Nintendo Partners with MENC to Bring Wii Music to Classrooms

Nintendo of America has announced a partnership with MENC: The National Association for Music Education in an effort to incorporate its Wii Music title into the curricula of music classes in 51 cities nationwide. The Virginia-based MENC (formerly known as the Music Educators National Conference) focuses on music education as a profession and in the classroom, and is recognized as the largest arts education organization in the world. The organization provides instructional resources to music teachers of all grades and levels, from preschool to graduate school. John J. Mahlmann, the executive director of MENC, feels that the move will benefit both students and instructors. "At any grade level, it's essential to provide students with the tools and encouragement they need to be creative," he said. "We look forward to collaborating with Nintendo to drive awareness and advocacy for music education through Wii Music." Released late last year for the Nintendo Wii console, Wii Music features a distinct focus on personal creation and improvisation of music, in comparison to the more structured nature of similar titles in the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises. Wii Music enables players to play a simulated instrument of their choice along to any of 52 available songs through Wii Remote gestures and button presses. Other partners in Nintendo's classroom efforts include the Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco and New York's Opus 118 Harlem School of Music.