Edinburgh Napier University

  Live coding is a relatively new performance practice that emphasizes the expressive possibilities afforded by computer programming. Live coding has often been associated with contemporary musical styles such as electronic dance music (EDM), which favors the design of rhythms through algorithms and does not require extensive musicianship training. While literature has addressed both live coding and EDM pedagogy, research that fuses the two remains sparse. This paper presents a case study on teaching undergraduate students the live coding of EDM with Sonic Pi in an elective course. It aims to examine the pedagogical implications of using live coding to teach EDM in a classroom environment. A mixed method approach was adopted to examine participants’ (N = 39) perceptions of the difficulties, learning processes, and teaching methods involved in creating EDM through live coding. The findings of this case study indicated that technical programming skills presented beginner students with the most difficulty, whereas learning EDM via live coding was found to be motivating and effective.