Technology and The Future of,Music Education

Dennis Stanfill

Yamaha Corporation of America

Good morning. It is with great pleasure that I speak to you today on a subject that many of us are truly excited about. If we were to go back in history just 15 short years, we would find a very different world of technology. 15 years ago, portable keyboards did not exist. Electronic pianos neither felt or sounded anything like a real piano. 64k of memory was huge in computers. MIDI was nothing more than a dream and using computers with keyboards was something right out of science fiction. What a difference 15 years can make.

As I begin, I am reminded of the story of the two music teachers meeting in the park for lunch. Their discussion turns to a new instrument. One says," Have you seen that wonderful new instrument at the music store in town? I mean it is out of this world. Why, it has such beautiful tone, such expressiveness, and you can even control the timbre of the notes produced with volume changes, all at the performer's touch! I really think that it is going to revolutionize how we teach music." The other teacher says," Oh, come on now. You can't possibly believe that this, what ever it is you call it, is going to change music education that much. " The first teacher replies, " Absolutely. It will change how we teach. In fact, I believe that it is so technologically advanced that it will become THE way to teach in the very near future." The second teacher replies, "Now I know you are star struck with this new technology. Listen, it's only a passing fad. It is not going to replace how we teach music. There is nothing written to specifically address how to teach with it we have the years of tradition of teaching the way we always have, and besides, what we are doing now is just fine." The first teacher says, "I still think you should try it because it will help your students learn more about music and how to express themselves even better than they already do." The second replies, "Well, I guess only time will tell." The two teachers continue their discussions. Now, we think that this discussion took place today and that these two teachers could have been speaking about some new instrument at this conference. However, this conversation actually took place about two hundred years ago and the instrument they were discussing was the brand new, Fortepiano.

Every generation has those who are reluctant to change and embrace new ways of doing things. It is those who embrace change and go with it who continue to stretch the boundaries in education. Those who do not use all the tools available can still teach adequately. However, those who do use all that is available can teach with amazing results. It is like the carpenter who can build a house with a hand saw, nails, and a hammer. The house can be built but it may take a very long time and it may not be as solid as if he used a straight edge, or a level, or a power saw, or other "technological" advances. A chef could prepare a full 7 course meal with nothing more than a kettle and wood fire. However, how much greater could the meal be if that chef could use a microwave oven, convection oven, mixer, and special utensils.

You, by your being here today, have made a commitment to further your knowledge of what is available today. The sessions to follow are going to be invaluable to you in your quest for more knowledge. The past 10 years has seen an explosive growth in new tools for the educator. You will be hearing about Hypercard and Multi-Media programs that integrate video, graphics, and music into an interactive packages that are user controlled. You will be seeing the latest in sequencer, notation, and educational software. In addition, you will have the opportunity to try out the latest in instruments for this brave new world. Even with all of these wonderful new items, there is more that could be done. Let us explore some of the ways technology might change music education in the future.

If you were to gaze into a crystal ball and look to the future, you would probably see the computer as the main tool in a teaching situation. Putting aside any reservations we might have about them, computers are the single most effective way of allowing you the teacher to be more than one person. Haven't we all wanted to be in two places at once doing two different things? Computers can allow you to do just that. However, even computer programs are changing.

Where in the past, you may have had several programs to deal with when using a computer, more often today, you have fully integrated software to chose from. An example of this would be the very successful Music in Education program from Yamaha. This program has the curriculum, hardware, and software all in one neat package. A teacher follows the lesson modules and with a remote control, has access to CD, MIDI, and student keyboard performance available at the touch of a button. The integration of this program allows for any school to have a well conceived exciting general music program right at their fingertips.

For the home piano teacher, programs like Temporal Acuity's Pianoworks, Software Toolworks Miracle Piano System, Musicware's Piano, and a host of others are now available. These programs all have the common thread of integrating many different programs into one package. In the past a teacher might have a separate flash card program, a separate reading drill program, a separate theory program, and on and on. These integrated programs, while being very different in their approaches and quality, all attempt to combine the various elements of the lesson into one package that can be used by the student without a lot of intervention by the teacher.

Why consider using these programs? Because they will allow you to be in multiple places at one time doing multiple things. How many of you can take the time in a lesson to teach all the theory you need to each week? How many of you spend the time needed to fully develop reading skills to their fullest potential? How many of you have the time needed to do the ear training drills on a weekly basis? It is all too true that parents, and administrators, do not judge the success of the student by how much they know, but rather by how many "pieces" can they play. Many of us have had to spend the majority of our lesson time on learning pieces. The continued increase in the use of this type of technology to allow the teacher to be teaching fundamentals from the computer while spending time with the student on actual playing skills can only serve to increase the musical knowledge of the student and therefore the enjoyment of playing. This will most certainly increase the number of people making music, which can only serve to increase the number of people wanting to make music. A win-win situation for all.

In addition to seeing more computer programs integrating items into one program, the manufacturing part of the music industry has caught on. During the earlier days of MIDI, many people would purchase a small keyboard with the idea of expanding the instrument through the MIDI ports. When this individual felt the need for more sounds, which was almost immediately, they would get a sound module and connect the two. When this individual found that they could play more than one sound at a time and that these could be recorded for rehearsal purposes, the sequencer was purchased. From here, many people wanted to put in drum patterns but alas, most were not drummers so enter the drum machine. How many boxes do we have now? Three? You can see that before most people could have the "basic" keyboard home for a week, they had added a lot of boxes. When this happened, a new challenge arose. How to make all these boxes work together? This type of system today still requires time from power on to properly configure it to function. Hence, the development of the "workstation".

In the MIDI industry, the development of the workstation has led to a much needed addition to music making. Workstation style instruments are those that attempt to install all the various boxes, usually added through MIDI, into one unit that has an internal software program designed to make all of the individual parts of the system to work together in a much user friendlier environment. I see the number of these workstations increasing as more and more people get involved in music making. They can be likened to stereo systems where you can go and purchase individual components if desired or you could get a matched and balanced system. Whichever system you chose, the use of multi-timbre keyboards in the teaching situation is going to continue to rise.

Why do I say this? The advantages of not only having a piano accompaniment play but having any combination of instruments represents a tremendous advantage to the music educator. Let's say that you have a french horn player who is working on a contest piece and needs to rehearse hearing the other parts. Instead of hearing these parts in the piano sound, the timbre of other brass instruments can be heard. A teacher could also use this technology for helping a student with intonation. The use of workstations with various timbres available will be a key to music education in the future.

All the various items I have spoken of here can be included under the heading of improved delivery of the music learning process. It is here that other areas of education have been improving by leaps and bounds. With the advent of CD ROM and Laser Disks, storage mediums that allow for massive information storage and direct access to information, academic subjects can come alive. Students of science can now study anatomy without having to dissect dead animals. History classes can see full motion videos of events and hear quotes like John Kennedy's "Ask not what you can do" speech in his own voice. For those who have used this new technology, the results show a huge increase in student interest and performance in academic subjects.

An integration of Video, digitized sound, and music is what the Multi-Media approach to learning is all about. Even though music teachers may not have used this technology, it is interesting to note that the general public has. One of the leading CD's purchased for this type of system is the Beethoven CD on his Ninth Symphony. Another is the Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra. The Miracle Piano System has sold an amazing number of copies. Some teachers say that "These people are really not serious about music. If they were truly interested, they would take lessons.". I must strongly disagree with this. Allow me to get on my soap box here for just a moment.

To state that people who purchase self teaching programs or even video tapes on how to learn to play an instrument are somehow less inclined to make music has to be one of the major factors for the decline in music student numbers. The attitude that these folks don't "really" want to play just because they didn't go to a teacher is way off base. In addition to factors like schedule, amount of time available, and others, I firmly believe that the main cause is that music lessons are perceived as a boring lesson once a week where a person is tortured into learning by endless repetitions of boring exercises. Now this may be difficult for some of you or your peers to hear. We as music educators learning about new technology must be willing to try to change how we teach. We must use computers and other exciting technological advances so that we begin to change this perception to one of "I can't wait to get to my lesson." We must be willing to try to change other teachers opinions. We must become like the Wright Brothers who fought all of the "If man were meant to fly" arguments or Henry Ford who's first cars were not well received. Well, enough of my soapbox.

In addition to the wonders of CD-ROM in interactive programs, this technology is changing how we purchase music. How about this? You walk into a store, you go to the computer and press a button on the screen. The computer pulls up a letter pad and you type in the title of the song you want. If you don't know the title, you can ask for the composer, or the style of music. After typing it in, you can hear the song, change it to another key, choose an easier arrangement, and then have the computer print it out on a laser printer where it looks exactly like what is available on the rack. Sound futuristic? Well, it's here now. The device is called Notestation. How can this benefit you the teacher? Think about all I said this could do. You can now get tailor made music to fit your key or vocal range. Amazing technology.

All the items I have talked about here must lead to a shift in how we teach music. The future of music education is heading toward the past. Yes, the past. During the time of Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, etc., many teachers were also composers and students learned more than just how to play an instrument. They learned about the orchestra, the wonders of composition, and how to play by composing. Today, with the technology available, we can now accomplish the same thing. During the time of the composers I have listed, they all had orchestras to work with. Today, we have the workstation I have mentioned. For paper, we have the computer and notation programs. Truly, we are headed "Back to the Future".

In order to use today's technology to the fullest, teachers need to become composers, arrangers, and orchestrators. We must be prepared to teach more than just how to play one instrument. Public school teachers are very aware of how students experience in history or math class can be increased if teachers in english and science can integrate those experiences into their subjects. This Cross-Curriculum education is gaining in popularity as it seems to be of great benefit to students as it interrelates all subjects to motivate a student to want to learn all subjects making it a more exciting experience in the school environment. What all that means is that the student does better. In music education, a student who writes a piece will be much more motivated to increase their playing technique to play a piece that they have written than play something they have no personal attachment to. This is how a more composition oriented music educational approach can lead to greater success.

To illustrate this point, have any of you seen Mario Paint for the Nintendo? This program integrates a drawing program with an animation program that will take a persons drawings and animate them, with a music program that allows the person to compose 3 note polyphonic scores to be coordinated with the animations! This program is very big among families as it helps develop creativity. But isn't that what we do in music? You bet it is. It's just that we are not perceived to be as fun as Mario. If you gain nothing else from this, realize that without the perceived excitement that has been created by the computer industry, integrated into your music classes, students are going to go somewhere else for their music experience. So, the answer lies in adding technology to your lessons.

However, even with all of the need for music programs, it is ironic to note that some of the best music software that is being produced today with the best graphics is being produced for the general consumer market. Whether we like it or not, it is money that ultimately drives the creation of software. It is a fact that an average game program developed for Nintendo will generate a far greater income for the author that even the hottest music education software. In order to facilitate the authoring of good music programs there are some things that we can all do. Well, here I go on my soap box.

Do not copy and distribute to others any software that you have. Besides the question of copyright, every non paid copy causes that author to re-think if they want to spend the time needed to develop another program. It also causes the price of the program to be greater because of the author having to allow for illegal copies. In many cases, software developers have demo disks of their software for you to try. Just don't copy is the best policy.

We must be willing to pay for good software. I can't tell you the number of times that I have seen a teacher who has done a major development of a Hypercard Stack spending days and sometimes months in development only to have people want to get it for nothing. While it is up to the person who wrote the software to decide if they want to receive compensation for their work, realize that if this person could be rewarded monetarily for that work, they may be more inclined to do another, even better, program in the future. It really boils down to compensating developers for their hard work and years of education to learn how to do what they do. Think about this, if your employer, principal, or student came to you and said you were great and how much they wanted to keep you but from this point on, you will have to do your job and improve while not being paid, I think very few of us would stay. If we want good software and better software in the future, we must be willing to pay for it.

Now, back into our crystal ball, we see the future of possibilities. With the advent of newer technologies, music education could get very exciting. Imagine, you are sitting in a classroom with a big screen television. On the television screen there appears one of the worlds greatest pianists doing a masterclass from the Lincoln Center. You are here at UT San Antonio. In addition to the Big Screen TV, a Yamaha Disklavier is also on stage. As the artist speaks for his interpretations, the audio is heard from the speakers. However, when they play the piano, the Disklavier plays exactly what the artist is playing at the Lincoln Center. This is possible with new technologies now coming online.

Another possibility, imagine scanning a piece of music into your computer and then having the computer transform it into a standard MIDI file for playback in a digital keyboard. Never happen? It's here now with the introduction of MIDIscan for Windows. The program is today about 85 % accurate with an editing page to correct any mis-read sections.

Imagine, you are an instrumentalist and you're playing with a sequencer recording of your accompaniment. You begin to vary the tempo of your performance and the accompaniment follows your tempo changes! Can't happen? You bet it can with the development of Vivace by Coda Music Software. Where Vivace has to use it's hardware, a program is being developed right now that will use an IBM clone to do the same thing and allow the user to record their own accompaniment disks!

Imagine, you are a clarinet player. You take hold of the WX-11 wind controller from Yamaha. You put on this helmet and you are transported to a stage with the Dixieland Band of Al Hirt. As you look around the stage, you see the other performers and they react to you. Imagine, you're a vocalist and you turn to see John Williams and the Boston Pops with the audience right in front of you. Sound incredible? That is what Virtual Reality can eventually mean to music.

We are also heading towards the home being the place where everything takes place. Many cable companies today are offering "Pay for View" programs. In music, we can either ignore it, fight it, or exploit this potential boom to it's fullest. Many musicians today complain about the low attendance at events. We often times forget how difficult it is to find time to do all those things desired with trying to hold down a job and raise a family. If musicians were to exploit this by offering concert programs on local pay for view access, a whole new potential market for music could be opened. How about piano lessons by televideo classes? For those people who could not be at home when the programs came on, they will be able to tape them for later viewing. With the inclusion of interactive tv, student interaction could take place in the video classroom. Eventually, I truly see the day that a person in the privacy of their home will log on to a piano class via modem to their computer with a keyboard workstation and turning on the television for a pay per view. fully interactive music lesson. Since students will no longer be limited to a certain geographical area in the choice of their teacher, the better teachers, no matter where they live, could be accessed through this system. With the eventual ability to send MIDI signals over phone lines with video, we are not far from the day that piano lessons could be given from New York to Los Angeles using two MIDI keyboards, video cameras, and tv's at both ends.

Along with these great items, consider a device that could translate movement into MIDI signals. Imagine being able to step into a ring and have your gestures control the speed of a performance. In addition, how about being able to control volumes of the individual instruments. This would be great for conductors. It's possible. A new device has just been introduced that could do these very things.

One of the raps against keyboards is that they can not reproduce all of the subtleties of the orchestral instruments. Like a beginning clarinet player causing the reed to squeak or the trumpet not producing a clear tone because of a pinched throat. Well, wait no more. Yamaha is introducing a new lead synth and technology in January of 94. The new series uses a new Virtual Acoustic Synthesis technology that allows for every subtlety to be reproduced. How important is it going to be to play keyboards in the future? Very!

Just a short time ago, our son and I were attending a major event in Ft. Worth. During the event, we were treated to an exciting new system of learning destined to become THE way in education. With Virtual Reality and all of the other new possibilities that are available today, this new, and what promises to be the ultimate in realism, breakthrough promises to redefine how we look at computer simulations and interactive programs. It is even more incredible that Virtual Reality and more realistic than any synth or sampling system. What is this new technological breakthrough? It's ACTUAL REALITY. It's where you actually interact with a real person! You actually play a real instrument! In sports games, you actually put on shirt, shorts, tennis shoes and actually go out and kick a ball! Actual Reality, what a concept!

We must remember that the main reason for the technology is to give us tools to help improve the student's learning process and allow us to accomplish more in the way of education. New technology will never replace the wonders of human interaction. However, it can help students and teachers to attain levels of understanding and performance unheard of in history. The blending of technology and "Actual Reality" is the goal we should all seek to attain in our teaching for the benefit of our students.

Considering what I have spoken of here, we can draw the conclusion that we could be on the verge of a tremendous explosion in music education, unprecedented in the history of the human race. How do we get started? By doing what you are doing here today but more importantly, becoming messengers to your local school districts, music teachers organizations, and anyone who will listen. You must be the person who never looses sight of the ultimate goal of helping your students reach new goals in music. Many times, people come to conventions like this and get all charged up only to go back and discover that using technology does require work and a commitment to practice. However, you all understand this type of commitment. You all play a musical instrument. As you attend the sessions today and ultimately return home, take with you the same commitment to integrating new technology that you had when you took lessons yourself and the promise of the future of music education will be in good hands.

Thank you.