Showing 44 results
January 5, 2020
GarageBand: User friendly and engaging for all ages!
This was an amazing opportunity to allow my students an engaging learning experience through this creative application. I appreciated how user friendly the application was for all ages. My students were able to teach me a thing or two also. I believe that this applications allows students to demonstrate their creativity when it comes to music production. They were able to showcase their favorite music genres, demonstrate their musicianship, collaborate with peers and preserve in their final products. My students were also able to use the phone application version of it which is extremely helpful for when they were not present in class. I am excited to teach this class again!
Continue reading
February 12, 2018
Thinking Beyond Composition: Great for Ensemble Skills!
This is a great app for developing creativity and ensemble skills. Students are given a great deal of freedom in creating their own compositions. The downside is that the teacher truly needs to set high expectations. Students will want to play with this app if not given the appropriate direction. Although students can transfer their work out of the app, it is limited and there is no possibility for collaboration among students. This tool is fantastic at developing ensemble skills though. Students have the ability to play-along with an entire band accompaniment or to isolate their individual part. This makes it a valuable tool for elementary beginning band and my classroom.
Continue reading
October 3, 2016
Garageband is the BEST- Students and Teachers alike will benefit!
This is a very powerful app. Students will need some preparation to use it, however. The tools in the app are quite engaging and powerful. Students will need a moment to explore and play before they can focus on a specific project. I advise the teacher to give this time as it will have students leaving class asking for more. Headphones are advised and students should be well managed before introducing the app.
Continue reading
June 17, 2016
Level the playing field and think outside the box with Garageband.
I love Garageband when it is not used solely for working on music composition. While that is a good use of Garageband, it is capable of so much more.
The presentation functions in Garageband allow you to choose from several different methods of exporting your finished piece. We upload to group Soundcloud account and then students embed their Soundcloud file on a presentational website. This project is a collaborative effort that students thoroughly enjoy and become very engaged in. Because of the high level of engagement, students learn a lot from trial and error as well as each other. Ideas flow more freely and more risks are taken when working with Garageband. Students can easily work outside their comfort zone and try things.
Incorporating and integrating Garageband in lessons is easy. Most anything can also have an audio (or musical) component. But getting students to move past scripted and outlined lessons is a perfect way to instill and motivate creativity. Most support for functionality, whether on an iPad or desktop (and many students have the app on their phones), can be found with a well worded Google search.
I have used Garageband with all level and types of learners. They all engage equally, so in a sense, Garageband can level the playing field in project work.
I would recommend teachers have clear instructions and expectations for outcomes on your projects and certainly outline the required criteria of the project. But once that is all out of the way, watch your students get creative and take pride of their production.
Continue reading
June 7, 2016
Be Your Own DJ
I love this tool. I can't find more uses than simply making music. Some other apps allow users to collaborate which would be an awesome feature.
Continue reading
May 30, 2016
Great app for budding musicians
This is a very good app which brings out the creativity in the students. We used it with the elementary students. The apps is easy to use and it is good practice for the students before they start using the Garageband on the macbook.
Continue reading
May 2, 2016
Great way to get students to create their own background music with or without the knowledge or playing instruments.
I think this is a great tool to help students get experience with different types of instruments. They also have the ability to be composers with a limited music background. My students have asked again and again to use Garage Band.
Continue reading
April 21, 2016
Perfect for incorporating with student made videos!
I think this tool is effective in certain circumstances. Making a video, or creating scores for a music class would be some of those circumstances. There is a very advanced aspect to this tool that involves multiple combinations of instruments and variations of these instruments. This can be daunting and challenging for some, but to the musically inclined it can be a fun challenge. The basic functions and features can be used to create music for their own videos and not worry about copyright infringements so long as it's their own creations. Students can work on this tool together, some students may be more technologically inclined than others, and some may be more musically inclined than others--if they work together, a lot can be accomplished. It is nice that some instruments come pre-loaded, however it can be a problem that some instruments will need to be purchased. Overall, this tool does nothing but bring out a student's creativity!
Continue reading
May 22, 2015
Everyone can be a star with Garage Band!
I love it! I will continue to use it for voice over work with my advanced students and beginner work with my freshman who are just learning about radio and voice overs.
Continue reading
February 18, 2015
Easy to use way for students to record their own songs and ideas.
I think it is an excellent app that can be used to create a fun project for students. I like how easy to use it was and how simple the interface was.
Continue reading