SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS)– Syracuse University students learning music struggled to convert to online classes in the spring, and for SU sophomore Siobhan Grabski, the struggle was in the sound.
“Class would be over a Skype call or a Zoom call, and there is lag obviously, so studying music over that medium was pretty challenging,” Grabski said.
While most of Grabski’s classes have resumed in person learning, different components of class have shifted online. One of those components is ear training, where students learn to match the pitch of a sound that is playing.
“My teacher posts a small audio file or piece of music onto Blackboard,” she said. “So sometimes you are given a piece of music, and you need to write it down, or sometimes you are given the written music and you have to sing it.”
While most singing at the university has been put on hold, Grabski’s choir class is still able to meet for in-person learning. Their restrictions are much more severe, however, with spacing at a minimum 18 feet apart. As a result, it creates some more work for Grabski.
“You really can’t rely on your friend you have to know the part very well by yourself, which really creates more homework assignments then it normally would,” she said.
Syracuse University has 15 COVID-19 cases among students across the campus. This is figure is down from the large clusters that resulted in 101 cases 15 days ago.
