21st Century technology for teaching music has meant that the days of transcribing from books and gathering round chalk boards are long gone, and the days of interactive learning are here. Utilising apps and software for teaching music has become an invaluable part of helping students play an instrument, learn music theory, and composition.
Apps for Teaching Music
Online music lessons have become commonplace and are widely used by performance teachers. Whether offering an extensive online course like our friends at Piano Marvel, hosting tutorials on YouTube, or conducting remote lessons in real-time, music teachers are able to utilise video technology in more ways than ever before.
Apps for Teaching Music Theory
For music theory tutors, one of our preferred resources is musictheory.net, a free website that hosts online lessons and exercises for learners to work through at their own pace. With two optional iOS apps available priced at $2.99 and $3.99, musictheory.net is a great resource for beginners all the way up to those preparing for ABRSM music theory exams – there’s even a section dedicated to Neapolitan chords, making it a great app for teaching music theory at all levels.
Apps for Teaching Music Composition
Teaching music composition has changed drastically in recent years and nowadays it’s possible to share and receive templates, scores and audio files with students easily. Most music notation software has different versions that are cross-compatible and are optimised for the practical back-and-forth of sharing digital music. You can check out reviews of our favourite composition software here.
Whether you’re using technology for teaching music performance, theory or composition, one of the most useful music teaching apps you can get is PlayScore 2. With PlayScore 2 you can play any music straight from a photo, a PDF or an image. If your students don’t read music they can hear what it sounds like, and can have PlayScore accompany them as they sing or play their instrument – and in any key. If your students sing in a choir, they can isolate a part on its own or with the others in the background. Not only that, PlayScore 2 can export your music as MIDI or MusicXML to DAWs and score editors easily in a few clicks.