The goal of this presentation is to explore the pedagogical use of various types of MIDI instruments for teacher training based on a grant-related project undertaken at the presenter’s institution. A portion of the grant is intended for the sharing of information about the project.

Recently, I perused a number of different high school yearbooks and found that, prior to the 1960s (and especially in the ‘30s and ‘40s), small non-credited ensembles flourished in our public schools. These ensembles were sanctioned by the school and the participants benefited from the presence and advice of a music teacher who didn’t necessarily direct the ensembles. I also found that the high school stage band was sometimes the band that played for the homecoming, prom, or other dance. Such a finding is logical as those stage bands would have had as their repertoire the popular swing and big band music of the time. That would not likely be the case today, and points us to the reality that the school music program has, in some ways, moved away from societal relevance for many youths.

The lack of such societal relevance is even more true in schools such as Dade County High School near Miami, Florida. In a 1990 conversation with a principal there, I found that its student population at the time was approximately 80% Latino, 10% Asian, and 10% other. The same could be said of some large urban schools where financially disadvantaged immigrants, for whom English is a second or third language, constitute the majority student population.

I am in no means suggesting that we scrap the band program, or even have the concert band play literature outside its realm of effectiveness. In fact, I think the first changes need to occur at the teacher trainer level. I am a proponent of a concept I call re-modeling (Coan, 2000), based on the idea that new teachers are, for the most part, doomed to what Gates and Regelski (1997) call undergraduate music education majors’ "uncritical mimicry of their teachers techniques." In other words, they will teach in the way they are taught and will also teach what they are taught. Re-modeling means that we, the model (teacher trainers), must change how we teach. If you believe in the Deweyan concept of involving students in meaningful experiences (Dewey, 1997), then you can’t merely talk about it in a teaching methods lecture; you must provide your future teachers experiences that are reality-based and relevant.

America’s rich concert band heritage is replete with excellence and well worth continuing, but undergraduate music education majors could benefit from learning how to initiate, encourage, and mentor the formation of school-sanctioned alternative instrumental ensembles. The result of such an effort would be a greater number of youths in guided and meaningful musical performance experiences. Unfortunately for such ensembles, especially if they are formed to explore ethnic music, the high cost of purchasing the variety of acoustic instruments would be prohibitive.

The Innovative Teaching with Technological Instruments (itti) project addresses the situation by pioneering the pedagogical use of various types of digital electronic instruments for innovation in the undergraduate music education curriculum. The instruments are primarily used for teacher training in the Instrumental Music Teaching Methods course, currently taught by the presenter. The course is required for all music education majors and is the last music education course prior to student teaching. The current syllabus and course outline has been revised to incorporate the instruments numerous times over the course of the semester, including use in peer teaching. In spring of 2000, the presenter received a grant of several thousand dollars to purchase the MIDI instruments for the intended use.

The purpose of this project is to give students in the Instrumental Teaching Methods course hands-on experience in the procurement, operation, and pedagogical use of MIDI instruments for creating alternative musical ensembles in school settings at a reasonable cost, to encourage creative use of the instruments, and for the goal of understanding MIDI technology. The band director of the 21st century will need to be able to deal with the changing face of America’s schools, especially those in metropolitan areas.

For example, if a school has a large Latino population and the band director wishes to form a Latin rhythm ensemble or Samba band, the school is unlikely to own the types of percussion instruments needed. The cost of even a spartan setup for three or four musicians easily exceeds a thousand dollars, and the minimum secure storage space is approximately 36 square feet–a lot to sacrifice for overcrowded schools. Furthermore, those instruments have a limited scope of usefulness outside the ensemble, are easily damaged, and require regular maintenance for the preservation of wood bodies and calfskin heads. The electronic music revolution provides an exciting alternative.

One set of MIDI instruments is capable of emulating an infinite variety of instrumental ensembles. Though MIDI instruments are not inexpensive, their versatility, small size, and durability make them an attractive and cost-effective solution. In addition, they can be extremely useful additions to a school’s other musical ensembles, especially the jazz band.

Currently, there is widespread use of MIDI keyboards for performance and computer-aided composition. Outside the world of music performance, though, non-keyboard MIDI instruments are rarely utilized. While several large universities and children’s science centers are currently experimenting with a variety of MIDI instruments, the most commonly observed use of these instruments is as a novel form of creative exploration for children. The presenter has been unable to locate a program that is purposefully integrating them into music teacher training for any philosophical or pedagogical goal for music education. In that sense, this project is a pilot program.