iSwoons over iTunes.(ad lib)

Electronic technology pervades my teaching studio. At the hub (along with that most sophisticated and reliable piece of non-electronic hardware with thousands of precision parts--a grand piano) is a Mac laptop containing lesson plans, studio records, billing and just about everything else imaginable. There is a printer for students' assignment sheets. There is also a MiniDisc recorder and audio editing software, a digital keyboard and sequencer, a remote-controlled stereo amplifier and speakers, a seemingly indestructible battery-powered metronome, a highly accurate radio-controlled clock, a wireless network offering fast Internet service in the studio and waiting room, and a few miscellaneous gadgets. But the technology that has proven to be the most empowering (except for the computer itself) has been iTunes software and the ability to download individual pieces from collections.

I started using iTunes seriously five years ago as a repository for all my CDs, making everything searchable and portable. This immediately proved handy because my elementary students play their finished method book pieces with the series accompanimental CDs. Using iTunes to access a specific track from those CDs can be accomplished in a fraction of the time compared to using a CD player. This also facilitates recital management since some of my students perform with instrumental accompaniments.

When my students learn simplified piano arrangements of orchestral pieces, we listen together to the originals so they can hear the instrumental colors, and so we can discuss similarities and differences between the two. It used to be time-consuming and expensive to acquire these recordings since entire collections needed to be perused and purchased. Downloading music has solved that. In seconds, for usually just a dollar a title, the desired recording is ready. This encourages acquiring different versions of the same piece. Last week a student was learning the Japanese folk song Sakura. I was able to share with her three different renditions: a traditional one played on a koto, a virtuoso arrangement for zheng, and an a cappella choir performance. It was fun for the student to then re-play the piano arrangement, striving to re-create its exotic flavor.

iTunes also makes it easy to find music in a hurry. Once, I wanted to show a student a piece in doo-wop style. I remembered a classic from ...