Maine Motif Issue 1, Vol. II (Fall, 2017) | Page 15

An example of how I used Audacity in my “Digital Composition” class last school year was I had students select a piece of instrumental music and use the program to not only cut out sections of the piece that they selected to analyze but also record themselves talking about their interpretations of those sections they selected. Some students chose to talk about chord structures and functions, others about what the section of music might represent if it were a story. The answers were varied but all students were thinking, talking, and listening to music while using a comfortable medium for them as the means to express their thoughts. They found the experience very rewarding! As I said, there are many different ways Audacity could be added to your classroom and it may be another way to give students the tools to love music! Audacity can be downloaded at http://www.audacityteam.org/ Some examples of lessons can be found at https://kerileebeasley.com/2009/04/08/10- great-ways-to-use-audacity-with-your-students/ Jonathan Simonoff teaches general, vocal, and instrumental music at all grade levels at Ashland District School as well as conducting the University of Maine Presque Isle Community Band. Jon is also a founding member of the Aroostook River Voices, a 100 piece community choir, The County Combo, a jazz ensemble with music educators and students, and a member of the Star City Syndicates, a community member motown band. He may be reached at [email protected]