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image of Techno-musicality in Australian secondary music classrooms

Abstract

Techno-musicality – the mechanics of audio production on the meaningful effect of a recording – is an integral part of composition, production and performance of popular music. Yet this discussion is largely absent from Australian music classrooms. The pedagogy of aural perception is taught as part of the Australian music curriculum and framed via six concepts/elements of music – pitch, duration, structure, texture, timbre and dynamics/expressive techniques. Student engagement with these six concepts largely neglects to address matters of techno-musicality. A study, conducted across Australian secondary students and their educators, revealed that students demonstrate rudimentary skills and/or knowledge to adequately engage with techno-musicality in their listening analyses, and yet educators are willing and mostly confident working in this area. This article addresses the importance of techno-musicality to meaningful analyses of recorded sound and discusses how educators can equip students to engage with techno-musicality utilizing the musical concepts and, in particular, timbre and expressive techniques.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Harvard University to secondary school teachers
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/content/journals/10.1386/jpme_00146_1
2025-01-08
2025-02-11
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  • Article Type: Article
Keywords: technology ; aural perception ; space ; popular music pedagogy ; education ; timbre
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