually a technical standard that carries digital information about music. It has information about one note’s pitch, volume, length, panning, and even vibrato. You can use this information in many different ways; most notably, you can use it to control different virtual instruments and deliver convincing sounds through keyboards, MIDI guitars, and all the other types of instrument-like controllers.
But what’s really useful in terms of music lessons is that you can use MIDI technology to write down music. For instance, what you played on a MIDI keyboard gets written down as digital information in your desired software. You can then edit any of the note’s aforementioned parameters and even put it through different virtual instruments and change its tone.
Keyboard arrangers these days have MIDI features and you can write down and edit some of your own music. This approach breaks down barriers between theory and practice, and the student gets the chance to put what they learned into actual music.
Technology music lesson: Using digital audio workstations and plugins
Back in the old days of rock ‘n’ roll, the only way one could record themselves was using a tape recorder. Over the decades, as the years progressed, we got very useful digital audio workstations. Some of these are even available for free; all you need for them to work is a fairly decent and affordable audio interface (sound card) and a computer.
Using digital audio workstations (or DAWs), you can record your playing in multi-track formation. For instance, if you’re playing the guitar, you can record rhythm parts to a set metronome tempo and then record anything over it. Obviously, recording yourself this way is one of the best ways to hear what you’re doing right or wrong.
Furthermore, DAWs come with various effect plugins and virtual instruments to help you create your music.
Using Alexa Skill
Alexa can also be a very useful tool for music students. For instance, our very own Rock Out Loud gives students sort of a “toolbox” to practice what they learned. The Skill comes with a bunch of useful vocal warm-up exercises. The mix also includes a guitar tuner, drum beats, and important information on how minor and major chords are built. You can even use it to create your own pattern of chords to practice to. To put it simply, it brings the music lesson experience to your home.
