MIDI FILES, NOTATION AND SEQUENCING SOFTWARE: TEACHING MUSIC WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES

A few years ago, technology was just on the horizon and the use of flute skills was the only reality in a music class. Since then, advances in technology have ensued very quickly and their applications in the music classroom have been grown. Although many teachers and students may not think that music education and technology should not be mixed, the two ideas actually work well together in many ways. Although some teachers are still thinking in a traditional music class and they assume that the use of electronic devices is not needed, the use of new technologies in the music classroom has many advantages. In fact, a teaching based on notation software or MIDI files can enhance music education. Software applications, allow the students the chance to manipulate sound and musical variables in a way never seen.
It is true that new technologies have been incorporated little by little, very slowly in fact, into our classrooms, but, the capabilities of the latest technological advances like, Internet, computers, sequencing software applications, etc., should not be avoided by the teachers of the 21st century. In point of fact, music, as a subject, need to take advantage of these technological progresses to enhance the innovation and creation possibilities that they facilitate to our students.
This article try to explore how this new technologies can contribute to the development of teaching music. In order to achieve this goal, a series of activities focusing on how teaching music using 21st century technologies, will be proposed.