For more information on Music Ace, including a demo and academic pricing, please visit http://kellysmusic.ca/musicace.asp

Music Ace consists of lessons taught by Maestro Max, games to reinforce concepts explored in the lessons, and a doodle where students can compose their own music.  It offers extensive reporting features, and when used with the detailed matrix in the Teacher’s Guide, Music Ace can act as a very useful assessment tool.

There are 24 self-paced lessons.  Each lesson has a number of sections and students must master each concept in the section before advancing to the next.  Maestro Max leads students through each lesson – making the program accessible to those with reading problems.  After each lesson, the student plays a series of games that allow students to apply the musical knowledge they acquired.  The games also provide an assessment of how well the student learned the concepts.

Music Ace starts the lessons by teaching lines and spaces and introducing the concept of high and low.  By the end of the first lesson, students can identify the lines and spaces on the staff.  At the same time, Music Ace develops student’s aural abilities. Students start the game by differentiating between high and low.  By the end of the games students can listen to a pitch and choose the matching pitch from four or five others. The program repeats each section of the game until students are ready to go to the next level.  As a result, you may find some students can complete Lesson One in 20 minutes, while other students can take two or three classes.

This self-pacing is part of the educational philosophy that Harmonic Vision has incorporated in the program.  Rather than including games that involve shooting ducks or combating aliens, all of the activities are focused on music.  As a result, intrinsic motivation is high for students – they are presented with musical challenges suited to their ability, and are motivated from the success of achieving those challenges.

This does not mean that Music Ace is not fun.  It is – but it is focused on the joy of music.  The games have bonus points and high scores, but the focus is still on learning.  This philosophy is reflected in the tracking that the program provides.  It is non-competitive and does not give marks or grades to students, instead it indicates what concepts they have mastered.

The teacher’s guide provides many ideas on how to successfully integrated Music Ace into your teaching.  It also outlines the concepts covered in detail:

·         Staff and keyboard relationship

·         Pitch identification

·         Note reading

·         Listening skills

·         Sharps, flats and key signatures

·         Keyboard basics

·         Major scales and octaves

·         Treble, bass and grand staff

·         Whole and half steps

Music Ace includes a composition space where students can compose their own music using a variety of instrument sounds.  Students can also listen to and modify popular music selections from the Jukebox – a fun way to experiment with theme and variation, for example.  The songs can be saved and played back for others – but they can not be printed, or exported to another music program.

A MIDI keyboard is not required for the program, as students can use the on-screen keyboard.  If you have access to one, however, Music Ace will respond to students using the keyboard.  You can also choose to learn treble clef, bass clef or both.

Developed by Music Educator’s, Music Ace provides a number of licensing options for teacher’s who need to contend with scheduling and budgeting restrictions.  They can customize a solution that will track as many students as you need, using as many computers as you have access to.

Although Music Ace is probably the best of many other programs that purport to teach music reading skills, there are still a few drawbacks.  Rhythm is not addressed, and the notes do not include stems.  However, rhythm is addressed in a second program - Music Ace 2.

After evaluating a number of other programs in this category, it becomes apparent that Music Ace was designed by music educators.  The minor drawbacks should not negatively affect the use of Music Ace in your studio – and it has been successfully implemented throughout North America.   Music Ace 2 looks to be an excellent continuation of the concepts taught by Music Ace.