The digital age we live in today is ruled by smartphones and tablets, with all sorts of apps that are useful as well as the apps that waste your time. We like to lump video games in with the apps that are considered time wasters, but a more contemporary perspective of video games is starting to prove a valuable tool in many industries.
The education system is looking at gamification as a more effective way to teach children in some, what seems, outdated methods of education and are finding that students are engaging in the material more, as well as retaining more information.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what gamification is, and how it can be applied to music education.
What is Gamification?
Gamification is finding success in many industries, but perhaps none as significant as education. Gamification is the implementation of video game elements into class material in which students can actively engage in the learning process. Students, especially in elementary school, are responding well to gamification. Students are now able to earn achievements and badges instead of being traditionally graded A-F, and everyday progress can be shown as experience points toward a specific project. You can imagine they would rather learn while earning points toward rewards as opposed to studying information provided on a whiteboard or PowerPoint slide.
Another aspect of the gamification of education is that it doesn’t just tell a student they are right or wrong, it can tell a student why their answer is right or wrong. A visual explanation of this information in real-time provides a student with a better understanding of the concepts before them, while at the same time, retaining the information better because they grasp why they were right or wrong. Translating gamification to music theory, especially for young children who are just starting out, could benefit them in the same way they could learn any other educational subject.
Gamification & Music Education
To play any instrument, you must become familiar with music theory. Granted, depending on who you are, music theory can come more inherently, and some people don’t choose to examine it extensively. But, the more music theory you study, the better you become — it’s just that plain and simple. If you ever learned an instrument at a young age, you know how important music theory is to music. Additionally, if you’ve managed to avoid any notion of music theory and know how to keep a tune or beat, you may be a prodigy.
Learning an instrument at any age can be a difficult task. In younger years, however, the degree of difficulty may be so much that it discourages a potential musician to give up. This is where gamification can come in. Making music theory fun and engaging through points and achievements, and being able to play around with notes in scales, tempos, pitch, etc. is a great way to help young musicians grasp these concepts. They can not only see what notes don’t belong in a scale, but they can hear it as well. Visual and audio cues are important when learning music, and gamification can provide that while allowing you to mess up, or simply play around with notes and tempo to gain a well-rounded perspective of the elements of music.
Regarding actually playing an instrument, some can be on the fence as far as gamification is involved. We’ve all played the game Rock Band or Guitar Hero before, and in a sense, that is the gamification of playing an instrument. All you have to do is take it a step further and involve six strings (or what have you) instead of buttons, and you’re essentially on your way to learning the guitar. You can even learn a bit about playing the drums, which creates more opportunity for learning an instrument while not annoying your neighbors. These attempts to gamify playing an instrument have become a sensation, so we know there is a desire for many to play an instrument; if only it were as easy as playing Guitar Hero.
The gamification of music education can keep our youth interested in an educational program that is not considered necessary in the eyes of legislators today. Keeping music in our schools should not be up for debate. If children want to learn music, let them — and the gamification of music education can increase the demand for students wanting music in their schools as well.
Courtesy of Desmond Rhodes
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