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How Technology Enhances Musical Intelligence
by Dee Dickinson for America Tomorrow



The development of musical intelligence can be enhanced by technology in the same way that verbal fluency is enhanced by word-processors. Fledgling composers can hum a tune into synthesizers such as the EPS 16 from Ensoniq or the SZ-1 from Casio, for example, and have it sound like one of many instruments, fully accompanied by an electronic rhythm section. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, makes it possible to compose for and orchestrate many different instruments through the computer. Pyware's "Music Writer" and Activision's "Music Studio" are examples of software programs that also make such magic possible.

Menulay's "Musicland" program has been used successfully with children as young as three. It enables children to compose music immediately by manipulating notes and graphic representations of musical concepts on the computer. A student can draw a shape on the staff on the computer screen, and see it translated into musical notation. The student then colors in the notes, with different colors for different instruments, and the computer plays back the composition in synthesized sounds.

"Band-in-a-Box" by PG Software lets students improvise backups to familiar jazz, pop, rock, and folk music. It also features editing capability so that students can create their own musical styles. Their improvisations and compositions can be saved on a MIDI file and sent to a music printing program such as "Nightingale" by Temporal Acuity Products which creates musical scores for other instruments.

One might wonder if such "artificial" music removes the need to understand and learn harmony, notation, scoring, and reading music. In fact, many students are so motivated by what they create through musical technology that they are stimulated to learn more about each of these areas. Their success becomes a driving force for further learning.

It is being discovered that digital technology, which combines digital audio with visual input, makes it possible for many students to learn about elements of music that are often too complicated for beginners to understand. One example is the Voyager Company's interactive multimedia compact disc of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," which enables the listener to understand the piece musically, historically, culturally, and politically. Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" is even more extensive, progressing from simple to complex concepts; it can be accessed at any knowledge level. The few programs that currently exist are just the beginning of this exciting new way of learning about and creating music.

Warner's "Music Exploratorium" explores various aspects of the orchestra through Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." It presents, in a random-access combination of video and audio, information about the composer and conductor, the players, the instruments, and the structure of the com- position.

The University of Delaware Videodisc Music Series at this writing includes ten full-color video recordings. In each of the programs, the score scrolls across the screen as the music is played. The programs include color-coded musical analysis; supporting slides illustrate cultural highlights of the composers' life and historical period.

Such interactive videodiscs on music make it possible to "break out" and hear individual instruments, see the score while the music is playing, or identify the source of a particular theme or melody. The information on these discs is "random access," making it possible for the learner to follow a particular line of interest in a self-directed manner, at any ability level

The Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) annually publishes a directory which lists and summarizes all of the existing computer programs, videodiscs, films,

CDROM discs, and music technology hardware on the market. It is available with membership in ATMI.

Such a technological support system for the learning of music and music-appreciation leads not only to proficiency, but also to in-depth understanding. The development of musical thinking and creativity-musical intelligence itself can thus be enriched and expanded.



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© 1998 New Horizons for Learning and America Tomorrow, Inc. Permission for excerpt granted to America Tomorrow, Inc.

Page created April 2, 1998