iPhone, iPad apps meld music lessons, video games | News | eClassroom News

iPhone, iPad apps meld music lessons, video games | News | eClassroom News:

Some music experts have dubbed this the "gamification" of music education, a way of making sometimes-grueling practice more enjoyable.

Don’t kid yourselves, guitar heroes: Racking up mega-scores with that fake guitar won’t get you any closer to playing the real thing. But if students really want to learn the guitar or another instrument, a number of apps for the iPad and iPhone can help—and students will feel like they’re still playing a video game.

In fact, some music experts have dubbed this the “gamification” of music education, a means for making sometimes-grueling music learning more palatable and enjoyable.

A handful of apps with St. Paul, Minn., connections are a part of this high-tech music-education surge.

Tone Target, developed by J. Anthony Allen at the McNally Smith College of Music in downtown St. Paul, is a dead ringer for Guitar Hero.

Dots representing tones endlessly flow on an iPad screen, similar to how the video game behaves. Replicate each of the tones on cue using an instrument or your voice, and you become a music titan.