Steinberg's entry-level Sequel digital audio sequencer (Mac/Win, $99) is designed to make music creation quick and easy, especially for your kids. It makes basic music-creation tools accessible in a single window and includes a virtual mixer, more than 600 software instruments, and effects processing, including EQ and dynamics processing on every mixer channel. Under the hood is the same powerful sound engine that drives Steinberg's Cubase 4 professional sequencer.

Sequel combines linear- and pattern-based arranging, and audio and instrument parts can follow tempo and key changes in real time. You can record up to 24-bit, 44.1 kHz audio; import and export MIDI files and most audio files; change the pitch or duration; automate settings such as master volume; and cut, copy, paste, and move notes and loops. You also get MIDI quantization with variable swing.

The program comes with more than 3.5 GB of loops and sounds, and you can add your own and those from third parties. You simply find the right loop or sound using the MediaBrowser, preview it while your song is playing, and drag the sound into your project. You also get more than 50 audio track presets that let you quickly set up your track for recording specific instrument types and vocals.

In Live mode, you can load the 16 live-performance pads with song sections and variations and play, rearrange, and remix the parts on the fly. DJs can click on a section, loop it as often as they want, and then fire off the next section, reacting to the crowd. Steinberg/Yamaha Corporation of America; tel. (714) 522-9011; email info@steinberg.net; Web www.steinberg.net or www.sequel-music.net.

TimeWarp Technologies Home Concert Xtreme (v. 2.1.3 for Mac/v. 2.0.4 for Win, $99) enables you and your students to use Standard MIDI Files as interactive teaching, practicing, and performance tools. Using the program is easy: simply connect a MIDI keyboard or other MIDI instrument to the computer, load a Standard MIDI File into Home Concert Xtreme, choose one or two tracks to be displayed in notation, and you're ready to play. You can hear the entire arrangement, or you can turn off the accompaniment part so you can hear just the piano tracks. Based on your settings, Home Concert Xtreme determines your location, tempo, and dynamic expression; adjusts the tempo of the accompaniment tracks to match your playing; and automatically turns the pages in the onscreen score.

The program has three modes. In Learn mode, the software follows the tempo that is set in the MIDI file, which can be adjusted using a slider and pauses when you fail to hit the correct notes. An onscreen virtual keyboard shows which notes you are supposed to play.

In Jam mode, the program maintains the tempo set in the MIDI file and you have to keep up. You can, however, add Wait For Attack markers to the score, which cause the program to pause and wait for you to play the expected note. You can also add Special Signal markers that cause the program to pause and wait for a designated MIDI trigger.

In Perform mode, the program adjusts to follow your tempo. Unlike Learn mode, it doesn't stop when you play wrong notes. When you're done, you can play back the performance and check such things as tempo, and key velocity.

Originally published as Home Concert 2000, the new Xtreme version features an improved user interface and adds an assortment of capabilities. You can now edit the notation to add dynamics, articulations, clef changes, fingerings, and text comments. You also can selectively quantize, set default tempos, edit independent regions of the score, and record and save multiple performances.

Home Concert Xtreme is compatible with thousands of commercial and free MIDI files, including files used in popular teaching methods such as Alfred, Carl Fischer, Hal Leonard, and many more. You can even use your own MIDI files as long as you put the left- and right-hand parts in different tracks. The program can even be useful for students who don't play electronic instruments but would benefit from practicing using onscreen notation with MIDI accompaniment in which you can set up loops, metronome clicks, and more. TimeWarp Technologies; tel. (508) 252-1074; email info@timewarptech.com; Web www.timewarptech.com.

Beginner Guitar Lessons (Mac, $39.95/Win, $49.95) from iPlayMusic uses video, animation, and interactive technologies and takes advantage of Apple's GarageBand, iTunes, and iWeb to teach basic guitar techniques. Not only can students view the lessons on their Macintosh, but they can also view them on a Video iPod, allowing them to take lessons anywhere. The Windows version includes a bundled copy of Sony Acid XMC.

Levels 1 and 2 are combined in one program to give more than four hours of video in 140 lessons. Level 1 presents guitar basics, chords, strumming patterns, and transitions. Students are shown more than 25 popular rock, blues, and country songs by artists such as the Beatles and Eric Clapton. Level 2 introduces riffs, licks, and tricks that expand on the styles shown in level 1 and adds reggae and 12-bar-blues styles, including tunes by the likes of the Grateful Dead, Leadbelly, and Bob Marley. Students also record their performances and use iTunes to share them with friends.

For each lesson, the screen is divided into four sections so students can see the technique from various angles. Lessons include guitar-chord videos, scrolling lyrics, tips on riffs, and more. You can add or remove the guitar tablature and scrolling lyrics sections. iPlayMusic; tel. (866) 594-33 44; email sales@iplaymusic.com; Web www.iplaymusic.com.

The concept of downloadable sheet music is not new, but what sets Great Scores apart is that the company offers downloadable arrangements that are designed for different levels of ability, from beginner to advanced. Great Scores offers arrangements for piano, keyboard, woodwind, brass, and stringed instruments. The arrangements for the solo instruments all come with piano accompaniment, and many include an MP3 backing-track recording of the piano part.

Scores are available in a variety of genres, including classical, jazz, pop, rock, ragtime, calypso, and Christmas music. Sheet music and scores are displayed using Sibelius Scorch technology so you can preview and play them, slow them down, and change key signature. Having purchased a score, you can print it out from your computer.

The Great Scores Web site has other interesting features. The Name That Tune feature lets you browse through and audition short extracts of classical themes, which is useful if you know the melody of a classical piece but can't think of its title. The site also lists whether a particular piece was used in an advertisement or film, provides biographical data on a variety of artists (not just classical composers), and offers a glossary of musical terms. The company even provides a number of free scores, which can be found at various locations on the site. Great Scores; email info@greatscores.com; Web www.greatscores.com.

Music-notation software is a core tool for many music educators, but sometimes you (and especially your students) don't need all the power of a professional program. In that case, you should consider Finale SongWriter 2007 (Mac/Win, $49.95), the latest version of MakeMusic's entry-level scoring program. The new version runs natively on Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs and on Windows PCs (for an overview of SongWriter 1.0, see the September/October 2005 “Teacher's Toolbox” column).

SongWriter 2007 adds plenty of features. With the new version, you get real-time control of volume and pan and can customize the reverb level and room size. Playback controls have been enhanced, including a repeat-pass indicator and a counter. Key signatures can be quickly changed using a new contextual menu. You can export a MIDI or an audio file.

The 2007 version also adds textured manuscript-paper backgrounds to make your onscreen displays visually attractive and easy on the eyes (note that the textured backgrounds can't be printed). And if you want to print a document on a page of a different size (say, printing an A4 document on 8.5 × 11 paper), have no worries — SongWriter 2007 will automatically resize the page.

Finally, the new portable authorization scheme lets you move your install authorization to a different computer or reinstall on a new drive without having to contact Customer Support. MakeMusic Inc.; tel. (800) 843-2066 or (952) 937-9611; Web www.finalemusic.com/songwriter or http://finalemusic.com/support.