Music Theory FUNdamentals
Pianomouse Music Theory FUNdamentals offers 16 lessons & 16 games to introduce basics of the keyboard, pitch, musical alphabet as well as treble clef and bass clef notes, note and rest values, time signature and counting, sharps/flats/naturals, enharmonic notes, half steps and whole steps and 5 finger patterns.
Age-Appropriateness:
This program is offered for ages 6-12. I would recommend children on the lower age range have some help reading the clever story line which introduces the characters. Once the student starts to participate in the lessons though, higher reading levels are not required to enjoy the fun.
Replay Value:
This CD includes 6 Mouse Tracks; 16 Lessons and Games; Review Tests; 4 Ear Training lessons; and the Piano Mouse story. There is certainly a large amount of learning that can be accessed again and again from this program.
Educational Value:
This software is so user-friendly, that no prior experience on the piano is necessary. However, these tutorials would be an excellent addition to any music curriculum for current piano students. In addition, such basic topics as pitch and tone apply to all music.
Graphics:
In today's high paced video intensive world of software, a program that comes along with more substance and less graphic pizzazz can easily be overlooked. However, I felt that the graphics were clever and well drawn, and did not take away from the lesson at hand
Sound:
There are beautiful pieces of piano concertos heard throughout the software. Also, the sounds associated with different keys of the piano were realistic. When I hit the same note on my home piano, the similarity was noticeable even by a 4 year old! I would recommend to turn your sound level higher than usual though to fully enjoy the effects
Piano Mouse is a reasonably priced educational software title that would make a wonderful enhancement to a traditional course of piano study. It is not too juvenile for the younger age range (6 years) and is still clever enough to keep the older kids (12 years) entertained and motivated. The goal chart which can be printed out is a great tool for kids who are "goal oriented!"
With PianoMouse, you get a great bang for the buck. In conjunction with traditional piano lessons, this program would be a great support tool, especially in theory. For someone just beginning in music, PianoMouse makes a very user-friendly introduction to the basics.