The lessons below are a sample of what we studied in my Music Technology Classes. I taught 250 students per week in the 2nd through 5th Grades until 2013, then middle school band until 2018. (I retired in 2018.)

Lesson Samples:
* Lessons 01-02 Intro to Music Technology
* Lessons 03-04 Identifying Instrument Families
* Lessons 05-06 Treble Clef Notes
* Lessons 07-08 Scales and Tetrachords
* Lessons 09-10 Basic Rhythms
* Lessons 11-12 Interactive Quiz (SoundTree Institute)
* Lessons 13-14 Compose a Phrase (SoundTree Institute)
* Lessons 15-16 Preparing for Performance
* Lesson 17 Performances at Christmas
* Lessons 18-20 Louis Armstrong
* Lessons 21-22 Erskine Hawkins
* Lessons 23-24 Duke Ellington
* Lessons 25-26 Bill Withers
* Lessons 27-28 Michael Jackson
* Lessons 29-30 Count Basie
* Lessons 31-32 Stevie Wonder
* Lessons 33-34 Mixcraft Software (Favorite)
* Lessons 35-36 Final Lessons
* Lesson - Weebly Tutorial
* Piano Keyboards and Chord Chart

Lesson Samples (Older)
* 001 Intro to Music Tech 1
* 002 Intro to Music Tech 2
* 003 Simple Retrograde Lesson
* 004 Form ABA Lesson
* 005 Sound Waves
* 006 Sound Waves and Cartoons
* 007 Make a CD
* 008 It's A Rap! Creating Songs (Favorite)
* 009 Major Chords
* 010 Composers Workshop
* 011 Copyright Lessons
* 012 microKORG Lessons
* 013 Student Made Quizzes - Hot Potatoes
* 014 WebQuests Intro
* 015 Music WebQuest 1 - Build a Lab
* 016 Additional Studies (End of Year)
* 017 Compose a Phrase
* 018 Bass Clef Notes
* 020 Time Signatures
* 022 Jazz Musician 'Dizzy' Gillespie
* 025 Gotcha Song, Cartoon and Video (Favorite)

* Creating Quizzes / Question Writer Quiz Edition
* Creating Quizzes / Question Writer Flash Files
* Lansky Composer-in-Residence Project

Ms. Garrett has interactive lesson plans with games on the SoundTree Institute site (subscription-based).
* Making an Interactive Quiz / Instruments Lesson
* Compose a Phrase Using the C Major Scale
* Interactive Rhythm Activities
* Basic Melodic Intervals Study
* Skips, Steps and Leaps in Music

 

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Thank you to all of the donors who helped us to obtain funding for four more keyboards! We used the keyboards in our band and music tech classes through 2018.

Books / Software / Multimedia

The students are using the Alfred Basic Piano Library music books to learn to read and play beginning piano (keyboard).

The students use music notation programs such as Noteflight.com or Sibelius 6 to learn to compose and print music notes. The students are learning how to sequence music - entering one musical part into the computer at a time, then changing the sounds to different instruments, such as the flute, clarinet, or drums.

We use Sibelius or Noteflight to post student compositions on the website for viewing and playing.

Besides learning to read, compose, and print their music, some of the students will produce their own music files to be recorded on CD's or flash drives. We create CD's with student compositions and video clips of their work to post in a multimedia portfolio.

Students are learning about MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and how MIDI works with different electronic musical instruments to communicate with other instruments and computers. The students have seen ways in which various electronic wind and percussion instruments can be played along with the computer accompaniments.

TI:ME Music Tech Organization (www.ti-me.org)

There are many different areas of exploration and instruction in Music Technology. The Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) Strategies for Teaching includes the following areas of study: electronic musical instruments, MIDI sequencing, music notation software, computer-assisted instruction, multimedia and digitized media, Internet and telecommunications, information processing, computer systems, and lab management.

TI:ME Music Technology Benchmarks:
1) To become a lifelong adopter of music technology for personal expression
2) To create multimedia productions
3) To collaborate with music peers and experts on the Internet as a resource
4) To create, manipulate, and graphically represent music with a computer-based music device
5) To collaborate in the performance of technology-based music in solo or ensemble
6) To capture and edit digital audio
7) To capture and sequence music with a MIDI controller
8) To communicate with music peers, experts and resources on the Internet
9) To understand how a music technology device captures, stores, and manipulates sound and performance.