Overview

When playing and teaching EDI (Electronic Digital Instrument), there are significant opportunities to use software and control surfaces to clarify the relationship between the audible sound and the theory behind the music.

The teacher can model form, instrumentation, chord analysis, and melody as MIDI clips in the software, providing the student with both an auditory and visual reference for learning. It is also possible to visually display chord fingerings and rhythmic patterns on grid controllers: when playing back created MIDI information in the software, the notes are graphically shown on the control surface. On grid controllers, you have the ability to change the layout so that the surface displays diatonic or chromatic scales, for example.

Transforming notated and sounding music into piano roll allows the student to learn with direct feedback on tonal and rhythmic content. 

Recording themselves gives the student immediate feedback on their rhythmic and tonal accuracy. 

Training their ear for sound by identifying the composition of a sound enhances the student's overall ear training. In analyzing and creating sounds, the student is challenged to see the connections between dynamics, register, timbre, and how the composition and control of these parameters create the foundation for tone production on the instrument. In a broader context, the student also practices their understanding of the whole by seeing their part's role, register and function in relation to other instruments in an ensemble situation.

Tips

• During practice, use one of Ableton Live's main windows (Arrange or Session view) to visualize the structure of a song.

• Color-coding arrangement sections provides a clear visual representation of form.

• The choice of control surface affects the visual feedback, where the MIDI keyboard shows each note in one place. Other control surfaces, like grid controllers, can be adapted for scales and the representation of the same note in multiple places.

Method Exercise

• Have the student "transcribe" their part and then enter it into the piano roll. This makes rhythm, pitch, interval, and rhythm visible.

• Have the student record themselves to identify the note value and pitches in the piano roll.

• During sound design, have the student train their ear by creating sounds.

• Have the student convert notation or tablature to piano roll and vice versa to practice and expand their understanding of note length, pitch and rhythm.

Observations

• The student uses established music theory concepts, such as note values.

• They compare notation with piano roll, describe subdivision.

• The piano roll is used to practice how building chords, for example.

• Music is read from a traditional lead sheet.

• The student shows an advanced understanding of form.

• The student creates sounds using their ear.