Music workshop praised
By Rachel Lin and Sam Garcia / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The K-12 Education Administration and the Taipei Music Center recently held their sixth songwriting workshop for elementary and junior-high school teachers, introducing how to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create pop music, with the aim of bringing songwriting into schools and fostering students’ musical creativity.
Thirty teachers participated in the two-day, 11-hour workshop, learning songwriting techniques they could take back to the classroom to encourage students to explore music and confidently express themselves, K-12 Education Administration official Yeh Hsin-tsun (葉信村) said.
Pop music is closely linked to students’ daily lives and the program helps cultivate the next generation of musical talent, Yeh said.
A figurine is pictured in front of an artificial intelligence sign in an undated photograph.
Photo: Reuters
Educators specializing in a range of subjects, including music, visual arts, performing arts and multimedia music, participated in the program, the Ministry of Education said in a statement on Friday.
The curriculum covered songwriting, using AI tools and music composition so teachers could experience producing a song, the ministry said.
The workshop’s lead instructor was Golden Melody Award-winning music producer Ken Chou (周岳澄), who guided each group of teachers to complete an original song within two days, it said.
The first day introduced AI tools, and artist and repertoire plans, leading teachers to analyze the music industry’s requirements for songs, and understand genres and their creative directions, the statement said.
Teachers later broke into groups to draft song proposals, it said.
On the second day, they analyzed musical styles and beats, found or generated backing tracks and worked with professional songwriters to complete their songs and perform them on stage, it said.
Many high-school music teachers have backgrounds in classical music and are less familiar with the pop music industry, said Huang Mei-chen (黃美甄), executive secretary of the K-12 Education Administration’s Arts and Life Subject Center for Senior High Schools.
The partnership with the Taipei Music Center has helped bring industry experience into the classroom, and given teachers the confidence to teach pop music and songwriting techniques, Huang said.
Taipei Music Center chairman Eric Liang (梁序倫) said that efforts to cultivate musical talent should not focus solely on the music industry, but should take root in schools to make music composition more accessible to students.
The workshop emphasized the importance of creative judgement in the AI era, the ministry said.
While introducing AI tools, it encouraged teachers to consider a song’s content, target audience, style and mood so they could understand what makes music likable, it said.
As AI makes music production more accessible, it is important to develop aesthetic judgement, decisionmaking skills and originality, so that AI serves as an assistant rather than replacing human creativity, the ministry said, quoting teachers who attended the workshop.
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