What is the intersection between teaching and technology that doesn’t cause distraction? That is the quest a software company has set out to solve, using the inspiration of Mozart. The Wolfie app, created by Tonara, is an interactive teaching tool for piano students and teachers.
To celebrate not only the app and music education, but also the man who left a grand imprint on music education, Tonara will be celebrating the birthday of Mozart on January 27th with a special event – Putting Mozart On The Map. The first-ever worldwide recital will showcase the features of the Wolfie app and provide an interactive means of celebrating Mozart.
While in many ways our mobile devices and instant web access make many aspects of our lives and professions easier, there is another aspect to technology that often gets missed: distraction. Whether it’s overuse of social media or gaming, we can find ourselves distracted from certain things that really deserve our time.
Tonara is a music technology company who recently developed Wolfie, a revolutionary app that’s transforming music education. The iPad app allows students to play along with various music pieces, noting tempo and key placement to help improve skills and ability. But Wolfie isn’t just a resource for students. Teachers gain as much, if not more, by utilizing it.
Music teachers have a myriad of difficulties aside from distracted students. Simply obtaining music to teach and transcribe is an additional obstacle music teachers must overcome. The Wolfie app provides a vast collection of music to allow students to access and learn, all from their device.
As you may guess, the app name Wolfie comes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the father of classical piano. Mozart shaped the way that music was written for piano, its sound and the way it was played. The legacy of education through piano in music is carried forth through the Wolfie app.
Ron Regev is the Chief Music Officer at Tonara. As a world-renowned classical pianist and teacher, his role in helping to partner classical music education with technology has been instrumental in the development of the Wolfie app. As Chairman of the Keyboard Department at The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Regev’s insights into the need for interactive technology in the classroom has been integral to the success of Wolfie.
The iPad was the chosen mobile device for this software because of how easily adaptable it is to the learning process. “You can’t play or learn easily with a laptop or desktop. Tablet and iPad makes it easy. Also, the ability of technology to understand and interact with music as it is being played makes it truly dynamic,” Regev said. This is the core of the Wolfie technology and what Tonara has built with the Wolfie software.
Though the app seems to be a perfect inclusion into the world of the piano student, and could seem to take away from the mentoring aspect of the teacher, Regev says the opposite of this is what they not only set out to achieve, but have seen come to pass with students and teachers using the Wolfie app. “Wolfie is making the learning process better because it keeps the student engaged and provides ways for the teacher to do more with less,” he says.
Putting Mozart on the Map marks the first event in a new global campaign to inspire and engage music students by coupling classical music with today’s technology, and honoring Mozart in a way that’s never been done before. Tonara will demonstrate how technology can be used to connect and inspire musicians, regardless of location, age, or musical ability.