Math and Music, Learn Fractions with Garageband

Each year, our fourth grade musicians are introduced to GarageBand.  This year, a collaborative project was created between fourth grade Music and Math.  Students were split into small groups.  After becoming familiar with different genres of music and tracks, students were responsible for composing a piece of music using loops in GarageBand.  Paying attention to layering and transitions, their piece had to include an introduction, middle and conclusion.  Once this was finished, students decided what fraction part of their entire composition was the beginning, the middle and conclusion.  They then recorded themselves sharing their compositions, explaining the fractions they used and their overall explanation of their project. Throughout this project, students were able to understand the general outline of composing a song, listen for and describe transitions as well as apply their new knowledge of fractions into their original composition.  We finally held a presentation day in which each fourth grade group shared their projects.  This was successful due to the collaboration of Miss Mueller, Ms. Lechleitner and the open-mindedness of fourth grade musicians and mathematicians to experiment with something new!