Between excessive screen time making our eyeballs boil out of our heads, cyberbullying, and YouTube videos that quite frankly weird us out, technology can sometimes get a reputation for being a modern-day boogeyman. Because of that, we are often hesitant to mix technology with something as pure and wonderful as music. But like it or not, technology has a part to play in all our lives—and it’s not always the role of villain. The role of technology in music education can actually be as a helper, a sidekick, and maybe even a friend.
Greater Access To Resources
Sheet Music
Back in the day, if there was a song you wanted to learn how to play on the guitar, piano, or violin, you had two options: Either pray that the local music store had a copy of the sheet music or be really good at playing by ear. Now, there are online resources for sheet music that allow you to find the song you want in the right key and have it in your hands or on your tablet instantly.
Backing Tracks
It’s one thing to be able to sing a song. It’s another thing entirely to be able to sing it with accompaniment. Unfortunately, if there isn’t anyone in the house able to play the piano or guitar, there isn’t much a singer can do to practice. Technology allows the voice teacher or accompanist to record a backing track for the singer to practice with. This enhancement puts them in a much better position for being able to perform the song live.
Exposure To Other Musicians
As a budding music student, it’s so important to watch experienced musicians perform. It allows students to observe the techniques they’re learning in action and find inspiration for their own performance styles. While watching musicians live is always preferable, it isn’t necessarily possible, especially right now. In this case, the role of technology in music education is to bring a wide variety of musicians to your doorstep—wherever you are.
Check Your Progress
When you are focused on singing or playing with proper technique, it can be tough to truly hear yourself, which makes it hard to hear when you do something wrong or right. It’s hard to practice and improve that way. The beauty of technology is that it gives us the ability to record ourselves. Recordings help us, as musicians, to hear ourselves a little more objectively so that we know where we can improve and where our performance wasn’t as bad as we thought.
Making Lessons Possible
It’s a weird time for music lessons—that’s a fact. For a lot of people, sitting in a small practice room with another human is less than ideal and sometimes even impossible. For these students, the role of technology in music education isn’t just a supporting role; it takes center stage by making their music education even possible. Whatever you think of technology, we’re grateful to be able to bring music to your homes through online private music lessons.
