University of Calgary Tutti Conference

On Monday, April 25th, 2016 I am pleased to announce that I will be presenting at the University of Calgary Tutti Fine Arts Conference on iPads in the Band Room! For more info please click on the link http://scpa.ucalgary.ca/tutti

After the conference I will post my essential apps lists and sections of the keynote. Please check back for more and don't forget to follow along with Twitter @YYCMusicEd

The Calgary Teachers Convention 2016

I am very pleased to announce that I will be presenting two sessions at the upcoming teachers convention on the integration of technology (iPad) in the band room! Stay tuned for more info...

Childhood Folk Songs Reimagnied

The latest assignment that we have begun in our 21st Century music class is "Childhood Folk Songs". The idea behind this is to eventually, once foundational compositional knowledge is established, reinterpret these songs in different styles.

Introductory Assignment:

We began with first searching for the folk song that the student would like to use. This was done using YouTube and Internet searches. Once the song was decided upon, the student was to notate this song into NOTION.

The childhood classic "Row, Row, Row, your Boat"

This provides ample opportunity to provide formative assessment while the student works their way through rhythms, notes, time signatures and key signatures.  It is very important that the students have a pre-existing knowledge of rudimentary music theory.

Real World Setting:

We are using iPads with the latest iOS installed (iOS 9.2) with Presonus "NOTION" and Apple's GarageBand (Please note this will be used in the next assignment building upon the work in NOTION).

In the past, turning in assignments has been a struggle with iOS devices.  However, I have been using "Airdrop" in my band room lately with great success! I will post about this method shortly! Until then, good luck with your lessons and please share any insights that you may have!

The Soundscape & iPad

When I began my reserach into the inclsusion of technology in the band room it was immediatly clear that my work would be greatly influenced by R. Murray Schafer. I have found particular inspiration in his book "A Sound Education: 100 Exercises in Listening and Soundmaking" (http://www.patria.org/arcana/arcbooks.html).  In keeping with his profound insights into the future of music and music education, these exercises translate amazingly well into 21st century music education.  The following lesson I adapted from several of R. Murray Schafer's book:

The Modern Soundscape

In this approach to recognizing the soundscape around us, students will record three naturally occuring sounds.  They will assume the role as observer and only record sounds that are native to the soundscape and cannot be created by themselves.  Using the sampler in Garageband by Apple (https://appsto.re/ca/zQgxy.i) 

to record the sounds, students will then manipulate these three sounds into something that the believe resembles a kick drum, snare drum and hi-hat.  Allow students to form small groups and explore the soundscape around the school to find samples.

Once suitable samples have been recorded and manipulated into the desired sample, students will then record/perform a drum track*.  

In the real world...

In theory this lesson plan has many oppurtunites for student engagement and learning.  I am very happy to report that this approach to the soundscape was incredibly successful.  I used this approach for two seperate classes (one grade 8 class and one grade 9 class) and it was incredibly engaging.  I would highly recommend this approach to help students indirectly learn good techniques into recording a high quality, pure sample, basic multitrack techniques as well as a simple introduction to multitrack recording. Once again, R. Murray Schafer's ideas have been extremely beneficial in the modern classroom.

Feel free to share your experiences with this approach or other ideas!

Onwards and upwards,

Michael

*Let students choose between using three tracks to or a single track to record the beat.  

In Preparation for the Fall

While I do sincerely believe that we, as music educators, are starting to accept the inevitable integration of technology in the band room, many questions still remain such as; Where do we start?

That is precisely what I discuss in this entry.  I realize that it is August and perhaps I should be doing something other than this whilst sitting beside a pool in the beautiful Okanagan but such is the life of an educator!  I will be generally directing learner outcomes towards the Alberta Education Music Program of Studies (https://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/finearts/programs/) but luckily we all need a starting point, a foundation to build upon.  It is advisable to spend significant class time at the start of the course dedicated to learning fundamentals of iPad and the programs you elect to use.  Despite the popularity of loops and samples, I believe the elementary rudiments of music theory are of the utmost importance.  Loops and samples will invariably get your class started quickly with immediate success for your students, however, without establishing basic rudiments, it will soon become clear that you cannot facilitate a meaningful course based on loops and samples for an entire academic year! While it makes an excellent module, an entire year of arranging loops, in my opinion, is missing the mark (and program of studies!). 

 

Providing your students with quick, easy access to a virtual keyboard is essential.  I have found “Pianist Pro” by MooCowMusic Ltd (https://appsto.re/ca/EW7yv.i) to be best.  At first I used the keyboard in Garageband but having students be able to access this quickly, with a practical virtual keyboard was inefficient.  What I really like about the Pianist Pro is that the keyboard is quite large on the screen and is available to the student immediately after launching the program.  The samples are quite good and due to the keyboard taking up almost the entire iPad screen, students aren’t tempted to become distracted with other virtual instruments, as was the case when using garageband.

While Pianist Pro is not a complete package for teaching music theory, it is simply a tool to compliment your teaching.  I have a justified fear that at an increasingly alarming rate, music educators are placing the “burden” of teaching theory upon programs rather than themselves. This, in and of itself, is a topic worthy of a doctoral dissertation! But I will save that for another time.  While there are many great theory methods out there, Pianist Pro is simply to be used to compliment your teaching.  One of the main reasons I struggled at first with music theory was that I am a guitar player, and all the methods were visualized on keyboards.  Had I had the opportunity for a portable, accessible keyboard to play on while learning my rudiments, I would have found success much earlier. Beside, Esa-Pekka Salonen uses Pianist Pro and that should be reason enough to give it a try (https://vimeo.com/112253869).

Reflections of #CCTCA and #GETCA 2015

At first, being asked to present your thesis at two prominent teacher conventions was humbling and encouraging.  We are embarking on work that is in its infancy with many detractors.  After contemplating how to approach these separate presentations I began to wonder about what type of crowd would fill the room; would it be to open minded variety, or would it be the detractors coming to see what the new "fad" was.  I began to get nervous, but as a great guitarist once told me "...being nervous is a good thing, it means you care about the outcome".  And I truly did.  Luckily, I was welcomed with open arms at both conventions with bright, open minded, enthusiastic music educators! It both a privilege and honour to speak at the Teachers' convention in Calgary and Edmonton.

As promised, I will be posting excerpts of the conversations, apps and pedagogy over the coming weeks.  The next post will cover the first app discussed at the presentations: "Garageband"by Apple inc.  Although we are all pretty familiar with this app, I hope to introduce you to some hidden gems within the app as well as some different perspectives on moving beyond loops! Look for this post this coming weekend!

I have also included the video I created for my application for Apple Distinguished Educator 2015 (https://vimeo.com/121864882).  It was all recorded on the iPad Air 2.  It blows me away how powerful iOS has become!!! Onwards and upwards,

-Michael

Calgary & Edmonton Teachers Convention

I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking at both the Calgary (CCTCA) and Edmonton (GETCA) Teacher's Convention in February 2015.   I will be presenting my graduate work I did with Gonzaga University; "Personalized Music Education through iPad in a Mixed-Ability Band Room".  Having been able to fully implement a majority of my thesis in a real world setting, I am very excited to share the results with you.

Please check back often for more information about the sessions.  I will also post digital copies of the materials and handouts I will be using during the sessions.