There are wonderful ways that technology has advanced the music curriculum.  For example, with a program like finale students can better learn to compose and even hear what they wrote as it is played back to them.  Band-in-a-box can be hugely useful to assist beginning players in a small band setting to learn to play from chord charts.  Programs have even been created for band directors to write their marching band drill on the computer and then sequence all of the commands to watch the drill.  This would save hours of plotting out simple points with pencil and paper.

 With all of these wonderful advances, do music educators have anything to worry about?  I would venamently say “YES!”  We have to guard our classroom from becoming a computer class.  Students come to band or choir to learn to sing/play, not work computers.  If we begin to get to caught up with the latest technology we may waste precious class time explaining programs instead of the music behind the programs. 

As a student at Grove City College I recieved a personal laptop when I arrived my freshman year.  The first week I went to a class to learn about all of the cool features that the machine can do.  I was overwhelmed and amazed for example that I could actually take written notes right onto my computer.

I’m now a junior and have yet to use that “wonderful” feature of my computer.  I relized in the first week that with my music classes it was so much easier to just take notes with pencil and paper so I could write on staff paper sometimes and notebook paper other times.  This notebook is lighter to carry to class and keeps me from wasting time formatting my notes.  This has taught me that though the technology may be available to you, it is not always most efficient to use it at all times. 

So to use or not to use…….I’d recommend examining the particular situation closely before investing in the time and money to use technology as an everyday part of the music classroom.

                            Pictures from Yotophoto  

Information for this article was gleaned from this music technology site: http://www.mustech.net/2007/03/music-education-and-technology-a-realists-approach/

 Check out how another music educator feels about this topic by going to: http://alleyjazz13.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/music-technology-a-realists-approach/

Copyright is a highly debated issue in today’s musical world.  As technology advances people gain the ability to reproduce CD’s, videos, and texts quickly.  Though many practices today are possible, not all are legal or ethically correct.  Many aspects of copyright are obvious, like don’t claim another person’s work as your own if you are creating a CD.  What about videotaping a live ensemble though?  Are teachers allowed to film and freely distribute their concert for free or a small cost to the members of the ensemble or the community?  The answer is an emphatic NO!

According to MENC, a video can be taken of a concert, but it may only be used to keep on file as a reference.  http://www.menc.org/information/copyright.html#2  Copies may not be distrubuted to anyone unless the copyright owners give you permission for each song and you have parental consent to have their children taped.  Music Publlishers’ Association of the United States also agrees that permission must be granted from the owners to distribute a video to anyone. 

 Teachers may make “one rehearsal tape for analytical ro teaching purposes.”  http://www.band.org/Public/resourceroom/copyright/copyright_monster.asp  This doesn’t include giving a video to seniors as an end of the year rememberance or using recording as a fund-raiser.  To do these actions one must get a mechanical license to record and duplicate performances.  Be careful though, because though some peices are in public domain doesn’t mean the particular arrangement you have is.  Without written permission from a publisher you can’t even post a recording online.  Getting clearance from Harry Fox Agency and paying royalites for each copy sold is the only legal way to go about making CD’s.  http://jamesfrankel.musiced.net/2007/01/19/copyright-or-copywrong/

As a teacher this may lead to feeling like a poor painter who never gets to distribute his work.  Imagine spending hours with a fine paint brush painted detailed leaves on a watercolor of a forest.  Just as you put the finishing touches on the sunbeams someone comes and dumps a black can of paint all over your work.  Others never again can gaze on the beauty you took so many hours to create.  As a teacher you spent hours pouring your heart and soul into your ensemble.  After a concert no one can ever again experience the beauty that took place that day.  How is this fair?

One thing that was forgotten though was that the painter was indeed poor.  Others had let him borrow a very fine canvas, brush, and watercolors to do his work.  Nothing he really used ever belonged to him, nor could bring him finanical gain.  These people did not hurt this painter, but instead gave him the tools to experience a little bit of peace and joy.  Though gazing at the picture only lasted for a minute, that sweet time may be forever engrained into the memory of this painter.  It was only through the generosity of these friends that he got to work with the tools he could never afford himself.  This experience may even inspire him to pursue excellence in other areas of his life in the future.

As teachers we can take no credit for the intricate works created by great composers.  They allow us to use their music for a time, experience the passion that came from the final product, and then have to allow the experience to become a memory.  If this experience could be revisited reguarly it would lose some of it’s special nature, just as a painting duplicated and sold can often decrease the value of the original. 

Music educators should be thankful for the wonderful job that making music is instead of being defensive about restrictions over beauty they did not create.  By doing this the students will see a positive role model who will follow what is right even when it is difficult as well as learn to value the times of performing with their peers even more.

I began this site because I have recently developed a passion for teaching music.  I used to think that music educators were individuals that liked music, but weren’t good enough to make it into the performance world.  I have since recognized that being a music education major is a privilege that should be taken seriously.

The first part of this profession is developing an understanding and passion for music personally.  Without individual knowledge, there is nothing to teach your students.  After understanding music, an education major then needs to learn how to teach.  Learning about classroom management, lesson plans, and individualized educations are just some aspects of what a teacher must learn.

Teachers get the opportunity to influence lives on a daily basis.  The focus shifts from personal applause after a recital to the joy that comes from helping and watching others succeed.  This calling should be taken seriously since a teacher may never know the way they influenced a student’s life for the better.

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