Creating your own tracks with GarageBand and MIDI files.

GarageBand is an app I used a lot on Mac in the early days but I never engaged much with the iPad version until a couple of months back when I found myself being asked to run workshops and CPD for teachers.

One thing that really helped was when I discovered MIDI tracks can be imported. Back in the day of learning to play a keyboard I used to do this and play along. The process of importing MIDI tracks into GarageBand is actually a whole lot easier but I don’t know how well known it is.

This should help @MrGPrimary #AppleEDUchat #EveryoneCanCreate pic.twitter.com/bSVUfUT8dT

— Miriam Walsh (@MirCWalsh) May 20, 2019

For a typical lesson I would suggest picking a song that students are familiar with then split them into groups. A good divide is to split them into instrument family groups. Then have each table group create the melodies for their instrument family then combine to see how all tracks sound together.

For me this discover of using MIDI tracks has opened up a whole pile of other ideas of what to do and ignited a new found interest in the app. I am looking forward to seeing what my students do with it.