Elementary Music/Music Technology Blog

I have known many music educators who have successfully utilized learning centers in their elementary music classrooms. Learning centers are wonderful opportunities for your students to experience many different aspects of music such as listening, composing, performing, and reinforcing basic music skills, in a small group setting. This is also a great way to integrate a technology tool into your curriculum.

If you decide to create learning centers in your music classrooms, here are some ways that music technology can enhance your centers.

If you have a one computer classroom:
If you have a class of 25 students, one computer, and you want to create 5 stations for five groups of five, your one computer can serve as one station. When I create centers, I have the assignment listed at the center so the students work together to complete the center. I also express to them that unless it is an emergency, the group needs to figure out the assignment and not take up time asking me a lot of questions. This does work for grades 2-6.

1. GarageBand: If you have a MAC which has GarageBand, then you can assign the group of five to create a song within specified guidelines (MENC standard #4). If you are trying to have the students run through every center in one class, then assign them to create a short song with four measures and using just bass, drums, and guitar loops within a certain style. If you are having the students complete one center per class, then you can extend this assignment to include 8 measures in an AB form. In addition, you can have lyrics or a poem that they wrote that they must sing to their compositions using an external microphone or the computer’s built-in microphone. You know your students best, so you can adapt these ideas to fit the needs of your students.
2. Finale NotePad: You can download and install this freeware onto your one computer (or you might have to have your tech department install the freeware because you do not have permission to install your own freeware), and have the students work together to compose a short 10-measure melody using the notes that are in your current curriculum. For example, by grade 3, my students know do, re, mi, fa, so, and la well. At this station, the group of five must compose a 10-measure melody using the notes stated above and the rhythms of quarter, half, whole, dotted quarter, dotted half, and eighth notes in 4/4 time. Each student gets to compose two measures of the song. When you guide them through composition, the results are usually successful instead of the frustration that occurs if you let them compose anything freely.
3. Finale Notepad (continued): Another idea for a one computer center is to have the students notate the song “Hot Cross Buns” with middle C as do. First, you create the Finale NotePad file with all 1st line Es and the appropriate rhythms. Second, each student at the center has to move the E to the correct note until it sounds like “Hot Cross Buns.” I have done this successfully with students as young as 2nd grade.
4. Sibelius Groovy Series: You can have the students create a song within a specified form using Sibelius Groovy Shapes (grades K-2), Jungle (grades 2-5), or City (grades 5-8). In Shapes and Jungle, you can have them create words to their songs with the “typing” function.
5. Music Ace: You can have the students play one of the games together. You can choose the game that would best reinforce a skill or concept that you have taught. Each student can play the game to see if they can achieve the high score.

If you have a center with more than one computer, then you can adapt these ideas further so that each student is creating his or her own song or practicing a music concept at his/her own pace.

There are so many more ideas that you can do with centers in the music classroom. These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. If you have used centers in your music classroom that included technology, please write back and leave an idea or comment. It would be great to share!