We music educators would be well served to keep abreast of music developments in the popular gaming world. Beyond better understanding our students' extracurricular preferences, we might see that music-based games can be useful educational tools. Popular music video games involving karaoke, guitars, rhythm and drumming, music sequencing, and dancing are all growing in popularity. Let's look at several types of popular music video games and tools, and explore bridging them into the music classroom.

Mixcraft for the Classroom
In a time when much of the music we hear on a daily basis is produced in studios using all kinds of computer technology, it's a shame that so little formal musical education has anything to do with computer-based music production. Sequencing is one particular venue in which students can create music without formal music prerequisites. The biggest obstacle for educators is the lack of lesson plans that allow instant implementation of somewhat sophisticated software applications into the classroom. Now there are curriculum guides for three awesome sequencing programs that music educators might consider. These guides offer superb lesson plans for a semester or an entire school year.

Looking for sequencing-oriented courseware? Mixcraft for the Classroom by Zig Wajler and Steve Riddle, distributed by Acoustica, integrates the software with student-driven activities for one or two semesters of instruction at middle or high school levels. It contains step-by-step, field-tested lessons integrating the sequencing application Mixcraft into the classroom by fusing music, technology, and interdisciplinary subjects. This serves to expand student thinking, learning, creativity, and communication. For those not familiar with Mixcraft, it is basically the GarageBand for the PC: very user-friendly — to the point that is easier to use than most sequencers with built-in loops — and very affordable at $49.95.

Mixcraft has many of the features of GarageBand, along with a simple interface, built-in loops, easy editor, variable tempo, and loop auditions. Mixcraft for the Classroom covers a wide range of topics ranging from software basics to the piano roll editor, recording with MIDI, new project documentation, listening and discovering with loops, listening and discovering with virtual instruments, orchestration, song composition, classroom play-along activities, producing a radio jingle/podcast, social studies Native American themes, math and music, and making the scene with dramatic arts and beat box poetry. The courseware is available as a downloadable e-book for $19.95 or a spiral bound hard copy for $39.95 plus shipping.

Teaching Music with Reason
Teaching Music with Reason by Propellerhead Software has been a landmark publication since it's initial release in 2004, and although it was recently discontinued, it can no be downloaded for free at: www.kellysmusicandcomputers.com/education.

Based on a specially adapted version of Reason, Teaching Music with Reason was designed for middle and high school in-class music lessons and can also be used for college-level introductory modules in music or music technology. The curriculum provides educators with 21 complete lessons, teacher's lesson preparation material, teaching plans, student worksheets, student "How-to..." guides, song files of contemporary styles, a full featured educator's version of Reason, and 10 Reason-adapted student-workstation versions. It is designed for integration into existing national, state, and school curricula standards covering fundamental skills such as listening, understanding basic musical elements, and applying technical knowledge to a creative context.

The courseware covers the basics of building bass, harmony, and melody tracks; programming patterns and relating these to musical bars and beats; using different textures, instrument types, and sounds; file editing, copying, and pasting; creating musical passages; sound-shaping with controls for synthesizers, samplers, and other devices contained in Reason; and working with loops. The course also teaches the practical application of dozens of processes associated with digital recording, like panning, balance, EQ, advanced mixing, automating mixer and device parameters, and the application of all types of effects.

Classroom Resource Pack
An even more comprehensive and powerful sequencing instruction is Steinberg's Classroom Resource Pack (CRP), distributed by Yamaha. The CRP provides teachers with even more comprehensive resources for teaching music to 11- to 18-year-olds. It contains all the necessary elements for teachers to deliver a wide range of innovative, modern music lessons, and uses Cubase Studio 4 or Cubase 4 for its technology platform. The 370-page teacher's manual has detailed lesson plans and activities and is supported by two easy-to-navigate DVDs that provide printable PDF worksheets and assessment materials, in addition to video tutorials and other support materials. Of note, one DVD provides original music as multi-track Cubase projects, audio files, audio loops, MIDI files and video files intended for projects in the classroom.

There are 21 CRP projects with 74 learning activities, and more than 190 worksheets representing more than 100 hours of fully prepared music lessons along with royalty free audio files, audio loops, MIDI files, video sequences and originally recorded multi-track songs. The learning activities are arranged into collective themes or topics called "Projects." These focus on the elementary to intermediate levels, allowing the teacher to draw upon the widest range of resources to satisfy the majority of students. Also included is the Project Learning Record for student self-assessment with each CRP Project.

What makes all of this so spectacular is that CRP allows the teacher to spend more time teaching than preparing for class. Ultimately, CRP combines the best of traditional music teaching with the latest audio technology. Its comprehensive approaches to composition and performance, recording, and production are easy to appreciate. The custom-made interface guides users through each step, and provides access to all the files, worksheets, and Cubase projects. The flexible "Pick and Mix" approach allows teachers to select learning activities from any of the CRP Projects to tailor their own curriculum.

Kaossilator Komposition
To supplement your music technology instruction, there are great "toys" you can adapt for hands-on music learning experiences. The Kaossilator Komposition from Korg is a dynamic phrase synthesizer that allows users to make music by simply dragging a finger across a touch-pad. There are 100 built-in sounds along with filter, delay, 10 drum loops, tempo control, a great loop feature, and more. You can even set the key and the scale type. Its 50 types of gate arpeggiation help perform complex rhythmic patterns. Loop recording allows multiple phrase-overdubbing to create complete grooves. It can be hooked up to a sequencer and record a composition and then edited in the sequencer. This dynamic, simple, battery-operated, palm-held apparatus can bring new elements to a performance, allowing beginning music students to enjoy an entirely new level of hands-on musical involvement and expression.

Gaming for Music Ed
There are music video games waiting for you discover that are oriented almost entirely around the player's ability to follow a musical beat and stay with the rhythm of the game's soundtrack. Rhythm/music games are distinct from purely audio games in that they feature visual feedback, that lead the player through the game's soundtrack. Innovative band director Wiley Cruse, featured in last month's tech article (Volume 11, No. 5) uses Dance Dance Revolution, produced by Konami. Wiley uses the game with two dance pads, each with four arrow panels: left, right, up and down. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the T.V. screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success depends on the player's ability to time and position his or her steps according. On Fridays as a reward for doing well all week, Mr. Cruse has his students compete against each other as they dance rhythm patterns. Students can't get enough of it and it's a great reward incentive for good work and progress.

Rock Band (from Harmonix, MTV Games, and /Electronic Arts) lets players jam with hit rock songs using guitar-, bass-, and drum-shaped controllers or singing into a microphone to match pitch and rhythm. The game lets up to four bandmates play together in front of a TV or over the Internet.

Guitar Hero III is a music video game developed by Aspyr Media for computer versions and published by Activision and RedOctane. The player uses a guitar-shaped controller and "performs" a variety of 60 rock songs by playing notes as they scroll in time with the music. For a free clone, download Frets on Fire. You have to play a specific note at the correct time in order to rack up points. Frets on Fire is a fun rhythm game with multiple levels of difficulty, downloadable tracks and the option to create your own songs, and it's free. For maximum enjoyment, invest in a wireless keyboard and a good set of PC speakers.

Would-be Leonard Bernsteins who wave the remote control correctly as they try out UBS Virtual Maestro can experience a small part of what it's like to be a conductor. A similar game, You're the Conductor, lets players use simplified versions of instruments to play popular songs for points. These games are intended to mimic the feel of conducting a real orchestra.

A good URL for game ratings can be found at: www.esrb.org. To take full advantage of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system, it's important to check both the rating symbol on the front of the box and the content descriptors on the back.

Finishing Touches
To guarantee the best sound to match your students' enthusiasm, consider purchasing a slick but not expensive sound system for playing games and software applications in your classes. Wiley Cruse uses a Logitech Z-5300e Doby Digital Surround Sound system with 280 watts of playback power. This system has a sub-woofer with a control channel speaker, and left and right front and rear speakers. Students can't wait to get to class to hear the full spectrum of high definition amplified digital sounds play back their sequencing projects.