Audacity and other great teaching tools

Michael Baker Brown

Technology that educates

Dr. Bazan

The public education design has changed a lot from the industrial age.  Classrooms were set up in rows like assembly lines, and students learned in a fashion to meet the needs of the time.  The classroom has evolved to include modern technology.  When I was in high school choir 30 years ago, I remember technology like an overhead projector being present in the classroom.  We wrote and marked in our scores much as we do now, but instead of using solfege, we used the numbering system.  This was time of videocassette and video tape, and recording sound quality was not very good.  Now we have technology available that can assist the music educator in the classroom with recording, sound editing and engineering, performance, and composition readily available and cheap.  Recording systems were very expensive and large when I was in high school, but now anyone can record with smallest devise. 

I teach high school choir and I use a number of technologies to aid in my classroom.  Audacity is a great tool I use in the classroom in many different fashions.  I first starting using Audacity as a recording tool in the classroom.  I record the rehearsal with Audacity using my laptop, and I can play it back for the students.  This helps when trying to accomplish key concepts such as phrasing, balance, vowel shape, or diction.  The students may think they are performing at the level needed for clarity in any one of the concepts, but when students hear the recording of themselves, they can tell if they accomplished the task.   I also use Audacity to cut and edit tracks for student rehearsal.  Every year my students audition for All-Region and All-State.  They audition against electronic accompaniment.  I use Audacity to create audition guess spots.  The wave function makes it easy to zoom up and cut to exact beat I want in the song.  I export the guess spots and upload them to google classroom.  My students can access the tracks with any devise as long as they are signed up to the class.  I encourage students to use it when they practice.  I also use classroom and Audacity to create assignments for my students.  I use electronic accompaniments to give individual assessments of student’s progress in performance. 

Other technology tools I use to benefit the students in feedback and practice are sightreadingfactory.com and smartmusic.  Over the past few years, I have started using Sightreadingfactory more than smartmusic because I feel it has more options for choral ensembles.  When used properly these tools can build a students understand and skills in any concept of music.  Students can use technology to assist with practice, while teachers use the same technology to monitor each student individually.  Using technology to practice can also help to motivate students.  Music educators need to utilize technologies that can help students become more efficient in music concepts.  Many new technologies exist out there now that are easily accessible and not costly, and music educators need to use them in ways to create self-motivated musicians.