Idea Bank Popular Culture and Video Games as Tools for Music Learning by Adam Reyher

Photo courtesy of the author

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he field of music is constantly evolving, and technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate. Referencing Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall, John Kratus explains that “relationships are like sharks: they have to keep moving forward or they die. . . . For music education to remain relevant and provide value, it too must change with the times or experience the fate of the stationary shark.” 1 Modern culture deeply immerses our students. Music educators must not remove their lessons and teaching techniques from today’s society, but rather embrace it in order to draw students in using topics that students already know and enjoy. To increase student interest in what we teach in the music classroom, our lessons must invite eager participation. We accomplish this by being innovative Copyright © 2014 National Association for Music Education DOI: 10.1177/0027432113519067 http://mej.sagepub.com

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with our lessons—choosing to incorporate concepts that entice and please students while still providing valuable and educationally sound experiences. The techniques and resources we use, the technology in our classrooms, and our musical choices all must evolve and adapt to fit our students’ needs. Because our students are our primary focus, instead of turning our backs on their culture and their interests, we should embrace them and use them to our advantage. One way to increase student interest is to include popular interactive media—specifically, video games—in the classroom. As an example, Rhythm Heaven Fever, a game for Nintendo’s Wii console released in February 2012, includes heavy use of rhythmic concepts and provides many assessment opportunities.2 The game was not created with the intention of providing an educational experience. Rather, it was simply created to offer a fun, entertaining, and challenging musical experience that differs from other music games on the market, such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. While both Guitar Hero and Rock Band involve music, neither incorporates development of musical concepts. Rhythm Heaven Fever contains rhythmic and melodic concepts that teachers can integrate directly into specific lessons, including steady beat, syncopation, rhythmic echoing, triplets, tempo changes, and identification of various genres and musical styles (see Figure 1).

Not intended as an educational game, Rhythm Heaven Fever includes colorful artwork, exaggerated caricatures, and nonmusical themes, while still having a very strong rhythmic focus. These characteristics allow students to have a unique musical and learning experience if the games are used correctly. The game is divided into fifty minigames that are each one to three minutes in duration. Twenty-eight of the games are original mini-games that provide a different take on various rhythmic concepts, twelve games are more difficult versions of several of the original games, and the remaining ten are remixes that combine several of the mini-games’ rhythmic elements into one. Each mini-game begins with an exercise that explains the controls and how to play. During this exercise, the various rhythmic sets, aural/visual cues, and other important information are clearly explained, and a brief practice session is provided. The player uses the Wii remote to input the proper rhythmic sets and patterns using either one- or twobutton combinations. If the player provides inaccurate input (rhythm, steady beat, etc.), the game will require that the action be repeated until corrected. After completing the “practice,” the actual game begins. During play, the game provides feedback, including onscreen character reactions, negative aural alerts, and negative visual alerts, such as groans, frowns, or wincing by the characters. After completing the mini-game,

Adam Reyher is an undergraduate student in music education in his senior year in the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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Music Educators Journal  March 2014

FIGURE 1 Musical Concepts in the Video Game Rhythm Heaven Fever •• Steady Beat •• Aural/Visual Cues •• Downbeats/offbeats •• Syncopation •• Call-and-Response •• Timbre Differentiation •• Repeated Rhythmic Sets •• Various Genres and Styles

the player is assessed on performance. The game provides several descriptions based on accuracy and one of three overall ratings is given: “Superb,” “OK,” or “Try again.” In addition to the game’s basic rating system, the in-game aural and visual alerts provide detailed analysis of the player’s abilities, allowing for easy teacher recognition and elaboration. As important as teacher recognition of rhythmic errors is, it is equally, if not more, valuable for the students to comprehend and identify their own rhythmic inaccuracies for self-analysis and correction. The alerts and cues provide instant feedback, allowing students to recognize the mistakes as soon as they occur. The teacher can go into further detail about the errors and how to correct them if necessary, but the instantaneous feedback allows students to easily remember mistakes due to their aural and visual association with the game. This may help students find and understand rhythmic errors that they might not have otherwise recognized or understood. Teachers can create various types of lessons using video games, including plans with individual and group components. For example, a lesson with Rhythm Heaven Fever might incorporate group participation by prompting the remainder of the students to pay attention to the game and simply clap the rhythms that the individual www.nafme.org

player would be inputting using the Wii Remote. This would allow students active involvement while providing multiple chances to practice the rhythmic patterns before they receive a turn with the Wii remote. Another component to this lesson could incorporate student assessment of other students’ performance and accuracy. While the game does provide assessment, the students could provide more detailed, specific feedback, such as what specific errors occurred and corrections for the next play-through. Another lesson using Rhythm Heaven Fever could involve the creation of a classroom competition. Students could compete by comparing rhythmic accuracy among multiple play-throughs. This would keep most students engaged, as many thrive on friendly competition in the classroom (see Figure 2 for lesson ideas). Any time that lessons such as these are introduced in the classroom, a clear educational goal and outcome must be planned and specified in order to prevent wasted instructional time and noneducational situations. A fear of this occurrence, however, should not prevent music teachers from integrating contemporary culture and technological resources into their classrooms. With proper planning and clearly designated goals, music educators can provide their students with exciting and enriching musical experiences that teach important concepts in a memorable way.

Video games and other technological resources cannot replace the important initial introduction and explanation of musical concepts. Rather, these resources should be used when reviewing concepts and for ensuring understanding. Technology is often best used as a tool to reinforce what has been learned in the classroom or ensemble. The possibilities for creative review and assessment are myriad, and the instantaneous feedback can be a bonus to all parties involved. Music educators are not restricted to video games or other specific technologies. Innovative and engaging lessons can be created with inspiration from various areas in contemporary culture. Inspiration for engaging lesson plans can be taken from movies, television shows, the Internet, popular music, or from students’ life experiences. Taking the time to get to know your students and their interests can provide a gateway of new ideas and lesson possibilities. Teachers can use combinations of traditional and technologically enhanced techniques to achieve musical goals. By incorporating creative and innovative teaching techniques with the foundations of traditional teaching methods and techniques, such as those found in Orff Schulwerk, Kodály, Dalcroze, the Suzuki Method, and the Music Learning Theory, we have the capacity to push the field of music education forward and discover new, successful educational techniques for sharing music with our students while potentially increasing our society’s musical awareness.

FIGURE 2 Lesson Ideas for Use with the Video Game Rhythm Heaven Fever •• Group or Individual Competition •• Group Cooperation Activity •• Group or Individual Assessment Opportunity •• Concept Review Activity

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Notes 1. John Kratus, “Music Education at the Tipping Point,” Music Educators Journal 94, no. 2 (November, 2007): 42. 2. Nintendo Co., Ltd., Rhythm Heaven Fever [video game] (Kyoto, Japan: Yoshio Sakamoto, 2012). 3. Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 21st Century Skills Map: The Arts [PDF], 2010, http://www.p21.org/storage/ documents/P21_arts_map_final.pdf (accessed December 11, 2013).

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