Many students possess their own unique potential and "genius," but seem to base their worth on the status of grades instead of their connection to education itself. Antonio Salieri, for instance, created wonderful, emotionally binding music throughout his lifetime. Salieri however, never saw the beauty in his work because Mozart, a child…

Interest in creative music technologies is on the rise among secondary students. Still, some music teachers are unsure how to integrate creative music technologies into their instruction. This article explores one versatile and powerful technology for the music classroom: digital audio workstations (DAWs). First, I discuss the central role of…

Composition with students on the elementary level sparks imagination and creativity while engaging students in an experience that can demonstrate personal musical growth. Traditionally, music educators have not been taught how to compose music, let alone lead their students in composing experiences. As music educators take the beginning steps of…

Oulipo (Ouvroir de Littérature potentielle, or Workshop on potential literature), an over 50-year old movement that began in France, seeks to apply mathematical constraints to literature and the arts. In this article, I will give a brief survey of this movement and how I have built a learning module based on it for my mathematics for the liberal…

This column presents an outline for the secondary general classroom. The project, called a "soundwalk," requires students to use music, sounds, and technology to create immersive, cinematic audio tours of their school and community. The author argues that the soundwalk is a perfect opportunity for students within secondary general music courses to…

Music education scholars and veteran teachers often assert that composition is an essential part of a child's participation in music, but like many music educators, the author was reluctant to include it as part of her daily beginning band curriculum. Time and money were limited, and she wanted to be sure to cover all the material that beginners…

Describes a project in which band students rehearsing Anne McGinty's "Atlantis" explored the city by building a model. Explains that students worked in groups as researchers, poetry and story writers, designers of the city, builders of the city model, and thinkers charged with generating ideas. (CMK)

With the help of the music, physical education, and art teachers, two third-grade classes wrote, scored, and produced an original operetta in a five-month interdisciplinary classroom project. The process is outlined and recommended by the authors for almost any grade level. (SJL)

States that sequencing and printing software eliminates the barriers to students composing music. Describes "Master Tracks Pro," a sequencing program, and "Rhapsody," a printing program. Includes a lesson plan for setting pentatonic music to a poem. (CMK)

Identifies areas of knowledge that differ between successful and at-risk students: sense of self-as-learner, level of understanding of problems in subjects, and ability to interact in relationships. Suggests a hands-on project to develop problem-solving abilities and self-confidence. Discusses objectives for a restructured curriculum. (DK)

Describes a junior high school course in musical composition using Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) technology. Discusses course objectives and three composition projects. Includes a list of definitions and asserts that MIDI technology offers students and teachers a powerful method to study how music works. (CFR)