MUSIC EDUCATION & COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY A RATIONAL

To introduce the use of computer technology into the music education curriculum.

There is no doubt in any parent or educator's mind that music is firmly established as one of the fine arts upon which western civilization is grounded, so recognized since the ancient Greeks (Aristotle, Poetics). Music, based upon mathematics, has transcended language as a mode of communication between cultures and between eras (Toynbee, 1972, 464-473). Computer technology, meanwhile, has emerged as today's link to the future. Computer literacy is an increasing requirement for successful integration into the economic and social mainstream.

A hard economic fact - financial resources for the educational system are limited. It is the position of this proposal that introducing computer technology into the music education program can be a cost-efficient, motivating, and instructionally-effective tool to add to the secondary school curriculum.

It is important to understand why music is so important to the educational process. Its credentials as a fine art established by unanimous consensus, music education proliferated during the boom years of the post-World War II American economy, roughly 1945 through 1975. There is still no debate over the value of music as an "enrichment" tool and as deserving of attention on the university level.

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s and mechanical engineering, even minimum wage service positions will soon require a degree of computer familiarity. Applications of Computer Technology to Music Education 1. The Problem: In the field of music, there have always been two drawbacks to mass education, both related to the experiential nature of the subject: (1) it has been difficult to give "hand-on" experience to novice students who do not possess the physical skills necessary to produce "pleasing" musical sounds; and (2) musical instruments are costly and must be used by individual students exclusively. The introduction of computer technology into the music classroom can help to alleviate both problems. 2. The Music Computer: At present, personal computers use a technology known as the "midi" system to reproduce sounds resembling those of musical instruments. A midi system, integrated within a "sound board," can be installed in a medium-sized personal computer with ease; after speakers are then attached to the personal computer, with the installation of a software program available in retail stores the computer has essentially become a musical instrument (Bigelow, 11-26). With the addition of a piano keyboard-like midi device, full-scale orchestrations
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Approximate Word count = 1902
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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