UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 6, Page 1
October 7, 1993
Federal grant funds jazz theory software package

     The fundamentals of jazz theory will be the focus of a new
intreractive computer-based instruction project at the University of
Delaware, funded by a $199,363 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
     Heading the three-year project are Michael Arenson, associate
professor and associate chairperson in the Department of Music, and Michael
Morgan, software designer and senior technical writer in the Instructional
Technology Center (ITC).
     Funded through the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the project, entitled "Interactive Jazz
Theory Lessons," will provide a systematic and innovative computer-based
instructional package that teaches the fundamentals of jazz theory at the
university level.
     A guided approach will provide tutorials, drills and tests in both
written theory and ear training. Plans call for computer-based analysis and
judging of each student's improvisational choices. The program is being
designed for both Macintosh, IBM and IBM-compatible microcomputers,
interfaced with electronic instruments that support the Musical Instrument
Digital Interface (MIDI).
     "We hope that research resulting from the software's emphasis on
linking theoretical concepts to 'real-world' practice will benefit
interactive software development in many academic fields," Arenson said.
     Content will focus on several areas of theory, including scales,
modes, melodies, chords, progressions, form and style.
     A panel of nationally known jazz artists and educators is now being
selected to serve as members of a design and curriculum advisory unit to
review lesson content for pedagogical soundness and real-world
applicability.
     "Through our advisers and the testing and evaluation process, we are
trying to ensure that the program reflects the kinds of content and
approaches that are routinely used by professionals in the field," Morgan
said.
     Four universities with extensive jazz studies and commercial music
programs-the University of Miami, University of California at Los Angeles
(UCLA), Belmont College in Nashville and Ohio State University- have agreed
to serve as test sites for the software. It also will be tested at the
community college level by Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa.
     Arenson, who will serve as project director and co-principal
investigator responsible for curriculum design and domain expertise,
teaches jazz harmony in the department's minor in jazz studies program. An
accomplished jazz pianist, he regularly performs in both solo and ensemble
contexts. He also is nationally known in the field of instructional music
computing, serving as a founding member and president of the Association
for Technology in Music Education (ATMI) and editor of the National
Consortium for Computer-Based Music Instruction Courseware Directory. He
also is a member of the review board of the journal, Computers and the
Humanities.
     In addition to his duties in ITC, Morgan serves as a writer and editor
for the Delaware Education Research and Development Center in the College
of Education. As a part-time faculty member in the Department of Music, he
teaches courses related to music technology and computing. On this project,
he will serve as co-principal investigator and project coordinator
responsible for application design and documentation.
     He will design the software's user interface and compose and arrange
the MIDI-based musical examples and exercises.
     An award-winning commercial music composer and arranger, he has
written and produced advertising music and industrial video soundtracks for
several regional and national companies. Morgan was named Delaware Composer
of the Year in 1986 by the Delaware State Music Teachers Association.
     Steven Bertsche of ITC will serve as lead analyst on the project,
responsible for creating programming specifications, developing technical
solutions and supervising programming efforts.
     The new grant extends the University's record of achievement in the
field of instructional music technology. The Department of Music and the
ITC are in the final year of two other FIPSE-funded music projects:
"Computer Lessons for Written Harmony" and "Computerized Sight-Singing
Lessons with Intelligent Feedback."
     The University-developed GUIDO Ear-Training Lessons, now distributed
by Temporal Acuity Products of Bellevue, Wash., are used in colleges and
universities around the world, as is the University of Delaware Videodisc
Music Series, originally funded through a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities.