Music Appreciation Software Reviews|Music Appreciation Software Buying guide , Cheap Music Appreciation Software, Discount Software Music Appreciation.

Not for the novice
Once I got the product working, I liked it a lot. However, it initially did not work and I had to download an update. My friend bought this as well but she just gave up. Once I downloaded the update everything worked fine.

it is ok but metal method with doug marks is better
I would really prefer a lesson were the video plays most of the time. This is mostley reading the screen, which is very small and they are so paraoid that you will copy it that they disable printing, The video really does not help much and i have been through half of the course. I personally would reccomend metal method with doug marks over this.

Definitely get your $'s worth, but not as good as the Beginner CD-ROM
I began with eMedia's beginner CD-ROM and next moved to the Rock Guitar. One of the things I enjoyed most about the former was that it taught lessons with entire songs. However, in Rock Guitar, you only learn bits and pieces of songs--and fewer ones at that. Many are not titled songs, but something like "a Nirvana-like song." So if you loved the amount of music on the beginner CD, you may be a little dissatisfied. Additionally, some chords are taught with different fingering than in the beginner CD.
All in all, I learn very quickly with emedia. I really enjoy playing along to their riffs and pieces of songs. Putting the voice to the songs to play with is probably my favorite feature (don't tell anybody that I sing along while playing in the privacy of my room).
This is certainly a really great step towards learning the basics of rock guitar, but should not be your first eMedia CD-ROM (buy the beginner one first!).

eMedia Rock Guitar Method
The best product I have ever found for learning guitar, almost better than paying for lessons!

I've been playing for awhile now
So me getting this was kinda moot, but all in all it's really beneficial if you're just starting out. For anyone who's played more than 2 years even... Don't get this. I give it a 5 star for the beginner, cause this thing is packed with some really beneficial stuff for you all to learn. Everything from chord finder "all the decent sounding ones anyways" and a built in tuner and a good deal of lessons are what you'll find on this disc. You have to have the disc in order to access alot of the video and audio, but it's still alright... All in all I'd endorse it for anyone wanting to learn the guitar. This'll have you playing some pretty good sounding progressions within' hours.

Better than eMedia Guitar Basics
This is way better than the eMedia Guitar Basics CD-ROM because you actually know what the songs are supposed to sound like when you play them. They have rock songs that you've heard before, unlike the "folk" songs and spirituals that Guitar Basics teaches you.

Unfortunately this does not work with Windows Vista, so I have to use it on a computer that uses XP.

The Round Peg in the Round hole
I purchased an older IMAC for my wife and children to use as the PC laptop they were using before died. when you need a word processor, xl program and presentation program you can buy and MS product or an apple one.
Because the computer was a Mac I chose IWORK. It's worked very well and my wife and children rave about it. It is after all a round peg in a round hole. Perfect fit.

Mac users....
are used to simplicity. For me to have to follow instructions like

1.Select the text you want to make bold or italic, or click where you want to type new text.
2.Choose Format > Font > Bold or Format > Font > Italic
is ludicrous, when I simply want to make something italic. Is this really an Apple creation? It doesn't act like one.

I'm also informed that if I plan to us a particular text format (such as italic) often, I can create a style. More steps. Then the style has a specific size associated with it.

Many features are simply not intuitive enough and likewise have too many steps.

I think in trying to avoid looking like Word, they went a little too far and avoided the positive aspects as well. (Example, font selection. What a hassle it is!)

On the positive side, it does have an elegant look, and some nice templates. If it would just work, I would love it.

Overall, I wish I had stayed with Word. Believe me, it is hard for a confirmed Mac user to say those words.

It will do the job, it will just take you longer.

iWork-06 Oages
I've just purchased the '06 edition of iWork so as to have use of Pages on my Mac using OS 10.3.9. I needed the '06 edition because updating the operating system to OS 10.4 or better to use iWork-08 would have left me without Mac Classic to work with my older files.
I've worked with the Pages program and find it is exellent and, as usual, has many more features that I'll ever use. When I thought of some publication design step I wanted to take, it was easy to find the instructions to do that step in the Help menu.
You will love working with Pages.

whoohoo. I love my Imac and iwork
My imac is so intuitive. It was scarey moving to Mac after all the horror stories by PC geeks. What a breath of fresh air. No noise, no fuss, just a beautiful machine that works! The software is also intuitive and easy to use. Makes me look good!

Love it!
I really enjoy this product. I recently graduated from college and don't have a large amount of money to spend on EFX pedals and amps, so I bought this.

I have decent computer speakers so it works well for me, otherwise you could use headphones if your speakers aren't that great.

I would purchase again! Great for a beginner with no gear, but not the same quality and power as an amp.

Love it!
Absolutely love it. The instantaneous tones are incredible sounding and easy to select, the tracks are great and plentiful, with new ones added seemingly every week. Lessons, master classes with master shredders, Riffworks add-on for recording (separate purchase), new tones, AND the setup was painless.

The only thing I find irritating, is Windows Vista's driver support. If I flood the system with extra I/O, I get a lot of static bursts. I'm sure it will be fixed eventually, Service Pack, or updated motherboard drivers, but it's worth noting. Either way, if you're aware of it, and have a decent rig, it'll be your new jamming home.

The GuitarPort is just too damn simple and sexy to not own. It really is everything they say it is.

Great piece of equipment
This is a wonderful and CHEAP addition to anyones electric guitar equipment arsenal. Every single guitarist with a computer should own this, as it enhances the simplicity of recording and practicing guitar riffs for only 100 bucks. I've done a bit of recording in my past, and I've found that it is SO much easier to lay down a nice sounding guitar track using the Guitarport as opposed to recording a real amplifier. It's quick, and sounds as good - in some instances (depending on your microphone, amp, mixer/effects, and room acoustics) it sounds BETTER than anything you could do otherwise.

For those who just want a good practice tool, the Guitarport is a great way to learn the sound of different types of amplifiers, how to work with tone control (equalization), and the sounds of different effects. There simply is no cheaper and practical way to do this than with a Guitarport. Also, since jamming along with good song mp3's is a must for learning guitar, using the jam-along feature in Guitarport is excellent. Or you can do what I do - play from my itunes playlist while Guitarport software is running.

It seems that there is now a "Toneport" that may be a better buy than this (I don't know much about it), but I must say that besides buying the Guitar itself, this Guitarport was the most worthwhile purchase I made as a learning guitarplayer. I would recommend it to anyone who plays the electric guitar.

Its a great little item, but...
OK, the positives everyone already knows. Its a nice little device. Great tone, etc etc.

The bads:
I sometimes get this 'clicking' noise, its as if the signal is disconnected and immediately reconnects. The Line 6 help forum didnt help either. Sometimes it happens a lot, and sometimes it doesnt happen at all.

A couple of months ago I went to the website to find some help about this and honestly wat they suggested didnt help much. My concerns were shared by many users too, as there were many negative comments there. I've just rechecked the same page just now, all the negative (yet true) comments have been deleted... Ouch!! Secrets out.

So i guess, some who got lucky and dont get this problems are.... mmm lucky!!???

All in all its a great item, but its also got its flaws. but on the good side, its CHEAP!! thats y i bought it hehe... on ebay :P

Oh yeah the Guitar Port Online is cool!!... if u live in UK or the USA that is... coz the only way to cancel the subscription is to call the UK and the USA Line 6 offices, no online cancellation... And if you want to connect your Line 6 Pod XT to the same online subscription... you cant, you will have to make another subscription for your Pod XT, you cant use your Guitar Port account.

But as i said, its cheap! and its got an array of very very very cool noises.

3 stars for me

awsome
i will never have to buy another pedal or phaser or anything for that matter i have it all in this product its great

A Wonderful crash course in Wagner's Ring
I purchased this CD-ROM many years ago, when it first came out, from the Metropolitan Opera House store. At that time it cost 0. I can't tell you how much I have loved and used this CD-ROM over the years. It's an amazing piece of programming - and everything works like a finely tuned clock. I teach the Ring to beginners and advanced opera lovers from time to time and use this to pull down the lietmotifs and learn more about The Ring. Every time I use it I learn something new. It is indeed a course on The Ring in its finest form. I recommend it to anyone who wants to delve deeper in Wagner's Ring to find out what all the fuss is about. A real treasure!

Extremely Grateful...
I am very grateful for those who helped create this CD-ROM.

It is an indispensible asset for any musicologist, music student, music teacher, music lover...heck, Wagner Lover!

This forms an extremely vital part of my Wagner discography, it's an important reference I always have on hand when wanting to study the epic Ring Cycle.

Thanks for choosing the Solti version and I guess those of us that were impressed by this are looking forward to further Wagner/Solti CD-ROM's hopefully dedicated to keeping Solti's Wagner legacy alive!

Ring Disk
This is an incredible product! For those that like to follow the manuscript, the music and the translation of the libretto, this is excellent. I would love to see more of these. I will buy.

A fantastic study guide!
I agree with all the other glowing reviews of the Ring Disc! In 2003, I had the opportunity to perform excerpts from the Ring (I'm an orchestral violinist) but did not know a thing about the opera cycle except for maybe Ride of the Valkyries. Fortunately, my violin teacher owned the Ring Disc which she lent me, and with it I basically gave myself a crash course on the Ring in the space of a week. I really felt that its features helped me begin to understand, in a relatively short period of time, one of classical music's most daunting masterpieces. I now love the Ring and can't wait to attend my first Ring cycle!

Unbelievable product!
As everyone else has already stated, this disc is absolutely amazing. Just getting the entire Solti Ring at this price makes it a bargain. But add in all the essays, the pointing out of the leitmotiffs, the libretto, the running commentary, and all the other features, and this is the kind of deal that you would be crazy to pass up. This disc is, probably, the best and most efficient way to learn everything you need to know about the Ring. Also, if you're worried about compatability, don't be. I have Windows XP, and the disc runs perfectly with no installation or technical hassles. Just put it in and start the experience. If you are at all interested in Wagner's Ring cycle, this disc is perfect!

Awesome Guitars
I bought this just for the electric rock guitars and was not disappointed. Power chords, feedback, distortion, everything you need for real sounding rock sequencing.

Good but not for the money
this jam pack is awesome. It comes with tons of new loops and instruments and the installation disc only takes up about 5 GB on your computer. Though I'm enjoying this product I feel that is not worth the amount of money that I paid for it. I only bought this to play around with other instruments but if you are one who actually takes time and wrights music this is a great purchase for you.

A lot of rock for the buck
I don't have a lot of music production experience, which is why I love Apple's GarageBand. This JamPack was easy to install - when I opened the program afterwards it was as if all of the new loops and instruments were always there. The sound is suprisingly warm and authentic, and I found the selection to be pretty comprehensive. This JamPack is a great foundation for anybody looking to learn the basics of the program... great drum kits and some incredible bass sounds.

Great Product!
My school's computers have this GarageBand Jam Pack, and may I say, it's great! The drums, the bass, the guitar; everything is superb. You make your own songs. You make your album. You become the rock star. Not in a million years would I, Me, be able to make this kind of music without it. Go buy one, and make Amazon.com happy.

Didn't completely work
I knew the singing part of the product, because I had seen it on a friend's computer. The singing part worked well and was easy to understand and use. But I could not get the lessons working. My computer would freeze up every time I selected the "lesson" button. I thought it was the software, but when I returned it the seller said it worked fine, so something in my computer just didn't "compute". I would like to try the ultimate version because there are more songs, but I am afraid it would not completely work either.

Great Fun
I purchased the Singing Coach just after Christmas....decided to give myself a present. I have found it to be very useful in helping me focus on note accuracy as well as timing. I was a little concerned about ordering after reading a few of the reviews with their problems but now I realize they were probably the operators fault,ie: 1)does not always record a line on the graph when you sing.....make sure the earphone/mouthpiece plugs are all the way plugged into the computer,etc. I do agree that a few more pieces of music would have been nice but overall, it has a lot of options to try different things. I would recommend this product to anyone - even those that have sung for years can have fun with it.

I like it
Some things I'd change about the program. You should have the option to pass up the cartoon character's lesson and go directly to yours. It's only helpful seeing this the first time through. The cartoon banter is way cheesy. The songs provided aren't great, but fine for the lessons. I saw a lot of songs I'd like for the download, but I'm not going past the four free ones. The headset is actually decent.

I found the range determination procedure of great value, as well as the auto adjusting of songs to your range. Bottom line, I am a better singer for having bought this software. I like to do karaoke and I'm better at it in just a short time.

Nothing else on the market quite like this....
I highly recommend this program. While there are many techniques that must come together to produce quality tone, for a singer to be "on pitch" remains the non-subjective and single most important aspect of singing; this is what Singing Coach helps you target.

For the purpose of correcting pitch problems, Singing Coach is better than a real instructor because it allows you to visually see how close your voice is to the mark. A vocal coach will be using his or her ears to compare you voice to the correct note on a piano, but to have the capability measure your voice unaccompanied by a teacher with a tool like Singing Coach means that you can work on pitch problems a lot more often and for some rather shy students this may be exactly what they need.

On the negative side: the problem comes with a few old standard tunes to sing alone to. My advice is to not waste your time with the songs, why? Because even if you nail them 90-100% you end up with a mono-tone sounding vocal take. In pop, rock and country music (contemporary music in general) vocalist variations in tone character and style techniques don't register well with this software, it will indicate you are of pitch at times or it will score you poorly for not transitioning fast enough. I don't if the original artist were to sing the song into this software that they would get much above an 80% on some of these songs. So skip the songs and instead select "Warm Ups" here you will find the traditional scales used by all vocal instructors. You can easily change the key of a warm up ex cerise so pick a warm like like the "5 up, 5 down" and bring the key down to the lowest note in your range. Sing through it, then raise it up a few keys, keep doing this untill you've reached the highest note in your range. Spend 20-30 minutes a day with this software just doing warm ups in this manner and you will work out any break points you have in your voice and you will greatly improve pitch, probably a lot faster than just singing along to scales without this sort of feedback.

If you seriously want to learn how to sing well, you still need to consult with a vocal coach or at least pick up some other self study material, because this software doesn't get into any detailed techniques for correcting breathing problems and other common vocal problems and than destroy the tone of your voice.

I think for most people the basic feature set found in this version ("basic" version of Singing Coach) will be enough for most people. With the more expensive version you can compose your own songs, but again I don't think the software should be used to train on songs, just scales.

Good but limited
This game is good for the price---the first 3 games are good for beginners, the last 3 are a little more challenging. The games aren't real exciting, but good enough.

Fun activities at a great price.
A colorful, fun program for beginning students, especially for piano students. Includes activities to practice your existing knowledge of names of the piano keys, note names on the treble and bass staff, C major and G major scales, melodic intervals, musical terms, and counting in 4/4 or 3/4 time. No music theory instruction is given - just practice what you already know. The packaging I saw recommended for ages 7+, which seems about right; students using this software will need to be able to read (the directions are not spoken). Very affordable!

New product
Excellent service, and the product worked extremely well.
The only criticism I would have is the cost of Postage. it was ridiculous, the product came in a big parcel, and inside was a dvd.

Fun, Helpful Even for Adults
The teacher, Maestro Max, talks and he's encouraging and motivating.

It's animated, you hear the notes, it introduces classical scores from Verdi and others, it has engaging, challenging yet fun drills and exercises that really help in ear training, learning music theory, and more.

Why can't other softwares and programs be more like this? I have Musition 3 Single User Student Edition for Windows, eMedia Earmaster 5 and Auralia 3 Single User Student Edition for Windows and they're all boring and dull compared to this (although I kinda like Auralia because it goes to more advanced drills and exercises) But yes, why can't they all be fun like this one?

It would be nice if Music Ace does the more advanced lessons too, like chords, intervals etc.

There's a trial/demo version for this at http://www.harmonicvision.com , try it :)

Get Your Kids Excited About Learning Music Theory
Harmonic Vision Music Ace 2 Our eight year old son loves to play piano and keyboards, but getting him excited over learning how to read the notes on a staff or about time signatures was very tough. He just loved to play, but he didn't like working in a music theory workbook. Music Ace 2 is an interactive, thorough program that is fun for kids beginning to learn about music or even for kids that are just curious about it. The "professor" is your guide through about two dozen lessons and is very supportive and patient. The games that support each lesson are a lot of fun to play, and reinforce the lesson. An excellently designed program overall and well worth the price.

The only drawbacks are that it is a bit dated. I purchased mine in June, 2007, and it's nearly identical to the one my son's piano teacher uses. She says she purchased her Music Ace 2 in 1999. Also, on our computer, the graphics do not display in full screen (our resolution is 1024 x 768) and there is no way I've found to maximimize the program to fit our screen.

So, if you don't mind an appearance that appears a bit dated, Music Ace 2 is an excellent way to get your children excited about learning music theory.

Making Music Fun
Very well developed program for the young student of music. Can hook up your keyboard to your computer & work the lessons that way, or just use the keyboard, too. Teaches beginning tempo, rhythm, introduces the various concepts of all the differences in tempo, beat, etc. Teaches about the grand staff, also has a "doodle pad" where kids can make their own music & hear it played back to them. Lots of fun!