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Teachers invite Wii Music into the classroom

Eileen Jahn, who teaches music at the St. Philip’s Academy in Newark, N.J., is one of 60 music educators around the country that have begun to integrate "Wii Music" into their regular curriculum, MSNBC reports. Jahn is using the quirky music game to introduce and reinforce material, such as matching and differentiating different pitches. "[Students] are giddy with excitement when they walk into the room and see the Wii set up," Jahn says. "Their aural skills are improving with every lesson, and they have developed rhythmic and improvisational skills as well." That’s music to Nintendo’s ears. The powerhouse game company approached the National Music Education Association in late October to see how the software might work in a classroom setting. "Wii Music" doesn’t ask players to match beats, like "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band." Using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller, players can experiment with more than 60 different virtual instruments ranging from bagpipes to ukuleles. They can play mini-games such as "Handbell Harmony" and "Pitch Perfect." And they can jam or improvise as part of an ensemble…

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