BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND PEDAGOGICAL USE OF THE SYNTHESIZER IN MUSIC EDUCATION IN CATALONIA: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH EXPERTS

Abstract

There is now a wide variety of musical styles that include the sound synthesizer in their music creation process. The use of this instrument in the music business has rapidly increased in the past few years. Therefore, we considered it necessary to carry out an exploratory investigation to examine how this trend was reflected in music education. The aim of this study was, therefore, to inquire about the background knowledge and pedagogical use of the synthesizer across different music education levels in Catalonia. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews with 8 experts in the fields of technology and music education were conducted. The information was analysed using thematic analysis, and the results revealed that: (1) experiences with the synthesizer in music education are scarce; (2) there are multiple reasons that explain why the synthesizer is not regularly used in music education, such as lack of teacher training, lack of time in the curricula, and lack of teaching materials; (3) the proposals for the didactics of the synthesizer pointed out by the experts raise some agreements and discrepancies, and (4) the opinions of the experts show the importance of a variety of topics concerning the synthesizer in the current educative context, the importance of self-education in synthesizer learning, ICT and music. From this analysis, we conclude that: (1) there is a strong need for teachers to be trained in the background knowledge and pedagogical use of the synthesizer, (2) it is necessary to make didactic materials and methodological guidelines available to educators, and (3) a proper use of the synthesizer in music education could provide students with the opportunity to experiment with sounds they are familiar with, thus ensuring that musical timbre receives the same attention in music education as in music business.