Thinking Beyond Composition: Great for Ensemble Skills!

How I Use It

I have used this app two different ways in my elementary classroom: for student creation and for instrumental practice. For student creation, this app was used to modify and redesign a composition project. We had worked on composition projects in the past, but being able to hear as my students composed, was the greatest feature for them. Not only were my students able to select a variety of instruments, they were also able to record themselves to add into their composition. In terms of instrumental practice, I performed and recorded each instrumental part of our concert songs into Garage Band. From there, my students were able to either play along with the entire band accompaniment or isolate their individual part. This provided a decent correlation between pedagogy and technology, while working towards the content of playing an instrument. While there are other apps and resources that are similar, this app has been a perfect addition to my classroom.