Williams, D. A. (2014). Another Perspective The iPad Is a REAL Musical Instrument. Music Educators Journal, 101(1), 93-98.
This article for me was problematic at most. I like to think that I have a certain amount of open mindedness, but this article didn’t really resonate with me. I think this is an interesting phenomenon though. The article was written because as it states, people are ignoring electronic music and don’t consider it “real music”. This is typically a sentiment shared by those with classical training, etc. As for me, I would fall into this category. I wouldn’t consider the iPad to be a musical instrument. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the article and I do agree with a lot of the things it has to say, though I don’t think you can necessarily constitute the iPad as an instrument. The article goes on to compare an iPad to an oboe, which is considered a “real” instrument. While it’s true that the two do share similarities, as outlined in the article, my biggest problem is: what does the iPad as an instrument sound like? The oboe, among other supposedly “real” musical instruments have their own distinct sounds. The reason I don’t believe the iPad is a real instrument is because it simple creates an electronic replication of sounds that “real” musical instruments make. The iPad itself can’t make any new instruments, certainly without it’s hardware it can’t produce any of its own sound, so how then do we classify it as an instrument? But I digress, beyond that, there were some very key ideas in the article that I felt were very profound and worth addressing. The article mentions that music education has a tendency to “elevate the importance and worthiness of certain instrument…it tends to marginalize other instruments.” Aside from the whole iPad being an instrument debacle, I thought this was worth noting. In my experience with music, its true that some instruments end up forgotten in comparison to other instruments. I remember going into high school as a French horn player and being only one of two people coming into high school music on the French horn. Meanwhile, there was a massive influx of saxophone players. I think it’s safe to say that some instruments are considered more “spotlight” instruments than others, and as a music educator I’d really want to try and break that barrier down. All instruments are important in their own special ways, and I think this article helped me notice that. Overall, I find that the article had great ideas and challenged a lot of what it means to be a music educator (such as emphasizing the importance of aural learning, student musician autonomy, etc.) but the point got lost and confused when trying to argue that the iPad is a musical instrument. I definitely see the merit in what the article was getting at, and I’m definitely not opposed to the idea that nonconventional instruments can be equally as important as the “real” band instruments we all know and love, but I’m not necessarily sure that the iPad fits under that category. At least not for me.
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Carole PalattaoI'm an 18 year old studying classical voice at Western University. I'm also a hardcore mental health advocate, and I do creative writing on the side for fun!
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