Music Education

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Have Fun With MIDI!

With so much emphasis on downloading audio to play on iPods, mp3 players, etc., many people who have discovered online music only recently are unaware of the fun and usefulness that can be derived from the many free MIDI resources available.

In order to play music in MIDI format or to use simple music software, most basic users have no more need to know anything about the technicalities of MIDI than Internet Explorer users have to grasp internet protocols befiore they can go browsing. Suffice it to say that MIDI is a ‘language’ in which music instruments and devices which control them can communicate. Very often, this communication takes place without the user being aware that the sounds emerging from the computer are in this format. Games and music played by simple software send MIDI messages to the soundcard, which automatically interprets and performs them, through its in-built sounds. Since midifiles (they have the .mid extension) only contain instructions for playing the music, not the sounds themselves, they are very small. Even if you only have a tiny hard drive, you will be able to save thousands of them!

Nearly all computer operating systems have a default media player installed which plays any midifile you click on. There are hundreds of sites where you can play, or download, files in practically any genre. (If you’d like more information about playing/downloading, Check back -I’ll post a link when I get an opportunity to upload the relevant article.)

Probably the best, and most useful, player for beginners is VanBasco’s Karaoke Player. This plays .mid and .kar files. The .kar files have lyrics which can be displayed by the player. Volume, key and speed of playback can be adjusted and playlists created. This has lots of potential, both for home use and for use in community/classroom situations. On the VanBasco site, there is lots of helpful information, including how to combine playback with live recording of a vocal. It is a great place to begin an exploration of MIDI on the web. www.vanbasco.com


Click here for a free download!

Get vanBasco’s Karaoke Player NOW – totally FREE!

If you’re feeling more adventurous and you’d like to get into creating your own MIDI or Karaoke files, the free Anvil Studio software looks user-friendly. there are several ways of inputting music. Notes can be entered on a stave, by means of an onscreen music keyboard or guitar frets. It allows the mixing of MIDI and audio tracks. You can download it at www.AnvilStudio.com.

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Kodaly and Wider Opportunities

I just saw an interesting announcement about a one-day workshop to be held in Bedford, England, on 4 February. It’s called ‘Wider Opportunities Through Kodaly’.

The composer, Zoltan Kodaly, revolutionised music education in Hungary (early 1900s) by developing a system of music education which started by helping young children to absorb the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of Hungarian folk music through singing and rhythmic activity and, as they grew, the musical materials to which they were exposed became gradually more complex, following the same developments that occurred in music history.

It’s always fascinating to analyse a great composition, to strip away the surface details and to see the universal musical ideas that give it structure and emotional appeal. The Kodaly approach encourages an intuitive involvement in music and young musicians who have been raised on Kodaly ideas frequently amaze audiences with their musical maturity.

It’s not unusual for these virtuoso young performers to share a platform with very young children, who are involved in the performance by means of the simple ideas on which the piece is constructed. Similarly, the composer, Paul Nordoff, developed ways of involving children with autism and other special needs. These are examples of what I was trying to express (very badly!) in my last blog. It’s a good job that music has no need of words to make its meaning clear!

For details of the Kodaly workshop, visit www.waterhouse-music.co.uk

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Music and Communication

Do you like my new blog template! Many thanks to Patricia Muller for this! (see link at foot of page) It’s called “Connections.” I love the graphic, which seems so richly symbolic. I may change it when I integrate this blog with my website but, for now, I’m greatly enjoying it.

Connections/communications are, of course, what a blog is all about. They’re also what music is all about. In a shared experience of music, diverse people can be connected to one another in a way that transcends barriers of language, intellectual ability and life experience. This is why I’m writing this blog and why I’ve spent most of my available time over the last four years running a website aimed at promoting creative and inclusive music. Someone asked me recently, “There’s a lot of mention of inclusive music on your site, but what does it mean?”

‘Inclusion’is a somewhat ‘dirty’ word, at the moment: people have come to equate the term with a political correctness that insists that everyone must be able to do the same thing, at the same time. I certainly don’t mean that ‘high-flyers’ should have their wings clipped and be held back by the pace of slow-learners, nor do I mean that those who need special provision should be placed in a mainstream setting when this has a negative effect on their performance or on that of the majority.

What do I mean, then? Well, the glorious truth is that in music people can participate or respond, each on their own personal level. As a teacher and facilitator, I have been responsible for providing music-making opportunities for adults, including former professional musicians who have been struck down by disability and, at the other end of the spectrum, for young children, and for younsters with profound and multiple learning difficulties. I found that I could use the same musical materials with all of them. It was as though the music were stored in a box, to which each had an individual code and it was my job to help them open the box. There was no need for ‘special’ music and it was impossible to predict what their preferences would be.

Yes, music is a great way in which to connect with people and the web is a great meeting place in which these connections can be made. Blog on!

(In case you’re as new to this as I am, to leave a comment, click on ‘0 Comments’ or ‘xx Comments’ at the top of this post and you will find the submission form. I look forward to connecting with you!)

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Adults Starting/Resuming Music Lessons

As a new year dawns and thoughts turn to fresh starts and new experiences, many re-discover the desire to learn a musical instrument. Some may have had lessons as children and long regretted their lack of perseverance. Some may even have preserved their desire to make music in spite of put-downs and discouragement. Deep down, they have a sense that music is too important a part of themselves to give up on.

Learning a musical instrument is not like learning to drive or to master long-division: we feel that our music is so much part of us that it’s hard not to feel personally rejected when someone is negative about our music-making. Teachers have big responsibilities and a lot to answer for!

Yes, it’s scary for an adult to go looking for a music teacher and it’s something they like to plan carefully. It’s good to know that there is a website where every aspect of taking up an instrument and finding a teacher can be considered: “Pay the Piper”, at http://www.paythepiper.co.uk, looks at the advantages and disadvantages of each instrument, how to get lessons, how to practise, measuring your progress, how much it will cost – everything the prospective pupil needs to know!