EyDy Looper –  I really like using this app although has taken a while to get used to the gestures, particularly trying to get to the main help page (dragging the first track onto the third track!).

I have shown students in Year 8 how to use the app and they seem more than happy to get around the app HOWEVER the first attempts went down a slightly different direction than I had intended

• I needed to ensure the students understood what looping meant
• I needed to give the students try-out time before they started creating their own loops
• I had intended that students would create pitch based melodic loops – they were happier with rhythmic loops to start with

Students have used this app to help them develop their composition and improvisation skills over a set chord progression – I vi IV V (1950′s doo-wap songs) and to begin to experiment with texture and pitch.

I have used this app to demonstrate what it means to “be in a key” – useful for putting major scale/tone and semitone work into context.

I have demonstrated this by layering patterns (playing clarinet or sax or anything else I can get my hands on) live with one student engineering the recording).

The individual patterns are using the notes from one major scale (keeping a static chord or pedal) and then once the texture has built up and everyone is happy in G major for example, the students can really hear a conflict of tonality when a pattern in a different scale is used. I have found this really helps to contextualise work on scales, construction of scales and different types of scales.

At the moment – I have done the playing on this – but next week I have a year 7 student who wants to have a go on his sax. I have also had students wanting to come along during social time to have a go = MOTIVATION!

Here are a couple of quick examples

http://vimeo.com/37738574

http://vimeo.com/37735379

As an AST for Performing Arts and (hopefully) a forward thinking Head of Music at a secondary school, I am really interested in finding out how I can use (or more importantly) how my students can use hand held devices to develop their performance and composition skills. At this stage I have an ipad and an iphone – I haven’t really explored apps on my iphone yet, but I have had a quick go with a LOOPING APP called EyDy Looper and now I am thinking about ways to use it in my classroom.

The possibilities are endless – but as our year 8 classes are currently working on 1950′s rock and roll – and in particular Doo-Wap songs I thought I could ask 2 students to compose/improvise/record a typical doo-wap backing.

I spent 2 minutes showing them how to get around the touch screen commands and left them to play and create!