In the recent past, Millennials have been blessed with the countless benefits of the merging of the virtual classroom with the real one, and this fusion becomes all the more enjoyable when the subject at hand is music.
The music technology programme of American School of Doha (ASD) features the power-packed MusicFirst, a comprehensive online classroom for K-12 music education complete with engaging content and integrated software. Funded by the PTA and Creative Arts Support Team, both avid supporters of MusicFirst, the programme that has targeted solutions for every grade level in the way of software and training tools is working wonders for the children at ASD.
So in what way can MusicFirst help the students get in touch with their inner musician? Stephanie Gravelle, High School/Middle School Music, ASD, told Community, “The music department at the American School of Doha works hard to inspire all types of musicians. While we hold our students to a professional standard of excellence, we are realistic in thinking that most of our students will move on to professions outside of the music business. By using technology and inspiring independence, we strive to embolden people to make and consume music for the rest of their lives for fun, to raise awareness of social issues, or to better their local and global communities.”
Gravelle likes the fact that “everything is in one place with easy access” for her and her students. “With everything web-based, I can go in and help them remotely or they can work together on something,” she says.
“Music is a place for students to practice creativity, be a part of the community, and do something other than passively listening or sitting in a desk,” says Gravelle on behalf of both committees. “MusicFirst is an affordable programme that bundles software together, provides a digital classroom, and a network of people that can help with ideas and problems. Since it’s cloud-based, the students aren’t limited by location and schedule.”
With programmes such as Noteflight (a private online music learning community designed specifically for music education) and Soundation (an online music-making application that lets students create and record in school and at home, packing in the features of a traditional Digital Audio Workstation) implemented in Gravelle’s classroom, MusicFirst has made a tremendous difference for students.
“I had one student who has never taken a music class feel very successful after a couple of projects,” says Gravelle. “He went from thinking music was a blow-off class to really enjoying composition. Many cannot believe that they have access to all the different programmes for free to them.”
Not surprisingly, students at the ASD have turned in many successful projects using MusicFirst, including a mash up of Adele’s chartbuster Hello and Mozart’s timeless Lacrimosa, which was produced with Noteflight.
“The playback on Noteflight has helped [students] hear what they don’t like or what doesn’t work,” Gravelle explains, “The professional look of their own score makes them feel like they have made a real piece of music. I really believe this helps them with their own music literacy, gives them something more creative to do than learn concert music, and the professional looking score makes them feel like their work is more legitimate.”
Gravelle plans on adding Musition to her classroom by student request, since many of them have asked for more theory training and many of them have interest in pursuing music education.
While Musition First enables students to practice drills, work through lessons and complete tests, in areas such as Intervals, Chords, Scales, Terms, Rhythm, Cadences and Melody, Musition 5 Cloud Edition has 38 music theory topics, suitable for beginners and advanced students with topics having graded levels, allowing students to learn at their own pace and giving them plenty of scope for extended learning, according to MusicFirst.