Barbara Freedman leads the Electronic Music program at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, CT, the nation’s longest-running music technology secondary program. Her countlessly successful students come from her Introduction to Electronic Music Composition & Studio Production, Songwriting & Recording, Honors Electronic Music Composition & Studio Production courses. She was TI:ME’s 2012 Teacher of the Year and is the author of “Teaching Music Through Composition.” Learn more about Dr. Freedman at https://musicedtech.com/

Editor’s note: Barbara is one of my earliest influences in music technology education and inspires wave after wave of revolutionary music educators each year to forge their own path in music teaching.

How has technology changed music teaching since the beginning of your career?

I started teaching in 1997 and I didn’t even own a computer back then. I remember a friend was doing a masters in education at NYU and she had this new Apple computer and could hear and see a lesson on a Beethoven symphony through this crazy software created by a far out composer/technologist/educator Morton Subotnick. It was way over my head.

I started teaching technology-based music classes at Greenwich High School in 2001. They have had technology-based music classes since 1969. Back in the early 2000’s we had a synthesizer keyboard connected to hand-me-down PCs with cheap sound cards that had to be restarted every 20 minutes because they would crash. We used software called Freestyle by Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU). Sounds/patches had to be routed from the synth to the computer. Sound/synths in the software didn’t exist for another few years. Fun times. 

I think the free addition of GarageBand on Apple computers around 2005 made a big difference in getting music technology in the hands of teachers and hence students. I’m really happy to see the increase in student 1:1 computers (even Chromebooks!), the creation of cloud-based music software, overall better Internet access for everyone, and companies like MusicFirst that can help with safe and easy technology, assessment, and lesson solutions for teachers and students. It makes teaching with technology so much easier and less expensive. 

Briefly describe your journey in building a technology infused music curriculum (or integrating tech into a traditional curriculum)

I stepped into a job that already had a rich history of teaching music through a creative process using technology. Anne Modugno was the teacher at Greenwich High School who created these classes back before I even started kindergarten! It was Anne who set the tone for what followed for years to come, to give kids an opportunity to create. Technology wasn’t a tool to learn about music. It was a tool to create something from nothing. In order to do that, certain skills and concepts about music were taught. The culture is to serve the students with what they need to be creative. We moved to the Apple computer in 2002 and bought Logic software, owned by EMagic back then. By 2005, GarageBand and Logic, now owned by Apple, were our main tools for creativity and they still are. When I first started in 2001, we had two classes of what we call Electronic Music. Today, we have four levels of classes. I teach “music technology” classes full time and because our program has grown so much, I have an amazing teaching partner for the last six years, Jason Polise, who also teaches our classes. He’s also an excellent guitarist and has expanded our Guitar course offerings and our “Modern Band” style approach in some of our classes where kids not only compose and record but also learn to play an instrument they have never played and play in a band.

What technology are you using in your music lessons on a daily basis?

The students use GarageBand in the Introduction to Electronic Music Composition & Studio Production class. We have between 5-6 sections of this course each semester. All the other classes use Logic Pro. At the teacher station, we use Apple Remote Desktop to share screens, and Korg GEC for audio. Each student station has a Mac Mini M2, Focusrite iTrack Solo, Korg GEC interface, Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones, and a Novation Keystation 61 keyboard. We have a variety of electric guitars, basses, and three electronic drum kits. We have a three room recording studio with all sorts of fun stuff including a ProTools rig with an S6/M10 board, Focusrite RedNet, and more goodies. 

“Don’t reinvent the wheel, at least not at first! There are so many options for what direction you can take with technology-based music creation or music learning. Teach to your strengths and grab what others have done that speaks to you.”

Barbara Freedman, on starting a music technology class

What is a particular success story from using technology in your music classes?

I have a number of former students who have won national awards, have become “famous”, prominent in the field, or working musicians, composers, and/or audio engineers. That’s definitely cool and I would love a shout out when one of them wins a Grammy! I think I get the most gratification from knowing that so many kids have and get to take our classes and learn something powerful about themselves through composing music. About one third of the seniors in our classes go onto college for performance, composition, studio production, audio engineering, or music industry/business. About one third of them never played an instrument or sang in a chorus before our classes. We have more kids taking our EMusic classes than Band, or Orchestra, or Chorus. That’s not to be disrespectful to my amazingly fabulous colleagues who are outstanding teachers/musicians. That is to be proud that we can offer something that kids who don’t want to be in a performing ensemble see as valuable, fun, and even a college/or career choice. We have a department that can offer a lot to a lot of different kids. That’s being successful, all of us being successful as educators with our department educator partners. It has been this way for so long because we have the support and backing of the administration and parents. To be able to do this since 1969 is not a single success story but about creating and maintaining a culture in the department, in the school, and in the community. No one person can claim that. 

What advice do you have for others reshaping their music classes with technology-based lessons?

Don’t reinvent the wheel, at least not at first! There are so many options for what direction you can take with technology-based music creation or music learning. Teach to your strengths and grab what others have done that speaks to you. It’s all out there in the TI:ME conference session, TI:ME website, your state conference, YouTube, Facebook, and more. Grab it. It’s free! Ask questions. Show up. Hire one of us to come do professional development in your district. I do this all the time. Come to the Texas Music Educators Association Conference in February for the Wednesday pre-conference and stay for one of the biggest and best state conferences you will ever go to. Spend the time and join us for the ride! Hang with us and join me at the Contessa bar for a drink! That’s the community we build and learn from each other. I’m always stealing from… I mean learning from my colleagues. 🙂