Music Performance & Technology Use

Music performance requires usage of a range of skills. Multiple skills must be in use at one time to achieve a successful performance of music. To achieve success, the necessary skills must be trained through practice and performance on a specific instrument. Learning the specific skills may be difficult and boring to many students, but with effective practice, proper feedback, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, students will attain the skills needed to perform. 

                In learning music, specific psychological skills are employed. First students must use their psychomotor skills to begin the process of learning music. Psychomotor skills means that students are able to learn and realize what it takes to make a musical performance. Within psychomotor skills, students will learn music through a specific process. The first stage is called the cognitive stage. Within the cognitive stage, students will begin to learn how to sing or play an instrument. The cognitive stage is often when the sound students produce may be difficult for adults to listen to as their early attempts typically sounds strange and unrefined. While the students sound and actions may be unrefined, the progress gained in the cognitive stage of exploring and learning the foundations of music will allow students to progress through the following stages. The cognitive stage requires a lot of concentration and focus as the music skill set is being developed through repetition and practice. From the cognitive stage students will progress to the associative stage, or a time when the foundational skills are continuously being developed, but less concentration is required allowing for growth. After the associative stage, students will reach the autonomic stage. Within the autonomic stage, students are able to perform the music with little thinking to no thinking of the specific skill set. During this time, students are able to produce a better sound, play harder music, and begin to focus on developing their technique and sound. While students are able to perform a specific skill set, within the autonomic stage students may still need additional refinement of the skill. Finally, students may reach the final stage which is total automaticity in which students are able to fully perform a passage without thinking or needing refinement (Bauer 2014). In order to achieve each stage, students need to practice effectively. 

In practicing, teachers often require a specific amount of time for students to practice each week. While I have also required my students to complete a practice sheet of so much practice a week, watching students struggling with assembling their instruments or struggling to even play a song after a couple weeks was difficult. At the time, I wondered how effective their practice time was if they were still struggling that much in class. While each student progresses at a different rate it is imperative that students utilize their practice time effectively and efficiently. If students practice to just complete their time, then students may not be ingraining the skill set necessary for successful playing as they grow. Bauer (2014) states, “Both the quantity and quality of practice is important in the development of motor skills,” (p. 81). In thinking to my beginner band experience and into secondary school, I do not think that a lot of my practice was used effectively. While I practiced my full time needed and learned the necessary skills, I wonder if there would have been a more effective way to practice. As I grew older, I began to catalog techniques we used in private lessons and in band rehearsals to learn specific skills at a quicker and more effective rate. By utilizing different learning strategies, I was able to learn my songs quicker and work on more areas of concern to improve. Bauer (2014) states, “Students should not only practice regularly, but they also need strategies to practice efficiently and effectively,” (p. 81). If strategies to use in practice and goals to achieve are given to students, students will become more successful musicians at a quicker rate (Bauer 2014). 

As students first begin playing or encounter a very difficult skill, students may become discouraged and struggle with practicing or want to quit. At this point, the intrinsic motivation to meet his/her goal may become difficult for the student. Teachers may then provide an extrinsic motivator such as stickers, words of encouragement, praise, playing a song of their choosing, or another motivator to help students achieve their goal (Bauer 2014). While I struggle with the current concept of offering constant rewards for students, I have always agreed with offering small external motivators as listed above. Unfortunately, there has been an over abuse of extrinsic rewards for completing assignments or behavior in the school systems. Some of these extrinsic rewards have been whole class parties or special events that have resulted in students expecting a large reward for attitude and behavior instead of developing an intrinsic motivation that is extremely important for students to gain in all aspects, not just music. Bauer (2014) believes that “it can take time for intrinsic motivation to emerge, and extrinsic motivators should be designed to lead to intrinsic motivation,” (p. 82). I believe that it is important to give students the external praise and recognition necessary that will help to motivate students and aid in their development of their own intrinsic motivation. 

                There are many technological devices that can aid in student practicing. Two devices that have been around for a long time are tuners and metronomes. While tuners and metronomes have been in use for many years, they are becoming more easily accessible in smaller digital equipment or as applications on phones or tablets, or even in a simple google search on the computer. Tuners aid students in being able to recognize when their instrument is in tune and internalize pitches. One downside of using tuners is that students may become too dependent on using the tuner to identify if they are in-tune, instead of developing their aural music skills to be able to identify correct pitches. Metronomes are also a helpful aid in that metronomes can aid students in internalizing the steady beat, slowing down passages, and aligning rhythms with the beat. One drawback of using a metronome is that students may become dependent on hearing the clicking sound and may not feel confident at keeping a steady beat on their own. One way around becoming dependent is to remind students to practice without the metronome. An example would be to practice a section or song once with the metronome, then practice the same section or song without the metronome (Bauer 2014). 

                Recording devices provide instant feedback for students. Using a recording device students may record their practices and then listen to their recording for instead feedback and utilizing their musical skills, students can determine areas that may need more work. Depending on programs used, students may turn in their recordings for teachers to assess. One such program that does this is SmartMusic. SmartMusic allows students to practice solo works, ensemble pieces, record sections for assessment, and more. Teachers can then assess and determine student progress. Video recordings may also be used as an aid at home for students to watch to re-visit topics covered in class. By posting videos, teachers are allowing students and parents to be able to watch music topics that may be confusing to them or watch rehearsals the students may have missed due to activities or illness. In doing so, students are less likely to fall behind in class and material will need to be reviewed less as a class. Finally, notation software may provide teachers with the ability to create warmups for the entire ensemble. By creating a warmup for the entire ensemble, students will be able to play parts they normally do not see, make connections to the music being played, and music will need to be practiced less often (Bauer 2014). 

                In learning music, a common belief is that music must first be heard before being played or sung. As students begin to learn an instrument or music skill, it should first be introduced in a pattern or simple tune that the student will recognize. By doing so, the student will be able to learn the specific music skill being focused on fully instead of trying to learn new music, a new instrument, or new rhythms all at once. By utilizing common songs, students can make connections between sounds and symbols. Teachers use the following sequence to best learn a song “(a) listen, (b) listen and finger, (c) sing and finger, and (d) play,” (Bauer, 2014, p. 88). Students who become good sight-readers are able to quickly learn music, understand music compositions, and apply learned music skills effectively (Bauer 2014). 

                Technology programs may also be used to create interesting arrangements for ensembles. One such program is Audacity. Audacity may be used to create accompaniment tracks, cut portions of songs, add/subtract features from songs, or create completely new arrangements. Our first project this week used Audacity to amplify and remove a couple sections within the wave file. Our second project required us to create an arrangement of the song, “Ma Na Ma Na” from the Muppets. It is a very fun, catchy tune, with no words-only sounds. When listening to the tune, a person cannot help but smile or even laugh. It was exciting to take different pieces of the song, as well as features in Audacity to create a new arrangement of the original tune. 

                Learning music is a complex and ever changing area. There are many technological aids for students and teachers to utilize in learning or teaching music. Students need to be able to use their full psychomotor skills in learning music as well as to follow the proper sequence of musical learning through auditory to application. Through the use of technology and music pedagogy, students have the opportunity to fully learn and enjoy the art of making music as individuals and within an ensemble. 

Bauer, William I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.