Music Learning Today

""At the beginning of Chapter 1, I quote author Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" (1984, p. 36). To me, technology has always been somewhat magical. Growing up I liked both magic tricks and electronic gadgets. When I was very young I remember being picked out of the audience by a magician to help him with a trick, thrilled with the seemingly mystical act that he accomplished with my assistance. I loved seeing magicians live or on TV, and I borrowed magic books from the local public library to learn tricks that I tried out on my family. As I became older and obtained various technological devices, they too fascinated me with the somewhat magical (to me) things they were able to do. Two items, in particular, stand out in my memory. I acquired an analog audio tape recorder that I used to play duets with myself by recording one part and then playing it back while performing the other part live. This made practicing my euphonium so much more fun and likely increased my practice time as I worked to record the perfect "take" of each line of the various duets I had in my books! I was also excited to receive a CB radio one Christmas, which allowed me to stay in close contact, at all times of the day and night, with my best friend who had received the same gift. It augmented my social network, such as it existed in those days. In addition, it was amazing to be able to use the radio to listen to and learn from the conversations picked out of the air of people from all over. Technology had magical qualities and I loved how it allowed me to do things that were otherwise not possible, as well as things that made life more interesting and enjoyable. I still feel the same way today. ""--