Musicianship Project

For this project, I was able to explore the "learning music playground" by Ableton. This is a source that is an introduction into making digital music. For this experience I went through several chapters that helped me to develop my knowledge of digital music and how to make it. 

Examples 

bass_line.als
File Size:	8415 kb
File Type:	als

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I started out experimenting with the bass line. It was one of the first chapters from the playground. Above is the example I created. I tried to come up with simple patterns and use a variety of the sound options offered. 

chordsmelody.als
File Size:	8405 kb
File Type:	als

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In this example I used the I - V - Vi - IV progression that was covered in one of the lessons and is a commonly used progression in popular music. I changed the settings in this example so it was in C in the Phrygian mode. 

all_parts.als
File Size:	8411 kb
File Type:	als

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This example is using the beat, bass line, chords, and melody. After experimenting with this resource I was able to figure out how to put all of the parts together. 

Reflection 

It is designed for beginners and has several lessons that explain basic concepts of music theory such as scales, modes, and various instruments and sounds. When I first started exploring the playground, I went through the introductory lessons that went through the basic sounds you could use and how to use them. Some of these chapters included how to make a beat, bass line, and melody. The lessons gave me the skills to have a basic idea of how to compose a song using popular chord progressions often found in pop music. 

I really liked this program because it helped to give me a solid foundation to feel confident in my abilities to make digital music. In relation to my own music education experience, I don't think this resource differs too much from how I've been instructed in music previously. It's structured so that it explains the concept, provides examples, and then I try it out on my own. It's very straightforward and easy to understand. The user interface for this resource is intuitive and simple. A student of any age could explore and be musically creative on the playground page. 

I think this resource would be valuable for general music classes of any level. As an aspiring music educator, I could adapt the activities to suit the developmental and cognitive abilities of the students in my class. The playground is very engaging and it allows the student to develop musical independence and explore their creativity. Most classrooms and schools I have observed so far provide tablets or chrome books for each of the students in the class. This would make an activity for this program more accessible with those resources. It would also be valuable if there was an app for tablets for this program.