There are many different creative activities involved in music. From my personal experience, music educators are often under pressure to produce music performances with their classes or ensembles. However, performance is only one response to music. Most encounters with music outside of the classroom are listening-based (Bauer, 2020). Teaching students to be creative listeners can help them engage in meaningful response. Fortunately, technology affords a variety of opportunities for this type of instruction.
The first step in approaching music listening is to distinguish this from simply hearing music. Bauer (2020) describes hearing as a passive process while listening involves cognition and critical thinking. People are exposed to music in many different ways (advertisements, stores, restaurants, etc.). However, just because music is presented in a school environment does not guarantee that students will suddenly engage in critical listening. I have led a variety of different listening activities with varied success. Listening can be focused on emotional response or analysis of musical elements, yet both require preparation. For instance, students can be taught to describe music using metaphors or analogies in order to connect with a deeper emotional understanding (Bauer, 2020). Alternatively, in order to listen critically to music, students must be given opportunities to answer questions about elements that they hear in the piece. This requires a deeper preparation of musical literacy (instrument timbre, styles/genres, dynamics, articulations, etc.). Beginning with guided listening activities such as call charts, listening maps, and discussion of musical vocabulary is the first step in teaching students to listen critically (Bauer, 2020). Collecting these digital materials may seem tedious, but with social bookmarking tools like Raindrop.io, teachers can organize resources for listening activities. For instance, you can follow this link to see a list of music technology resources I have collected for my teaching.
Once taught to listen critically for analyzation or response, students can engage in these activities outside of the school room. As options for music listening and streaming have increased over recent years, assigning independent listening work has become more feasible. For instance, students can access music on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and others. While some cost subscription fees, others provide free listening opportunities. In both my undergraduate and graduate courses, multiple music professors have recommend using Spotify for music listening. Songs can be organized into playlists for easy reference. Another benefit of using an audio-streaming source rather than audiovisual media is that students will be required to give undivided attention to the audio. In some music videos, the visual components may be distracting for students. The ability to download songs to devices with minimal storage requirements is an additional reason for using audio alone.
A final consideration is how students can use independent music listening to further their music literacy. Students could complete simple assignments like gathering music from various genres/styles, periods, or countries. Students could also find various arrangements or covers of pieces on YouTube for comparison activities. Alternatively, students could listen to teacher-created playlists to familiarize themselves with repertoire selected for their ensemble's performance or for classroom discussion. The possibilities are quite extensive.
Technology has positively impacted rehearsal, performance, distribution, and accessibility of music. These changes affect the music industry in music education contexts as well as general music consumption. Music listeners, whether academic or not, can benefit from a deeper understanding of the music they encounter. Educating young people in this manner will prepare future generations for music enjoyment and creation.
References
Bauer, W. I. (2020). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197503706.001.0001
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