Music Technology in Our Schools
During the past year of distance learning, our students enjoy experimenting with creating their own music using technology such as Soundtrap, GarageBand, and more.
Music Teacher highlights Music technology in the classroom
Students Explore Music Production & Composition
ETM-LA Music Teacher Eric Lifland’s 4th and 5th Grade classes at Rio Vista Elementary arranged their own music to accompany Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb.”
Student Dahlia commented, “In ‘The Hill We Climb,’ the poet speaks of the tough times we are in and how we will reach the top… creating a song to match this emotion was an interesting challenge.” Fellow student Miles added, “I learned that words can be powerful by how they are arranged. Arranging music to go along with the poem was fun but challenging, because I wanted it to have the same energy and inspiring feeling the poem had.”
Mr. Lifland shared, “I wanted the students to finish the project with a deeper understanding of the poem, of the power of music to impact how we hear words, and of themselves and each other… they worked hard at it, and in the end created projects that they were proud of (and blew me away)!”
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In Compton, 8th Grade Students at ETM-LA Partner School McKinley Elementary composed original music tracks guided by ETM-LA Music Teacher Naju Kim.
Student Paula commented, “I was excited … I was able to play around with the instruments and make beats. I was introduced to the keyboard when we first got the tech lab.”
“We now have the opportunity to expose more students to music theory, and music in action,” stated Superintendent Dr. Darin Brawley.
teaching virtually
ETM-LA Music Teacher Julio De León talks about the topics explored by students as they compose music using Soundtrap.
He also shares, “Part of my approach to teaching virtually is to keep students engaged throughout my lessons by using a variety of activities. I plan my lessons so that students are accountable for their own learning and students can ‘discover’ on their own (with strategic guidance) the musical concepts I want them to learn. I accomplish this by facilitating lots of opportunities for singing, developing aural skills by having students take rhythmic or melodic dictations, engaging in body movement activities that reinforce kinesthetic learning, etc.”
soundtrap tutorial from damon carter, etm-la instructional supervisor
ETM-LA’s Damon Carter gives insight into our music technology programs and how they benefit students both now and in the future. “Learning music tech skills in school supports student confidence and interaction with technology in general. But an added benefit is that these skills facilitate self-discovery which unleashes neurons in the brain that induce creativity — a key component of problem-solving,” Carter shared.
Check out his Soundtrap tutorial on YouTube which has already received over 30,000 views!
