New app could transform music teaching in schools

New app could transform music teaching in schools. A new app is being launched this week that could transform the way music is taught and played in schools. Developed by academics and musicians at the University of Sussex, the Syncphonia app enables a music teacher or conductor to break down the different parts of a piece of music, so that the notes and tempo for each player's instrument is displayed on their own tablet, highlighted bar by bar. This keeps them in time with the rest of the orchestra without being distracted by multiple lines of notation, reducing stress for children and learners. Professor Ed Hughes, head of Music at the University of Sussex, who has led this project, said: "When I volunteered to play piano in my daughter's school orchestra I noticed that some children became visibly upset or put off when they lost their place in the music. Reading music notation and playing in a group at the same time is a complicated activity, and often you are expected to learn it by diving in straight away. So I asked colleagues with Music Computing and Psychology expertise if we could design and evaluate an app to address this through a research project.