Tis’ the season for thinking about cool techie gifts and gadgets and upon watching the cool new video North Point’s iBand, I have even greater visions of iPads and iPhones prancing through my head.
Amazing…how could anyone not want an iPad or iPhone after watching North Point Community Church’s performance. When I showed the video to my students they were completely entranced and I immediately started contemplating the significance these devices could have in the music classroom. Hmmm…perhaps I could justify the purchase of one these new toys…I mean educational devices as a much needed piece of technology for use in my classroom! Knowing that I might have to substantiate this claim I started to do a little research.
It seems that I’m not the only music educator and musician’s contemplating the same issues. A year ago James Frankel wrote in his blog A Possible Future for iPads & Tablet PCs in the Music Classroom. He takes on a futuristic view of wouldn’t the world be great if… music education had more iPads in the classroom. In the blog Write-Stuff Learning, many of the applications used in NorhtPoint’s iBand are introduced and reviewed as fabulous music education applications. Additionally music resource and instruction applications are also reviewed…imagine having at your fingertips an online music learning applications available on your iPad! Music Think Tank also reported on great resource apps that help you learn music: 4 Best iPad Apps that can Make You a Better Musician. Coming from a more creative perspective on how the iPad can be used in music, Mac|Life published an article on Rana Sobhany, the world’s first iPad DJ, and how to mix music using your iPad , while compositional/sequencing applications are described in Make Music with an iPad. And the apps keep coming and they keep getting better and it seems EVERYONE is writing about it.
But do we really need all this techie stuff in music. I mean what’s wrong with playing a real piano, or learning the guitar from a real teacher, or composing/arranging/DJ-ing using more traditional techniques? Well as far as I can figure it, there is actually nothing wrong with doing it the old- traditional way, except for the fact that not everyone has that anytime, anywhere, convenient access that suddenly becomes available to you when you have an iPad or other smart tech device. And as far as I can figure it, that access is EVERYTHING to music. Apple supporter or not, it would be hard to argue the fact that with the dawn of iTunes and all the apps that go along with, music has suddenly been made available to a greater number of people, who demand anytime anywhere conveniences. And isn’t that what any music teacher would want anyway – a greater number of people spending their time “doing stuff” with music, and feeling happier and healthier having done so. Music for the masses – I think it’s time that we allow everyone options in all types of music – anywhere, anytime – to listen, to play, to create and to study – and I do believe that the iPad is just one of those devices that might start providing more equality in music.
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