 Note: Where we are aware
that programs are no longer available, except in secondary channels (garage sales,
auctions), we have marked the names and review summaries with the
paragraph (¶) symbol. Some of the strongest programs fall into this class. Keep in mind
that technical support is usually no longer accessible for this software, if you have
problems installing or running the program. Other programs, not so marked, may be
obsolete, but the companies which manufactured those programs are still in business and
may still be able to provide support. The review summaries for the programs which are no
longer available have been moved from this page to a separate page.
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Below we provide brief summaries of our reviews of various software packages.
Currently, we only review IBM-PC compatible programs. Most such programs written for
Windows have nearly identical versions for the Macintosh, so our reviews should also be
valuable for Macintosh users. Where a Macintosh version is available, we
indicate that fact in the review.
We strongly encourage you to read the in-depth
reviews of these software packages, as a summary or a numerical rating can do limited
justice to the software. This is particularly true if your needs are special or unusual.
To go to the full review, just click on the "Full Review"
link. To aid in finding specific types of software, we have classified the packages into
six categories below, based on our perceptions of their major features. However, many of
the packages have multiple functions, so if you don't find a program that interests you in
a particular category, check the summaries of the other programs.
Some reviewed programs are no longer available commercially, but can be
obtained through secondary sources; these are indicated by a
¶ symbol after to the program name. We
maintain our reviews of these programs for those who may find the programs
in the aftermarket (e.g. garage sales, etc.). Keep in mind that
support is no longer available for those packages.
All Programs - Alphabetical
Review Summary of:
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Programs by Type
Review Summary of:
Studio Management Tools
Review Summary of:
Review Summary of:
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Review Summary of:
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Music Theory
Training and Drill
Review Summary of:
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(see note above)
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 Alfred Adult Piano Course for Windows,
Part 1
Alfred's Adult Piano Course for Windows, Part 1 combines appeal
to teachers and students while providing a secure piano learning environment
for the older beginner. Teachers will enjoy having the student practice correctly with
this program. Adult students never tire of performing with a friendly orchestra that is
always available at the click of the mouse button..
Alfred's Theory Games does not present tutorial information. It does
offer extremely well devised theory reinforcement games ranging from identifying
specific notes on the keyboard to distinguishing v7 chords to solving rhythmical
challenges. These games are a wonderful supplement to any beginning piano method.
Auralia is a thorough
and intense ear training program. It doesn't have much in the way of
cutesy little graphics or games for the younger student, nor would we suggest that it
should have them. It isn't easy, but it is one of the most beneficial pieces of software
that we have to complete the musical education of our students. If you teach music in a
private studio, you won't want to be without Auralia. If you really want to learn
in the home or need help with college ear-training, you'll be happy to have it as well.
Auralia, Version 2.0, is an excellent ear training program for the
teaching studio, intermediate or advanced piano students and college-bound music majors.
It has a large number of enhancements from the previous version
1.52. I found the program difficult for younger students and my junior high-age
students complained it was tedious. However, it is one of most thorough ear
training/theory tools we've used.
Discovering Keyboards
Discovering Keyboards has something to
offer almost every student or fan of the piano, including teachers who want to learn about
the technology of computer sound and music. Not only does this software teach the basics
of piano playing, it goes several steps further by including many valuable
"extras" not found in similar piano teaching software. Teachers will find Discovering
Keyboards an important addition to their studio collection of teaching software, not
only for their students, but for themselves, as a consequence of its excellent and
approachable coverage of computer-based music and associated hardware.
 Discovering Music
Discovering Music won't teach you how to play
the piano or any other instrument, but you, your child or your students will enjoy music
studies more and understand them better after some time spent with this CD-ROM. It is
great for students ages 8-88 and we recommend it to other music teachers and their
students. Though lacking the depth of some more specialized music appreciation software
packages, Discovering Music is one of the broadest, most complete and highly
organized music appreciation and exploration programs available for the beginning
musician or music lover.
 Dolphin Don’s Music School
Dolphin Don’s Music School is the place to go for fun, educational
music games for beginner through intermediate students. The ten games included in
the program are aural and visual identification of notes, hearing and playing rhythms,
reading key signatures, and hearing and reading intervals and chords. Used as a supplement
to other music education software, Dolphin Don’s Music School would be a nice
change in helping students to reinforce musical concepts.
EarMaster
School 5 is a well-designed and comprehensive ear training program
which not only provides graduated exercises in listening identification,
but gives the user a thorough grounding in sight singing and basic music
theory as well. It fully utilizes the modern computer's unique ability
to provide direct tutoring on an individualized basis and pace.
eMedia Piano and Keyboard Method
The eMedia Piano and Keyboard Method does what it sets out to do
extremely well, and many teachers will find it imaginative and useful for
teaching young children, in particular, in a studio setting. It's also good self-teaching tool with
effective online Help and would work fine in the home. There
is no question that a great deal of solid knowledge and loving care has gone
into its creation. Even given its old fashioned method and some outmoded
technique, it's a very sound program superbly put together.
 eMedia
Intermediate Piano and Keyboard Method
This program really is designed for students at the
intermediate level who have a good foundation of early training. It may
be considered as a "follow-on" to the
eMedia Piano and Keyboard Method,
reviewed earlier on PEP. There are more than 150 individual lessons,
with a lot of emphasis on pure finger technique throughout. It seems
designed for serious students who have not only a good start in piano
instruction, but something of a general familiarity with the musical
language and the standard repertoire as well.
Fanfare! presents a wide range of music theory concepts
in great detail, though in a format that could be more interesting and
beneficial for younger students. Fanfare! will be attractive for the teacher well-versed in all
facets of theory and desiring a program that presents these in the most direct manner or
the advanced student wishing to work on specific areas of music theory without the
distraction of a "game-playing" setting.
History of Music - Romanticism to Contemporary
History of Music - Romanticism to Contemporary, one part of the 4
CD-ROM set History of Music from Zane Publishing, which also includes Through
the Classical Period, Music and Culture, and American Folk Music,
is a fine example of multimedia computer software that teaches music appreciation
in a manner that is approachable for almost any music lover or student of junior high age
or older. It provides information about composers, the world in which they lived,
and the economic, social and political events that helped shape the composer's music.
There are many musical examples to listen to with detailed examinations of major works of
each composer. The many virtues of History of Music - Romanticism to Contemporary,
especially when considered in light of its low price and minimal hardware requirements,
should make it an invaluable addition to a personal or teaching library of music software.
Introduction to Classical Music is a must-have for those who want not only to
learn about piano, but about the composers and history of music. The fact that it is
available at a tiny fraction of the original price makes it all the more attractive. If
you want an engaging CD-ROM to teach or learn music appreciation, Introduction
to Classical Music is hard to beat!
Juilliard Music Adventure teaches musical concepts rather than
piano skills exclusively, and is a good program to use in conjunction
with other theory and piano software in the context of regular private piano
lessons. Kids and parents alike LOVE
this software
Lamb Chop Loves Music
Lamb Chop Loves Music is a delightful program for kids of all ages. This
software does not go into details of performance, and does not teach any theory. It is a
good introduction (or perhaps review) to the instruments of the orchestra (and a few that
are not normally considered official members of a classical orchestra), and also shows
that the love of music does not need to be a stagnant, boring process, but one full of
wonder and fun. Teachers and parents will find it a useful music appreciation program,
though not one for teaching piano concepts or techniques, per se.
Learn Piano is a 5 CD-ROM set of PC piano instruction geared for those students
grades 6 and up to adults who are interested in learning to play piano in a jazz,
blues, New Age piano and improvisation environment. It is not for everyone;
beginners lacking musical background may find its explication of musicianship basics too
sketchy and rapidly discussed to learn effectively. The limited amount of interactivity
and feedback on progress may frustrate other users of Learn Piano. On the other
hand, teachers and older students who want a flexible program that allows them to use
their own piano during the lessons and exercises will want to take a close look at Learn
Piano.
Lenny's Music Toons
Lenny's Music Toons is a delightful, funny, clever and amazing piece of
software. It utilizes wonderful graphics and games that help young students improve
their note recognition, memory, compositional and arranging skills. Unfortunately, it
should also bear a caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) sticker on the package,
based on our experience dealing with Technical Support for this software.
MiDisaurus is an engaging and interactive program that guides the
young beginner through various musical concepts in a non-threatening manner. The software
provides a number of lessons, activities and songs that keep students alert and
interested. It should be a welcome addition for the teacher who caters to the younger
beginners, from ages 4 to 10 years old, as well as those parents who would like to
supplement their child's music learning programs at home.
MiBAC Music Lessons
Adult students find MiBAC Music Lessons a welcome relief from the
shoot-em-up-bang-bang approach of teaching programs directed to kids. Our more advanced
children like it as well. If you want a program to teach solid theory, you won't be
displeased by MiBAC Music Lessons.
This versatile music notation and playback software is used to
generate, transcribe, arrange, and play-back a music score which you can
either create from scratch, from a MIDI instrument, or from any MIDI or
Karaoke sound file. You can edit your score in seemingly endless ways or
print it, or listen as your computer plays it at varying tempos while
following along on screen. Although Composer will be most useful to computer-savvy
adults, a ten year old student was able to use it successfully, with
supervision, for a simple treble-clef-only composition.
If you want to create or annotate a printed or electronic score
from an existing MIDI or Karaoke sound file or by playing an MIDI instrument
attached to your computer, or, to listen to and follow the score as your
sound file plays, MidiNotate Musician is an ideal, easy-to-use
program. Musician is a simpler, less expensive version of
MidiNotate Composer.
Musician lacks Composer's ability to create a score from
scratch or edit the notes of an existing score.
Musician is aimed at those, e.g.
non-professional musicians, who would like to see and hear what a
piece of music should sound like with many possible variations, to have a
computer-generated printable score, and to experiment with the format of
that score.
Multimedia Mozart -The Dissonant Quartet is a wonderful piece of music
appreciation software, with something to interest every classical music lover,
irrespective of their own musical training. The wealth of knowledge provided about Mozart,
the man, Mozart the musician, and Mozart's music can only serve to further enhance and
improve one's playing and appreciation of Mozart. We think you'll agree that your $2.50
for the Mozart CD-ROM in the value pack was money was well-spent.
Music Ace is great music concept program for all ages, from ages 8 through
adult. It is pedagogically sound and appropriate for both the home and music studio,
although a limitation in the number of simultaneous students may prove troublesome in many
studio environments. Teachers will find it to be an excellent learning tool for
reinforcing basic musical concepts and ear training in students, while parents will
like it for the educational entertainment it provides for their children.
The Music Box: A Personal Ear Trainer is a tool by which teachers and students
of all levels can benefit. Its scope is limited to the basics: simple intervals, common
triads, and note-to-note dictation, but its contribution to any student's musical
development will make it a worthwhile and inexpensive addition to your shareware library.
If you’re looking for some fun, competitive
arcade-like music theory drill games for your piano studio or home that
enable students to compete against each other, A Musical Tutorial may be just the
ticket. However, this program is more than just an excuse for games - these games are
rewards for a very well-thought out tutorial program for the piano. A Musical
Tutorial is appropriate for beginner through early advanced students, both children
and adults, but older children will feel more comfortable than younger children because
the program doesn’t have many cartoon-like graphics to help keep the interest of
young children.
Music Goals
by Eye and Ear
Ranging in difficulty from elementary to advanced, Music
Goals by Eye and Ear consists of a series of activities that train and
test eye, ear, memory and response time in the fundamentals of music reading,
theory and ear training. This is a program, obviously designed by
thorough-going professionals, which does all it promises and does it well.
Imagine being able to scan a piece of sheet music, see it appear on your
computer screen, make changes, corrections or additions, then print it out as a new hard
copy or convert it to a standard MIDI file that you can play from your computer. These are
some of the things MusicScan can help you do. For the teacher, student or musician who
would like to make corrections, additions, or any other changes to scanned sheet
music or just be able to have the computer play the music, MusicScan is
a great program. Though it requires time to learn the editing process, MusicScan
makes the time investment well worth it.
MusicTime Deluxe is a user-friendly musical notation program, especially
for those already familiar with word processing commands. The program is ideal for piano
or piano/vocal scores, and comes with extras, such as musical symbols, a wide range of
fonts for titles and credits, and guitar and fake book chords. It can also accommodate
orchestral scoring, although those looking to do large-scale orchestration should consider
programs which specialize in this type of notation.
While it does not provide explanations of scales, arpeggios, intervals, etc., Musicianship
Basics is one of the best programs for a thorough and extensive review and drill on
theory basics for students of all ages. Our students found it a great way to reinforce
theory and general music skills.
Musition provides comprehensive theory concepts drill from
the beginning level to the advanced. The studio teacher will appreciate its capabilities
for customization of drills, monitoring students' progress, and administering tests
individually or to an entire class. Musition constitutes a worthwhile part of
studio computer lab activities for a studio catering to a number of students at different
levels. Home users will like its thoroughness and excellent online help.
PBJ Basics Of
Keyboard Theory
PBJ Basics of Keyboard Theory focuses on the recognition of
assorted music theory concepts in a fun, interactive, and non-intimidating
manner. For the teacher or parent looking for a fun, easy-to-use program oriented toward
young beginners who enjoy all the ‘bells and whistles' that come with such
interactive computer games, I would recommend this program as a worthwhile
supplement to lab activities or private teaching.
PC Piano Teacher has the potential to become a valuable aid, and is ambitious in
its attempt to provide the broadest range of skills testing. For now, it is best
used for exercises under RHYTHMIC DICTATION and INTERVAL DRILLS. Its graphics, elementary
tests under THEORY and NOTES sections, and use of tunes such as "Mary Had a Little
Lamb" and "Yankee Doodle" suggest that it is designed for the very young
beginners.
Piano Professor is a well-thought out introduction to ear training and music
theory from which even the advanced student can benefit. You'll find little
arcade-style action in Piano Professor. What you will find is a well conceived and
largely well-executed tool for teaching ear training and music theory. This software is
probably not best for really young children, but older children and adults will find it
very valuable.
Piano Suite, Version 2.5
Our goal on The Piano Education Page is to provide thorough, fair and
unbiased reviews of music education-related products. Unfortunately, a software
manufacturer, Adventus Corporation, took serious
issue with our reviews of its Piano Suite software. We extended to Adventus numerous
opportunities to examine our reviews and to point out any factual inaccuracies in them
before we published the reviews. Adventus availed itself of those opportunities multiple
times, but persisted in its complaints. Adventus threatened to sue our former server
operator over the reviews. Since then, we have changed server operators. We have concluded
that it will be impossible for us to satisfy Adventus that our reviews are, indeed,
thorough, fair and unbiased, or to provide forthright reviews of Piano Suite without
continuing complaints and threats of legal action. Accordingly, we have removed all Piano
Suite reviews from The Piano Education Page. We will continue to provide thoughtful,
candid reviews, as we have in the past, except as regards Piano Suite or any other
Adventus products. We will no longer review any of those products. We regret any
inconvenience this may cause our visitors, but we trust you will understand. We appreciate
your support.
Piano Virtuoso is a fun, useful, and highly
flexible music theory drill program for piano students of all ages. It
doesn't attempt to teach music theory, but does a good job reinforcing
concepts taught by the teacher. A very impressive feature of this software
is its ability to be uniquely and finely customized by the teacher for each
student, not only in the concepts covered and the level of difficulty, but
also in the amount of time allotted for a round, the inclusion of bonus
questions, how many points are earned, and the optional use of animated
graphics. Piano Virtuoso is intended
primarily for the piano teaching studio, since its major attributes involve
the ability of the teacher to customize the program to the specific needs of
the student.
Midisoft's Play Piano is a fine piece of learning software which gives the user a
flexible multimedia environment in which to develop piano skills. While effective and
attractive, the flexibility the program provides also requires a good deal of self
discipline that few younger children have, especially in the absence of any
"rock-em-sock-em action" to keep the interest of the little ones. If you're an
adult student or an adult willing to spend time at the computer with your young children,
then you should consider Play Piano.
Ars Nova's Practica Musica is a
superior music theory learning program which begins with very basic concepts and
terminology, and then progresses all the way through seventh, ninth and
altered chords, cadential resolutions, scales, keys, voicing, and musical
forms, both simple and compound. Though user friendly and exceptionally
well presented, it is definitely not for beginners or young children. On the
contrary, it is suited for a college or university theory course, though
mature students and adults working on their own should be able to navigate
it comfortably as well. We would not recommend it for use as the main
software program of a private teaching studio, but teachers are urged to try
it out as a possible tool for their advanced students and even for
themselves.
Rhythm Tutor does not give instruction on counting, but, rather,
provides valuable drills/exercises in a variety of rhythmic variations within a C (common
time or 4/4 time signature). In studio testing the program on a variety of students
ranging in ages from 5- 65, we found that those ages 12 and up had the best success with Rhythm
Tutor.
SmartScore is a versatile program that allows the user to create
complex musical scores using a mouse, keyboard, MIDI instrument or scanner as
input. Its ease of learning, extensive control over page layout, spacing, irregular
systems, parts and voices, and its ability to work with any scanner makes it an attractive
program for those who copy, transcribe, edit, or compose music.
Will piano teachers ever be replaced by PC's? The complexities of playing the piano
suggest not, but learning to play the piano by computer is about as feasible as
possible in Teach Me Piano. Using point-and-click graphics, the program gives you
easy access to lessons, songbook, musical reference guide and more on its main screen.
Voyetra deserves a standing ovation for organization and presentation of complex material
at a reasonable price.
teorķa (Practical Music
Theory)
teorķa presents music
theory concepts in great detail; it has a considerable amount of capability for
the teacher or student to customize lessons to their particular needs through its Routines
feature. It's thoroughness and customizability are both the best and worst parts
of the program. teorķa is most useful in a piano studio and to older children
and adult students. If you're a teacher that likes to choose from a "cafeteria"
of music theory exercises so as to individualize each student's instruction or an advanced
student needing work on specific areas of music theory, teorķa may be just what
you're looking for.
Time Signature
Time Signature is a well-organized studio management program that
allows teachers systematize their teaching and record-keeping. While there are a small
number of desirable minor improvements on our wish list for Time Signature, its
only major disadvantage is its dated DOS interface. If you need help in managing your
studio and you're willing to forego the familiar Windows interface, Time Signature
may be just the software you're looking for.
Tunes for
Windows
Need a new chord to add to your repertoire? Tunes for Windows, Version 1.0 is a
database of chords and scales for guitar and keyboard. Teachers will miss the standard
musical notation, but hobbyists wanting to create sounds by rote will find this program
more inviting than a potentially overwhelming reference book on chords and scales.
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