The New Horizons for Music Technology in Music Education

Modern technology is increasingly present in modern music education from the elementary school to the university level. Electric instruments are present in most well equipped music classrooms. Computers and the use of the Internet broaden the field of music education even further. Many different computer programmes and software developed lately make music-making, composition, and accompaniment, practice and improvisation easier and more meaningful. Music and music-making is becoming more informal learning. The focus in this article is the phenomenon of music technology and the potential of the Internet in music teaching and learning. The broad field is approached through a review of the music of the second millennium, open social media and the phenomenon of network communities. The aim of research is to make a micro historical review of the music technology products and the Internet as developers and shapers of modern music education in Finland. In this presentation we examine the potential of technology through practical applications for music education in school classes (formal and informal teaching). What help could we get from the Internet in learning instrument playing or collective music-making and playing? How could the pupils practise free accompaniment at home using a piano or guitar? How can students practise polyphonic choral singing using the Internet for assistance? What options does the Internet offer our pupils?