Since face-to-face music or vocal lessons aren’t feasible because of the pandemic, you might be considering the use of apps to aid in your classes. Given that many classrooms today no longer observe the”no cellphone” policy, perhaps the time has come for you to incorporate mobile technology in your own classroom as well.
Each student learns at their own scale. Some understand concepts faster than most, while others may take longer.Hence, there would be times when you need to use additional efforts with certain students. You must ensure that they are all are keeping up, after all.
Furthermore, some topics are just too complex to comprehend without extra material. If you’d normally use digital presentations to discuss a difficult topic, then another type of visual aid is also necessary for another difficult topic. If you choose music apps, will your lessons be effective?
Examples of Music and Voice Lesson Apps
1. Theory Lessons
To impart theoretical knowledge, the Theory Lessons app may help. It offers 39 music theory lessons in animated versions, which may engage students more.
2. Coach Guitar
Coach Guitar teaches the user to play music using colors instead of theory. If a beginner cannot read tabs and notes yet, the colors will help them follow the lessons better.
3. Drum Guru
Drummers of all skill levels will benefit from Drum Guru. This app offers the best educational content coming from some of the world’s best drummers themselves. Users can learn different new grooves, fills, and other concepts through easy-to-understand lessons.
4. VoCo
A wordplay of “vocal” and “coach”, VoCo is one of the best free voice lesson apps. It’s made for students, singers, and professionals who want to improve their skills. The app teaches everything from pitch to style. It also provides industry-grade exercises, plus arpeggios scales, which can extend a user’s vocal range significantly.
5. Swiftscales Vocal Trainer
Students, singers, and trainers swear by this app.Swiftscales Vocal Trainer simulates a piano with a vocal coach beside a user – and the piano has 88 keys.
This app is beginner-friendly. It allows a user to choose a practice’s difficulty level, which ranges from beginner to pro. They can also customize their session’s real-time options and scale patterns.
What’s more, Swiftscales contains video tutorials, audio samples, and other content for starters. It pretty much has everything, making it a perfect remote lesson tool.
6. Scales and Modes
Another music theory app, Scales and Modes offers a more interactive user experience. It provides information about diatonic scales and modes that are fundamental in music theory. It’s particularly helpful in guitar or piano lessons.
7. Jamn Multi-tool
For students that have surpassed the beginner level, the Jamn Multi-tool app will help them learn the relationship between keys, chords, and scales for different musical instruments. As a result, they’d be able to picture a song’s hidden structure and chord progressions.
8. Warm Me Up! For Singers
This app is for students who want to pursue a singing career, like musical acting or pop singing. The app has over 50 vocal exercises for specific voice types and pitches. These exercises are then classified into five categories, one each for starting gently, warming up, extending the range, exercising the mouth, and tuning up.
In addition, the app lets the user personalize their warm-ups based on their schedule and the tracks they want to sing. A simulated professional singer can also guide them during the first two repeats. Suffice to say, vocal trainers and students will find this app a gem.
How Apps Help in Music Lessons
Music apps enhance students’ motivation. When they are enjoying the lessons because of a game or any other interactive material, they become more encouraged to learn. Moreover, analyzing music and notes becomes easier with apps. Since apps allow users to tailor their lessons based on their skill level, they can recognize notes, rhythms, harmonies, and other elements of music at their own pace.
Unlike before, when phones were nothing but a distraction in class, smartphones and tablets have now bolstered music education. A student’s way of using these gadgets has a direct impact on how they create and learn music. The enhanced sensitivity, such as a screen’s vibration each time a student presses a key with their finger, simulates a real-like experience of playing a certain instrument.
Smart devices and apps also increase convenience, speeding up a user’s learning and saving them and their teachers time. Most apps are easy to follow as well, enabling teachers to teach lessons smoothly even online.
What’s more, many apps come for free, and the paid ones come at affordable prices. This motivates more students, especially those from low-income households, to learn and practice music.
Of course, face-to-face lessons remain unbeatable. Apps simply help students enhance their learning, and allow them to stay consistent and updated with their lessons, despite the pandemic. Therefore, music apps should absolutely be incorporated in lessons for students and teachers to get the best results of their craft.
