The Phonograph -> The Radio -> iPod (?)

One piece of technology that I believe had a huge impact in the world of music, nonetheless the world of music education, is the phonograph. The phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison. Although there were other inventors that created devices that could record sounds, Thomas Edison's phonograph was the first to be able to reproduce the recorded sound. The phonograph gave a new medium of listening and experiencing to music.

Phonographs were definitely used in classrooms for things that weren't music related, but I would like to believe that it made a huge impact in the world of music-education. If there was a classroom learning music that had any access to electricity, they had access to classical music performances, or any type of music performance. They could record and hear their own performances and hear the mistakes that they didn't hear while they were making music. This device would also give students access to music that they've never heard before, because the phonograph was able to take an imprint of something that naturally passes in time and bring it into the classroom.  Another thing that was great about this invention was that it is the precursor to any type of recording-technology/music-player technology that we have today.  Any mp3 players we have, any Zoom-recording devices, and even the parts of our laptops and whatnot that help us to listen to music branched off of the phonograph!

As for this video, the first thing I immediately thought of as influential in a Music education setting is the radio. Not just music-education radio, but even just listening to music and things for enjoyment. There is a difference between pleasure and enjoyment. Pleasure is something that occurs naturally, and enjoyment is something that people go out and seek, and I believe that when a student listens to the radio for enjoyment, especially when they're listening to music, it exhibits a behavior within the students to go out and search for music that they enjoy. If they know how to utilize the radio within the classroom setting, they may be able to go out and utilize the radio at home to their own enjoyment, and maybe turn on some music. In Music Education, listening is important, and the radio allows students to do just that. There are no visual distractions, which is a good thing. It forces students to utilize their ears to know what is happening, just like they would need to do in music.

Without either of these inventions, we could not share music with each other, and that is a huge part of music-education!

On the contrary, if the students did NOT have the technology at home, like a radio, they could have had the exposure at school. They can experience great music in all forms and be able to appreciate everything that is happening within it, without having to spend the money to go and actually see it. The radio brought things to people, nonetheless students, that they did not experience before. Therefore, the radio played a large role in the world of music education. Speaking to other music majors, you can ask them about the radio and it's importance in their lives. Music students are constantly surrounded by music-making and rarely get a chance to listen to music, which is probably what initially captured their attention about the subject. Since the radio has evolved, it has really become so much more accessible and has become an easily-accessed journey to enjoyment for musicians.