Customer Rating: 
Summary: Moderately Pleased
Comment: I got this package on Ebay for a killer deal and I am glad I did not pay the full price for it.
The strength of the package is that it allows you to view your progress and gives your instructor some degree of control. The weakness is that the program is very confusing to work with and not user friendly.
On the menu you have to choose from a drop down list of activities. The program gives you NO idea of where to start. Which activities should I do first?
The book cancels out some of the confusion. However....the book should have been more practical and more easier to read...too rigid as one person said.
I would not suggest this for the absolute beginner.
Customer Rating: Summary: Comprehensive but somewhat rigid
Comment: My kids and I have been using this software for over a month. I have it connected to a MIDI piano.
This software allows up to five students to keep track of their progress. One can choose any lesson to start and may switch among different lessons. The software remembers prior progress and picks up where one left off.
For each exercise, points are awarded for correct responses and deducted for incorrect responses. The exercises become harder with higher scores and easier again as the score drops down because of wrong answers. This progressive instruction is very nice.
I found the accompanying book to be very helpful, as I had no prior theory training.
However, the software has limitations:
The biggest problem is that it requires the user to strictly follow the lesson format. You only get one shot at playing intervals, for example. I like to learn by repeating the item several times before advancing to the next, to reinforce the sound and the relationship with the name. Trying to repeat the last item results in a wrong answer on the next item.
This strict approach also limits exploration and frustrates kids. My kids, ages 10 and 8, don't really like the program and rarely spontaneously use it. My kids really like to learn other stuff on the computer. I would recommend this for kids over the age of 14.
Finally, the lack of keyboard or even MIDI-mediated commands neccessitate constantly moving one's hands from the MIDI keyboard to the mouse, moving the pointer to the right icon and clicking. The mouse should not be necessary to work this program that keyboard oriented.
I did contact tech support for one problem. I sent an email on Sunday afternoon and got a response about an hour later! I thought this was great.
