Picture it: a more innocent time. Music students assembled in groups to study, share and learn together. These “classes” (as we called them) occasionally relied on technology, but frequently also featured multiple humans making musical sounds together. In this recent past, we viewed the use of computers, apps, and other technology as a fun, creative diversion from our analog-intensive business as usual. It is from that bright pre-virus period that this assignment originates.
My favorite project from the Fall semester, designed for my General Music Methods course at a university located on the US/Mexico border, was a way for students to showcase two essential skills for elementary music teaching while also exploring some music technology. This “Community Connections” project challenged students to choose a song that they believed a Grade 1-6 student in the local area would know and arrange it in at least four parts using the app “Acapella” or similar technology such as iMovie. In this assignment, students were required to play the recorder and the ukulele (as an alternative to a traditional playing test) and add at least two other instruments of their choice, recording themselves with the app to result in a minimum of four simultaneous parts. Students were encouraged to consider popular music and songs which represented culture of the local area, including traditional Mexican or border music and songs in Spanish. I hoped this project would be a creative and fun way for students to learn independently while also connecting to the community and local children.
After completing the project, students were asked to write a reflection on the experience of using the app, choosing and arranging the song, and if they preferred this assignment to a traditional playing test on recorder and ukulele. These are a couple of the comments I received from students who consented to have their words and videos shared:
Jason: “In the beginning, I thought this assignment was going to be super easy but man was I wrong! It wasn’t crazy difficult, but it was no walk in the park either. I took all the instrumental parts a lot more serious than the vocal parts because I am instrumentalist, not a vocalist. But because I wasn’t as serious, I had a little more fun recording the vocal tracks and added some ad libs. But all-in-all… I would very much rather do this kind of assignment than a playing exam in person.”
Jorge: “I chose the song “Senorita” by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes because it is a huge hit. It was fun making the video; the most challenging thing for me was playing a minor song both on the recorder and ukulele. The other instrumentation I chose was guitar, bass, and a little percussion. I am all for this project because I feel as an instructor you get to see your student’s creativity.”
And Jorge is exactly right. While this assignment was conceived to assess students’ instrumental skills, spur them to familiarize themselves with some simple music technology, and encourage some interaction with school-age children and their musical tastes, the best result was the creativity I saw. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the musical abilities on display and seeing my students having some creative fun. The technology use was, in the end, just icing on the cake.
Josh: La Bamba
Jorge: Senorita
Chloe: Can’t Help Falling in Love
Edgar: Nunca Final
Andrew: Feliz Navidad
Jason: Bad Guy
Dr. Virginia Wayman Davis is Professor of Music Education at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 2005 and has taught public school music at all levels. She is on the editorial boards of General Music Today, The Journal of Popular Music Education, and the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education. Dr. Davis is published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, General Music Today,The Journal of Popular Music Education, The Journal of Music Teacher Education, and others. She also writes as a contributor to the Black Swamp Percussion educational article series. Her research interests include meaningful music education practices, secondary general music, and popular music education. Dr. Davis stays active as a musician, currently playing percussion with the Valley Symphony Orchestra in south Texas and her faculty pop/rock band The Minör Revisiöns.