[September 04, 2010] Students learn music through technology Tweet Sep 04, 2010 (Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Linda Kilkenny was a high school band director for seven years. She's played flute, oboe, French horn and saxophone. Kilkenny has combined her musical ability with her current job as instructional technology teacher at Haw River Elementary School. She's teaching students the basics of reading music and playing the piano using computers, software and electronic music keyboards. Most of the school's students are Latino. For those whose English isn't as strong as their Spanish, that can be an added challenge in some subjects. Not in music, Kilkenny said: "Music has no language." Carrie Feehan's third-grade class was in the computer lab Friday. "Students who haven't had much success lately, they can come to the lab, and this works for them," she said. Kilkenny started the program with a $3,000 grant from the North Carolina Technology in Education Society. Since last week, she's been teaching students concepts such as musical terms and the timevalue assigned to different musical notes. While watching notes and hearing music on computers, students are learning to play simple melodies on their musical keyboards. Part of Kilkenny's inspiration for the program is that there's no music teacher at Haw River. Students wear headphones so they can hear what they are playing in combination with background music. "Sometimes, it's kind of hard if it gets really fast," Cinthya Roque said. Some students softly hummed or sang along while learning songs. Kilkenny said the program is similar to popular interactive video games. "It's a lot like 'Guitar Hero,'" she said. To see more of the Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thetimesnews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Times-News, Burlington, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]