Articles

Technology Literacy

The music education profession is in a technology transition. Today, computer literacy is becoming an essential ingredient in the teaching lexicon, especially for reaching and teaching students of all learning styles and 
abilities.

Music educators must now know how to operate PC and/or Macintosh computer operating systems to maximize business and music software applications. Educators are striving to keep up with basic computer hardware and computer applications like word processing, PowerPoint slide show presentations, spreadsheets, database management, Internet with search engines and e-mail, electronic grade books, and more. And there is always the challenge of finding out what is available to do the job better and teach more effectively. Help with this can be found in back issues of this technology column, published online at:www.sbomagazine.com/technology.aspx.

When these technology skills are learned, it is good to become familiar with Web development applications, including HTML programming, to spotlight your program on the World Wide Web. That will lead to skills in desktop publishing with computer graphic applications and digital photography as well as audio/video streaming. When I entered college 40 years ago, only business students took typing courses as part of their high school curriculum. The time has come when educators need to become technology literate. But knowing how busy instrumental music educators are, the question quickly becomes: How can this be accomplished after one has entered the profession with the limitations of time and money? Let’s look at a few strategies.

Mixing Music and Politics

Politics. Now there’s a word I’ve seen many of my colleagues try to ignore. Politics is nothing more than perception. Politics is how we are perceived by others. Many music teachers do everything in their power to not let politics control their programs. And yet, it is a part of what we do, whether we like it or not. When I hear music teachers complain about politics, it usually means they have lost control of their programs.

Over the past several years, I have been called into schools on numerous occasions to help resolve issues from requiring participation in marching band in order to be in jazz band to whether it is okay to charge for concerts to cutting music programs. In most situations, I found the music directors were just not speaking at the same level as their administrators. I’ll have to admit that most administrators, unless they have been trained in music education, have little or no understanding of just what we are doing as music educators. Most administrators truly want to understand music education but have little or no time to observe and study the subject.

When it comes time for your administration to evaluate your performance as a teacher, most of us get a positive report. In reality, most administrators admire what we are doing, but have very little knowledge of the subject to know whether things are going well or badly. Usually, administrators only get involved when something goes terribly wrong. Even then they often have no understanding of how dealing with music education should be handled.

Jazz Applications

My favorite music technology applications are in jazz. Jazz by its very nature is a creative process with many opportunities for improvisation, arranging and composing. Technology opportunities abound in jazz education – and they meet national MENC and local school district music standards.

One of the concerns about jazz education today is that most music educators have not been trained in jazz education techniques, yet are expected to teach it. Consequently, they are hesitant as they experience some limitations in jazz instruction, especially when their ensembles are adjudicated by trained jazz professionals at festivals. But with jazz technology applications, it is possible to accelerate the learning curve toward mastering jazz education principles. Excellent software, interactive CD-ROM, videos, and books are available to expand the jazz education experience.

Orchestra Applications

The World of String Technology

Of all the areas of music education today, string education is perhaps the underachiever when it comes to new, exciting technology innovations. Most string teachers don’t go much beyond the electric tuner when they consider technology. Fortunately, the music scene today is less constricted and open to change and expansion. Contemporary popular music has helped enrich repertory and performance practices with improvisation, sound synthesis, MIDI performance techniques and much more. Home and school recording studios are springing up. Burning CDs and DVDs is now economical, and computers continue to be productive in promoting technology applications for string educators. And then there is the Internet.

In this article, we’ll explore the use of string technology in several instructional venues. Technology instructional materials have become more valuable as more band directors are also teaching strings as part of their assignment. String technology advances are influencing students and teachers alike with more authentic references to sound production, bowing techniques, maintenance, care and more.

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE

Long Tones and Dynamic Phrasing

REPORT: HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL

HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL
In addition to teaching, music educators often find themselves saddled with a variety of other responsibilities that are time-consuming, but very important to the prosperity of their programs. One of those tasks is grant-writing. When extra funding is needed to pursue a special project outside the day-to-day operation of the music program (above and beyond fundraising efforts), many directors turn to grant-makers for financial support. But the process is complicated, and every grant opportunity has a sea of applicants vying for attention.

Getting Started
When writing a grant proposal, it is important to have a clear definition of the project in need of funding. Otherwise, determining prospective sources of funding will be very difficult. The Congressional Research Service recommends envisioning the project from the perspective of the potential grant-maker to determine its viability. The Service also suggests contacting recipients of the grants in question for insight into the recipients’ experiences with the grant-making organization.

An Honorable Orchestra

The students in the W.T. Clements High School orchestra program are at the top of their class. Orchestra directorPenny Meitz, who has taught music in the public schools for 24 years, has never seen such academically-focused students. On a recent trip, a group of orchestra students met every night to study for the AP Chemistry exam. Last year, 32 students from Clements High School were recognized as National Merit Scholars. Many of the students are so intent on boosting their grade point averages that they have to be persuaded to stay in orchestra, which is not an honors-level class.

Those students who have remained in the program have helped the orchestra earn two distinct honors in the three years that Meitz has been director. Last year, the ensemble was invited to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and this year the Texas Music Educators Association has selected the Clements Symphony Orchestra as this year’s Honor Symphony Orchestra for the state of Texas. As part of this honor, the orchestra will perform at the TMEA convention in February.

The school’s Sugar Land, Texas, neighborhood has a substantial Asian population, and about 90 percent of the Clements Orchestra is Asian, Meitz estimates. The cultural emphasis on excellence extends from academics into the music realm, she notes. Many of the Asian students in

Percussion Technology, Part II

In the November issue of School Band and Orchestra, we reviewed tutorial software, MIDI percussion, notation software, instructional videos and technology resources for percussion. In Part Two of Percussion Technology, will cover drum machines, drum machine software, drum software tracks, sequencing software, and hardware.

DRUM MACHINES
The first drum machine was the Chamberlin Rhythmate (1949). Korg released the first all-electronic rhythm machine in 1966, called the MiniPopos. One of the founders and a partner started Acetone in the 1960s. Roland was founded in 1972 and developed its first drum machine, the TR-77. The first programmable drum machine was the Roland Acetone FR-15 in 1975.

Today, a good starter drum machine is the Boss DR-670 drum machine. This includes 255 sounds and 16 bass sounds for programming drum rhythms and bass patterns, responsive velocity- and after touch- sensitive pads, powerful capabilities for editing sounds, including decay and pitch shift, and slap bass and synth bass sounds to finish a piece. Other Roland drum machines, such as the DR-770, have a built-in effects processor with equalization (EQ) and ambience control ready to record finished and fully produced drum tracks.

Percussion Technology- Part One

Of all the music technology available to music educators, percussion technology is probably the least understood. And in some cases, the least available. In this article, you will find a variety of percussive technology materials and creative applications.

As in other areas of music technology, there has been an upsurge of development in the percussion arts. You will certainly benefit when you discover the variety of hardware/software/videos/books, etc., available for marching, concert and jazz applications, plus percussion instruction. Besides the new hardware and software, there are some excellent percussion books with audio CDs as well as instructional videos for motivating, developing and teaching percussionists.

In Percussion Technology: Part One, we will focus on tutorial software, MIDI percussion, notation software, instructional videos and technology resources for percussion. In December, Part Two of Percussion Technology will cover drum machines, drum machine software, drum software tracks, sequencing software, and hardware.