With “App” Attention
The chapter addresses how teachers can guide the development of students’ musical capacities through creative projects in digital environments. Specific suggestions are tailored to suit the needs of student composers, performers, and listeners as they develop their individual musicianship skills. Students can be guided beyond simply exploring apps by focusing on feelingful intention, musical expression, and artistic craftsmanship as they create music of their own. Student performers in iPad ensembles can be helped to anticipate sonic possibilities and artistically interpret the music of others as sensitive expressions of feeling. Listening experiences become more purposeful when students attend to musical impressions through artistic perception and create a personally meaningful relationship with music. These capacities are available in all manner of musical media, but they especially can assist and focus student expressivity in technological environments. This allows students to more artistically engage their personal creativity. Whether working alone or in collaboration with others, students may use a variety of apps to broaden their conceptions of music and the role of technology in music. Teaching examples designed to develop role-specific musical capacities are provided for composition, performance, and listening activities.