Technology-Based Music Classes in High Schools in the United States

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which comprehensive public high schools in the United States offer music classes that are technology-based, and to describe the nature of these classes. In the first phase of the study, principals from 10% of comprehensive public high schools in the United States (n = 1830) were surveyed regarding the technology-based music offerings of their high schools. Of the respondents (n = 528), 14% indicated that their schools offered technology-based music classes. Responses varied between geographic region and community type, with suburban high schools in the Northeast being most likely to offer these classes. Sixty-six percent of principals viewed technology-based music classes as a positive offering, and 56% of respondents from schools without these classes felt it would be possible to offer such a course. Music technology teachers (n = 58), identified by their principals, were sent a follow-up survey. Their responses (n = 29) indicated that these classes were generally designed for, and taken by, nontraditional music students, and that these classes had a broad range of curricular materials and objectives. Sixty-seven percent of these classes were initiated in the past ten years, and many were created by individual music teachers.