Games in Music Theory Lessons?

Teaching Music Theory we honor a long tradition, that started hundreds of years ago, when a young Mozart started studying the preludes and fugues of JS Bach, saying now “There is something one can learn from!”

Of course the study of music theory probably goes back further than that, and will go on for many years into the future, no matter what technological tools we have.

There are some pros and cons when it comes to using technological tools, such as music theory games in teaching theory.

On the Pro Side:

Pro #1: It makes it fun and relevant to the student! Students these days have ipods, computers and little bits of technology coming out of their ears! Therefore it doesn’t make sense to keep it out of the theory class

Pro #2: You can teach faster by using technology. The mouse and the screen is faster than the pencil, and probably always will be. Students can also get Instant Feedback, and not have to rely on a teacher checking their work.

Pro #3: Marking time is reduced, as students self correct much more. Eventually students will use the computer to check their work and have their marks automatically calculated.

On the Con Side:

Con #1: Students lose the art of good manuscript writing. It would be a shame if music students grow up never having to put a pencil to a piece of manuscript paper. Yes, computers are you can produce print quality manuscript on just about any computer these days, however the art of hand drawn manuscript is something that we shouldn’t lose.

Con #2: Intellectual understanding may be lessend - Using a pencil and paper the students have to be able to “hear” in their mind the melody, not have the computer be able to play it for them on input. Quite a different aural skill isn’t it. Are we depriving a student of this skill by letting them use the computer to produce melody writing & harmony etc?

Con #3: Ease of cheating. Do students really understand, or can they just copy others work. Copying is far easier if using a computer to do homework. Its also far easier to “guess” the answer than it is to really understand.

This is why my feeling is the BOTH things have a place. As you can see there are some great advantages of using music theory games and the latest technology for music theory, however there is also a negative side to the story. It really would be a shame if students lost the single most important tool for learning music theory: the humble pencil.