The integration of advanced technologies into music education has revolutionized the learning experience. This transformation is rooted in the foundational educational theories of constructivism. Digital applications have proven to be powerful tools that enable students to build their musical understanding both independently and through collaboration with peers. This approach has been particularly effective through game-based learning, which creates an immersive and enjoyable environment where students can successfully engage with various musical tasks within the curriculum framework. The evolution of these educational technologies continues to advance, with Extended Reality (XR) tools now offering students opportunities to develop even deeper musical knowledge and skills.

Our practice-based research in Cyprus public secondary schools, investigated technology-enhanced music education, across Key Stages 3 and 4, involving over 70 students. This practice-based research implemented various technological tools, that could support musical skill development (listening, singing and composing), as defined by the National Music Curriculum of Cyprus.

These technological interventions included Virtual Musical Instruments, AI-powered learning platforms/applications (EarMaster, AIVA and Semi-Conductor), XR performance simulators (Virtuoso and Maestro- VR games, Merge Cube- MR & AR application), and various DAWs (Bandlab and Soundtrap). Preliminary findings revealed significant student engagement, increased motivation and musical comprehension, based on the assessment of students’ resulting compositions and self-evaluations of their experience, skills-development and enjoyment of these lessons. These positive results were particularly noteworthy given the implementation challenges faced across school environments, including limited access to technological resources and the necessity for external technical support.

This practice-based talk contributes to understanding how advanced digital technologies can create more inclusive, interactive music learning experiences that accommodate diverse student backgrounds and learning styles, as well as offer creative and innovative pedagogical ideas for the inclusion of technology in the music classroom.

In my PhD project, I investigate how songwriter-producers learn, particularly in bedroom studios where songwriting, producing, and instrumental practices merge (Barna, 2022). The presented part-study asks how "inspiration" is fabricated within songwriting-producing processes and what relevance this has for informal music learning. This builds on research on popular music learning in private leisure contexts (e.g. Bell, 2018; Kattenbeck, 2022) takes a socio-material perspective (Godau & Haenisch, 2019; Hvidtfeldt, 2017). The role of reception and reference has been reported for professional songwriters (e.g. Barber, 2017), but not yet for amateurs in bedroom studios, where relaxation-oriented reception and musical-generative practice are closely intertwined (Eusterbrock et al., 2021, p. 196).

The study is based on artifact-stimulated interviews with two teenage songwriter-producers and draws on Actor Network Theory (Latour, 2005) and Situational Analysis (Clarke, 2021). It traces the "chain of transformations" (Latour, 1999, p. 71) between inspiring elements, specifically the "inspiring vibe" of a model song and an "inspiring" YouTube video, and the interviewees' own songs. Tracing the chains of transformations points to essential skills for musical-creative practice in the post-digital age.

In the situations studied, the reduction of contingency through the integration of inspirational elements seems to be essential for the musical processes to be possible at all. The inspirational elements serve as orientation and reference, and thus as a link to genre-specific discourses and conventions. As access to audio fragments has never been easier, navigating the endless supply becomes a key challenge. The ability to find, select and collect inspiring elements, as well as to develop symbiotic relationships between musicians and algorithms, thus become crucial skills. So 'inspiration' is neither mystical nor a short-term motivational boost. It is the determination of a direction in a contingent, interconnected culture as well as a guiding element for the songwriting process.

Background

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, there is a serious shortage of music teachers and enrolment figures at universities for the music teaching profession are falling. The reasons for this have been uncovered by the MULEM-EX study, among others. Extensive options for action for universities were identified (Lehmann-Wermser&Witte 2024). Studying music must be made more attractive for prospective students and new concepts for music teacher training must be designed and evaluated. This is particularly important due to the fact that only trained music teachers are able to support pupils in the best possible way, regardless of how close their parents are to music (Weyrauch 2024).

Aims

While AI still hardly plays a role in music lessons at school (Weyrauch et al.,f.c.), but is to be more strongly integrated into schools and lessons in the future (KMK [10.10.2024], BMBF-project:Kumus-ProNeD[2024], Hecht&Krämer,f.c.), it is necessary to think about the possible use of AI in music teacher training, taking into account the didactic aspect. New technologies are used in music teacher training at universities, although their use differs between academic and artistic music teachers (Brunner et al. 2024).

The aim of this study is initially to compile “good-practice-examples”, which will be critically discussed in order to derive concepts for the pedagogical use of AI in the field of music at schools and universities.

Method

First, a questionnaire will be used to ask music university teachers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland whether they have already developed teaching concepts involving AI.

In the second step, music university teachers are selected from this sample and asked about their concept and its implementation with the help of a guided interview. The interviews are evaluated based on Kuckartz (Kuckartz&Rädiker 2024).

Results

The results from the questionnaires and interviews will be presented at the conference and conclusions will be discussed.