Musicalis Interactive Piano Course review

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Verdict:

Simple learning software that gets you from Chopsticks to Chopin at you own pace.

Review Date: 22 Oct 2004

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: James Nixon

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Designed by French pianist Jean-Marc Allerme, Musicalis Interactive Piano Course operates using a MIDI keyboard plugged into your PC.

This enables students to practise the interactive lessons, and have the program assess their performance. An on-screen keyboard highlights the appropriate keys as the notes are shown across the top of the screen - the whole process is reminiscent of touch-typing programs such as Mavis Beacon. A recording facility enables users to turn their efforts into MIDI files or even MP3s. The program can even be used to produce printed scores - handy for experienced pianists.

Musicalis even manages to breaks the musical theory part into digestible chunks, explaining just enough for the next practical lesson.

Learning progresses at the student's own pace, with plenty of opportunity to skip back and revisit exercises they're less sure about. If anything, there's rather too much freedom to skip about - and too little clear structure to drive learning forward. You simply move on when you feel roughly happy with your efforts. There's also little in the way of practical playing tips on posture or how to place your fingers.

The other downside is the quality and quantity of some of the music included - the 'tributes' to Debussy, Ravel and Faure are notably cheesy.

Musicalis is not quite the 'equivalent to a two-year piano course' promised, but it's enough to give would-be ivory tinklers a simple and cost-effective introduction.

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