Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Volumes 1-3 Student Version CD-ROM Andrew Surmani Karen Farnum Surmani Morton Manus 1 CD Rom Ages 8-Adult non-consumable for use with multiple students

We really like this!

I bought it for my daughter who's been taking piano lessons for 2 years.  I have no idea if she's brilliant or just so-so.  Her teacher doesn't provide grades.  I only know that she has been steadily progressing.  She's now learning how to play pieces in different keys.  I took a school year's worth of piano while at college (for fun), and she's beyond where I got.  I provide this info so that you can gauge our appraisal of this program.

The CD has a short, but complete, tutorial.  So learning how the program works was quick and simple.  I did the complete first Unit and really enjoyed it.  The interactive lessons are engaging and clear.  There's no doubt about what supposed to be learned and the topic is covered well. 

My daughter enjoys it and has firmed up what she's learned in regular piano classes.  What I mean by that is that even though she's been through a couple of theory books, it didn't all stick as well as it could have.  Through the use of Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory 2.0, she's relearning some topics she is supposed to already know and she's gaining a new understanding of a few things that she actually did already know.  I think it's great the way that this program is coming along as a review for her and filling in a few gaps. 

She chooses to "play" this program without any prompting and sticks at it for quite some time.  The lessons are easily repeatable.  So, the activity provided for learning the lines and spaces on the treble and base clefs, for instance, can be gone over again and again.  There is an automatic randomizer so that the same sequence isn't repeated in a noticeable way.  It's like that throughout the program.  What's neat is that actual notes are aurally played as you go along.  I wish I could give you some screen shots so you could see how clear and pleasant the lessons are.

I bought Volumes 1-3 (Complete) because it's the most economical way to purchase it right now.  Plus it's nice to have it all on one CD.  Even through there is a lot of info on the CD, the program is easy to navigate; the Alfred folks set it up in a very organized fashion.

There are 3 volumes covered.  For each volume there are 6 Units.  Each unit contains 4 or 5 Lessons (almost always 4).  Each of the 6 Units also contains 4 Ear Training lessons.  To complete the Unit, the student performs what I would call a test, but the program calls it a "Review."  This "Review" is graded just like a test.

So you get a feel for how much work is included in a lesson, I've listed some representative lessons below.  I chose them randomly.

Each lowercase letter indicates a screen.  So, in the first one, there are 10 screens (a-j) that a student must read (listen to) and/or interact with to complete the lesson.

Vol. 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, a-j
Vol. 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, a-i
Vol. 1, Unit 1, Lesson 5, a-e
Vol. 1, Unit 2, Lesson 8, a-h
Vol. 1, Unit 3, Lesson 11, a-g
Vol. 1, Unit 3, Lesson 13, a-g
Vol. 1, Unit 4, Lesson 17, a-d
Vol. 1, Unit 5, Lesson 19, a-c
Vol. 1, Unit 6, Lesson 23, a-h
Vol. 2, Unit 7, Lesson 28, a-e
Vol. 2, Unit 9, Lesson 37, a-f
Vol. 2, Unit 9, Lesson 38, a-f
Vol. 2, Unit 11, Lesson 46, a-d
Vol. 2, Unit 12, Lesson 49, a-h
Vol. 3, Unit 13, Lesson 51, a-g
Vol. 3, Unit 13, Lesson 54, a-h
Vol. 3, Unit 16, Lesson 64, a-d
Vol. 3, Unit 17, Lesson 69, a-b
Vol. 3, Unit 17, Lesson 71, a-d
Vol. 3, Unit 18, Lesson 72, a-h

Each screen provides a bit of info and/or asks the student to perform through use of the mouse.  The student can read the lesson silently or listen to the narrator by clicking the speaker button.  Sometimes the narrator speaks regardless.  Frequent animations make it a visually appealing program, though we don't find it distracting.  The lessons can be easily repeated by clicking on the repeat button.  It's a very easy-to-use program.

I believe that Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory 2.0 is intended to be used as a stand alone for a student's theory work (regardless of instrument).  It's definitely good for that and is complete.  However, I really like it as a back up to what my daughter's piano teacher is covering with the workbooks she assigns.  The workbooks (Shaum) and this CD course work well together and provide the review that can be lacking when just one method or publisher is used.  I feel that it's good to cover the info in a few different styles (kinesthetic, auditory, visual, or whatever) when learning.  This program certain does that!

Besides lessons, there's a bit of support also.  The "Glossary and Index of Terms and Symbols" is rather spiffy.  It's easy to access it through the main menu.  Or! you can access it through the lessons by clicking on any highlighted/bolded words that you read in the lesson.  The glossary isn't just text!  Audio and visual examples are provided when they help amplify the definition.  Plus, you can click on "Spoken Word" (lips) and the term will be spoken aloud.  That comes in handy when a student isn't sure how to pronounce "Phrygian Mode." 

At any point, the student's progress can be printed out.  The lessons themselves are not graded, however, each "Review" is scored on a percentage with 100% being the highest.  So it's handy to assign grades if you need to or print out a progress chart for a student's portfolio.  The lessons and review can be repeated if the initial review score was too low. 

One neat feature is that multiple instruments are used in the ear training and other lessons.  Sometimes it's piano notes you hear; at other times it's violin, clairnet, or something else. 

A number of students can use this Student Version.  In fact, there is no limit according to the box.  We use the same password so that there's little chance that we'll get locked out of our user names.  I wrote it on the outside of the box.  I have no idea how to retrieve a password; and without it, you're sunk.  It's too bad there's not an option for "no password," but there's not.  You can't register a student without creating a password. 

A student can begin at any point in the series of lessons.  In order to progress, you don't have to do the reviews/tests up to the point you want to start at.  You can just jump in anywhere.  If your student plans to jump in at the Volume 2 level, then the best thing to do would be to buy the Vols. 2 & 3 software pack.  As far as I can tell, the only choices for software packages are Vol. 1 only, Vols. 2&3, and Vols. 1-3.  I'm reviewing Volumes 1-3, but the others are available.  There's also a Volume 1 Educator Version for piano instructors.

Windows Minimum Requirements:
Windows 95B/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Pentium processor or equivalent
32 MB RAM
22 MB of hard disk space
640 X 480 display, 16-bit (Hi Color)
4x CD-ROM drive (for EDU and STUDENT versions)

Windows Recommended Levels:
Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Pentium II processor or equivalent
64 MB RAM
22 MB of hard disk space
640 X 480 display, 16-bit (Hi Color)
16x CD-ROM drive (for EDU and STUDENT versions)

Mac Minimum Requirements:
Mac OS 8.x
PowerPC processor
32 MB RAM
22 MB of hard disk space
640 X 480 display, thousands of colors
4x CD-ROM drive (for EDU and STUDENT versions)

Recommended:
Mac OS 9.x (OS X Version Now Available)
PowerPC 603 or higher processor
64 MB RAM
22 MB of hard disk space
640 X 480 display, thousands of colors
16x CD-ROM drive (for EDU and STUDENT versions)

Mac Recommended Requirements:
Mac OS 9.x (OS X Version Now Available)
PowerPC 603 or higher processor
64 MB RAM
22 MB of hard disk space
640 X 480 display, thousands of colors
16x CD-ROM drive (for EDU and STUDENT versions)

Mac users, it seems, need to download an installer, but simple directions come with the box.

I'm using a 2-year-old mid-level computer, and it installed without a hitch.

The coverage of topics seems exhaustive or at least comprehensive:

• Staff, Notes and Pitches
• Treble & Bass Clefs
• Grand Staff
• Ledger Lines
• Note Values
• Measure, Bar Line & Double Bar
• 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 Time Signatures
• Whole, Half, & Quarter Notes and Rests
• Dotted Half Note & Dotted Quarter Note
• Ties & Slurs
• Repeat Sign
• 1st and 2nd Endings
• Eighth Notes & Rests
• Dynamic Signs
• Tempo Marks
• Articulation
• D.C., D.S., Coda and Fine
• Flats
• Sharps
• Naturals
• Whole Steps, Half Steps & Enharmonic Notes
• Tetrachords and Major Scales
• Key Signatures
• Chromatic Scale
• Intervals
• Perfect & Major Intervals
• Minor Intervals
• Augmented and Diminished Intervals
• Solfège and Transposition
• Sixteenth Notes and Rests
• Dotted Eighth Notes
• Common Time and cut Time
• 3/8 and 6/8 Time Signature
• Eighth Note Triplets
• Pick-Up Notes and Syncopation
• Primary and Major Triads
• Scale Degree Names
• V7 (Dominant 7th Chord)
• Triads--1st & 2nd Inversions
• V7 Chord--1st, 2nd & 3rd Inversions
• Figured Bass
• Major Chord Progressions
• Minor Scales
• Natural, Harmonic & Melodic Minor Scales
• Minor Triads
• Augmented and Diminished Triads
• Primary Triads in Minor Keys
• Minor Chord Progressions
• 7 Modes Related to Major and Minor Scales
• Harmonizing a Melody in Major and Minor Keys
• Broken Chords and Arpeggiated Accompaniments
• Passing and Neighboring Tones
• Composing a Melody in Major and Minor Keys
• 12-Bar Blues Chord Progression
• Blues Scale
• Basic Forms of Music

Whew!  I'm tired just typing it.  It goes beyond where I was in my lessons, so I'm not one that you can trust when it comes to stating emphatically that this program covers everything it should.  Sure, there's more to learn theory-wise; but Alfred has had a good reputation and I feel good about trusting them to teach my student music theory at this level.  Alfred Publishing Company, with its focus on quality music education products, has been around since 1922!  And it's still family run!

Well, I think that about covers it.  It's a delightful program.  I like it.  My young teen daughter likes it.  Comprehensive.  Interactive.  Colorful, clear, and concise Lessons.  Ear training.  Motivational.  Excellent complement to your student's current theory workbooks or stand-alone music theory course.
 
 

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