Application of Visual Information in Music Education Digital Technologies: A Scoping Review

The relationship between sound and visual representation has long intrigued artists and educators, with historical explorations ranging from colour–music correspondence to alternative notations and graphic visualisations of music. Recent advances in digital technologies have significantly expanded the pedagogical potential of visual information in music education. However, there is still no comprehensive review mapping how visual information is applied in digital music education tools. This scoping review maps the application of visual modalities in original digital tools for music teaching and learning, drawing on 63 studies published between 2014 and 2024. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) reporting guidelines, this review analyses the methodological characteristics, pedagogical foundations, and design features of these tools. Findings reveal a dominant focus on performance skills and individual learning, often supported by visual feedback and interactivity. However, other aspects of learning such as creativity, responsiveness, and collaboration remain underexplored. While references to concepts such as multimodality and embodied learning are common, a robust theoretical grounding is frequently lacking or implicit. This review calls for a shift from technology-driven innovation toward pedagogy-led design, advocating for a more holistic educational approach and more rigorous empirical research. Implications highlight the potential of visual information not only to support performance skill acquisition but also to foster creative, expressive, and collaborative dimensions of music learning.