A innovative teacher + iPad 2 + Orff style lessons plans = a very interesting classroom if you are creative in using the following apps. Be creative and see how many ways you can use the following in your music classroom.
Singing Fingers
This app lets your finger ‘paint’ sound. Play it back by moving your finger(s) over the shapes and swirls. This could be used for graphic scoring, solfa acivities and even composition tasks in groups.
Avid Scorch
Try this blog post from Daniel Spreadbury at the Sibelius Blog for more information. As for me, I have uploaded my Sibelius file arrangements and started to play from the scores instead of PDF. The fact that the scores play back to you is amazing! This is just the functionality I need with my iPad 2, and Interactive Whiteboard and Sibelius notation software – portable, viewable, playable Sibelius scores. Thank you AVID.
Percussive, Mallets & Latin
These beautiful applications are brought to us by Touch Media and they are lovely in sound, delicate to the touch and best of all – they could allow classrooms of Orff Mallet instruments for a fraction of the cost. You have a choice of 5 instruments from glockenspiel to marimba as well as soft and hard mallets, lower and upper octaves. Groups of students could undertake composition tasks, record their performances and even develop improvisational skills on this app. Secondly is the Latin Percussion version with all the percussion instruments you ever wanted in your classroom.
Finger Stomp
Take Stomp live, squeeze them (their onstage equipment that is) into an iPad app, add rhythm and you have a recipe for outstanding group rhythm work, body style percussion compositions and a way for students to really engage with that elusive concept of Duration.
My lessons would be extremely engaging and the learning experiences very memorable because of these applications. What would you use them for?
Let me know in the comments.
Those iPad apps are very innovative but I think there is something special about when kids can get a hold of the physical classroom percussion instruments and play them. Half of the fun in bringing instruments to the classroom is the movement and the collaboration inspired by them. You can’t really get the same type of experience from an iPad.
I agree entirely. Nothing beats the feel of real xylophones, mallets and percussion instruments.
I just wish many high schools invested in these but some do not.
a) Because they are expensive
b) School’s don’t see the value in them
c) School’s think students will break them
One teacher I know did a lot of fundraising to get some instruments into her department but it took so much effort as she was by herself.
So my point was that if the school rolls out an iPad program maybe they could integrate these if they don’t have the Orff instruments.
Thanks for the comment 🙂
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Hey Samuel!
These may be useful to go with these great apps: http://www.pixandstix.com/
🙂
James
I’m a little confused about something- The percussion app is neat but I don’t see how it could be a substitute for Orff instruments, since on an Orff instrument you can take out some of the bars, plus the bars on Orff instruments are not “offset” like on a xylophone. (like the black notes are offset from the white noes on a piano).
I know!
There is nothing to replace the wonderful sound and tactile music making experience of tuned percussion.
My suggestion was in the context of some schools having iPads (sometimes 1:1) and yet not being able to give money to their music department for Orff Instruments.
Whereas this is grossly upsetting, it does provide a way for students to perform, play, compose and record compositions on their iPads.
Thank you SO much for this list of apps! These are excellent! I especially love that they’re cheap! Great job! I will pass these on!
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