Written by Katrina Proctor, Content Manager at Midnight Music
Introduction
We’re standing at a fascinating crossroads in music education right now, propelled by recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). AI isn’t just for tech geniuses; it’s becoming a core part of our music teaching too, opening up ways we can inspire creativity and passion in our students.
Today, we’re going to explore some of the new and coolest Google AI tools that are changing the way you can teach music composition and exploration in your music classroom as well as some guidance on how to use AI and teach it responsibly and ethically.
What’s the Big Deal with AI in Music Education?
AI in music can be intimidating and overwhelming, but at its core, it is all about using smart, intuitive tools to enhance the way we teach composition, theory, and performance. These tools help us provide real-time feedback and interactive experiences that were once just a dream. Integrating AI into our music classrooms means we can make complex musical concepts not only accessible but downright engaging for our students. It’s like giving every student a personal tutor who’s tuned into the very fabric of music—it can listen, adapt, and guide each student through their musical journey in ways never before seen possible.
9 Cool New Google AI Tools & Experiments for Music Teachers
Here’s a quick tour of some fantastic new Google AI tools that I think you and your students will love experimenting with:
AI Duet
Imagine a piano that responds to your playing with its own improvisations. That’s AI Duet! Developed by Google, it listens and adapts to the melodies you play, making it a fun and interesting partner for lessons on improvisation and call & response.
Bird Sounds
Bring the sounds of nature into your classroom with Bird Sounds. This tool uses AI to group bird calls into a playable set-up, letting students explore soundscapes from forests and jungles. It’s a brilliant way to teach sound identification and the role of natural acoustics in music.
The Infinite Drum Machine
Ever thought doorbells and car horns could make music? The Infinite Drum Machine turns everyday sounds into beat-makers. It’s a fun, hands-on tool that pushes students to think outside the traditional musical box.
Melody Mixer
With Melody Mixer, AI shows you how two completely different melodies can morph into one another. Students will choose two melodies and expand them into different morphs to hear how they change in each bar.
Semi-Conductor
Wave your hands and lead a virtual orchestra with Semi-Conductor. It’s as fun as it sounds, using your computer’s camera to let students conduct their own AI orchestra. This is a great introduction to conducting patterns, following the conductor, dynamics, and orchestral instruments.
Assisted Melody
Assisted Melody introduces students to composing with a twist—AI generates harmonies in the style of J.S. Bach as they play. It’s a great bridge between classical music techniques and modern technology. This works as a great hook for lessons on Bach chorales, Baroque music, and harmony!
Instrument Playground
Jump into a musical world tour with Instrument Playground. This tool lets students play with instruments from all over the globe, adding a rich layer of cultural exploration to music lessons. Describe the emotion of the music and an instrument and AI will generate a short musical phrase you can improvise with.
Beethoven Beats
Tap a rhythm, and Beethoven Beats matches it with a similar rhythm from Beethoven’s sonatas. It’s a fantastic way to connect classical compositions with rhythm training. Have students improvise a rhythm or use one from a popular song to see what comes up! Fun facts about the Beethoven piece are listed below each recording.
AR Synth
AR Synth is a virtual AI-generated electronic music lab. Students can drag and drop synthesizers into a virtual workspace, experimenting with beats and harmonies as AI helps align everything or students can freestyle by clicking on the synthesizer grids. This is a great introduction to synthesizers, electronic music, and beat creation.
Additional Tools for Advanced or Supervised Use
TextFX
For older students or younger students with adult supervision, a tool like TextFX is pretty incredible at generating ideas for songwriting and text. It takes given words or phrases and transforms them into new outputs using prompts like ‘Unexpect,’ which make a scene more unexpected and imaginative, and ‘POV’ which evaluates a topic through different points of view, among many other options. The text outputs offer unique opportunities to explore the intersection of text and getting past songwriting brain blocks.
Because the text inputs are open-ended, it’s best to set strict parameters for students not to use inappropriate words, as those can generate inappropriate responses.
Here is a short intro video to the model featuring rapper and producer, Lupe Fiasco:
MusicFX
MusicFX requires a Google account for use and is best utilized under teacher supervision as it is one of the most advanced AI music generation tools. This platform allows students to experiment with digital music creation, exploring how different words and emotions can be used to create complex artificial compositions. The short AI-generated musical phrases are downloadable and can be imported into a digital audio workstation (DAW) like GarageBand, Soundtrap, or Bandlab, among others.
Due to students’ ability to generate music from nothing, this tool is best used after a discussion on the responsible use of AI in music composition. It should always be disclosed when music is AI-generated, and tools like this should only be used as a starting point—not a way to get out of work or without human thought or involvement.
Responsibly Integrating AI into Music Lessons
When incorporating these AI tools into your curriculum, you need to consider the educational objectives and the level of your students while also making sure they’re aware that these tools are new and that the legal and philosophical landscape of AI – especially concerning artistic expression and creation – is murky at best.
While these technologies can improve understanding by providing a practical, interactive component to your music lessons, they’re not a substitute for the incredible power of human thought.
Here are some additional resources regarding AI and how to teach it responsibly in the music classroom:
Final Thoughts
There are so many interesting and amazing ways that AI can open up the possibilities inside your music classroom. From composing with unique sounds to generating interesting text, harmonies, and whole musical phrases, your students have the ability to engage with music in entirely new ways.
The potential of AI in music education is pretty wide open, and while its uses are extremely interesting and engaging, it’s up to us as music teachers to teach these tools responsibly and ethically to our music students.
What tool are you most excited to use with your students? What are your thoughts on AI and its usage in Music Education? Leave a comment below!
About the author
Katrina Proctor is the Content Manager at Midnight Music and is also a former music teacher from Colorado, USA. She taught middle school music for nearly 10 years in northern Colorado, where her passion is low-income students in Title 1 schools. Katrina has taught 5th-8th grade chorus, advanced-level chorus, class piano, general music, band, and orchestra. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education & Master’s Degree in Music Education-Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder. You can connect with Katrina on Facebook or via her website, She The Teacher.
Want more resources for music tech teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community– where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
