FIG. 1: Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace is filled with games that reinforce the fundamentals of music theory. In this example, students must either play the correct note on a MIDI instrument, or click the correct note on the onscreen keyboard.

Our students spend hours playing video games, chatting online (often holding five or more conversations simultaneously), and watching television. It should come as no surprise, then, that traditional teaching strategies are no longer as effective as in the past. It isn't that today's students are less intelligent than students in the past; it's that they require more varied teaching strategies, with more focus on visual stimulus and interactivity.

Given those changing needs, how does one provide a balanced approach to teaching music theory, ensuring that the students in your classroom are getting it? One effective method is to incorporate music-theory software and other music technologies that combine aural, visual, and interactive approaches into your instruction.

To help you choose the right programs for your purposes, I've analyzed many of the currently available music-theory titles and have categorized them by appropriate age level. Because of space limitations, I have been unable to include every theory program on the market in this article, and I have omitted dedicated ear-training programs entirely, even though ear training and theory instruction are closely linked. That said, many of the theory programs discussed here incorporate significant amounts of ear training.

With respect to computer compatibility, “Mac” indicates that the program will run native under OS X; in many cases, these programs are also available for Mac OS 8 and 9, but check the manufacturer's Web site to be sure. “Mac Classic” indicates that only pre — OS X versions of the Mac OS are supported. Most, if not all, of the Windows programs will run under XP with no problems.

The software that is covered in this article falls into one of two categories: computer-aided instruction (CAI) and drill-and-practice. CAI software teaches the subject matter, and then tests a student's comprehension. Drill-and-practice software does not teach the material; it simply tests a student's mastery of material that has been taught previously.

Before deciding which software is the right fit for your teaching situation, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What role do I want technology to play in my classroom?

2. Can this particular program be effectively integrated into my curriculum?

3. Can I teach the concepts better or more creatively than the software can?

Keep in mind that you could use the software either to teach the subject matter completely, to supplement traditional instruction, or to serve as an aide to individual students who are struggling or excelling. Based on my experience with integrating software into teaching music theory, I recommend a combination of all three uses.

Once you have answered these important questions, you will be ready to make informed choices regarding which software will best serve your purposes.

Many music-theory programs are available for young children. A lot of them feature bright colors, animated characters, and interactive games that make theory concepts fun to learn. Some are focused on beginning piano students, some are intended primarily for individual use, and some are intended for classroom use. Most have been around for quite a while and have proven to be effective teaching tools.

Few CAI programs are available for younger students. Most programs at this level contain only gamelike activities that reinforce concepts that have already been taught by the classroom teacher. With that in mind, I recommend using these programs with individual students or working with them in front of the entire class, using an LCD projector and calling on student volunteers to answer the questions. The best scenario, of course, is to have a multistation music-technology lab with a copy of each program on every computer, so that every student in the class can get the maximum benefit from the technology.

With the exception of Alfred, Ars Nova, and Riverdeep/Edmark, all of the software developers discussed here offer free demonstration copies of most programs. Check the developer's Web sites for downloads and more information (see the sidebar “Contact Information”). I recommend evaluating as many of the programs that interest you as possible before you purchase.

Electronic Courseware Systems Musical Stairs 4.1/3.2 ($39.95) and Elements of Music 2.2/3.1 ($79.95); Mac Classic/Win; grades 1-6. Most ECS programs consist of drill-and-practice games that are based on knowledge that students have acquired during traditional classroom instruction. While the graphics may not be as flashy as in other programs, the content helps students to master concepts.

Musical Stairs (grades 1 through 3) is a drill-and-practice game for early elementary students that uses your external keyboard synthesizer and an onscreen piano keyboard to introduce intervallic relationships within one octave. Students see the question notated on the staff, hear it through the synthesizer, and then answer by playing the MIDI keyboard.

Elements of Music (grades 3 through 6) consists of timed and untimed random drills for naming major and minor key signatures and naming notes from a musical staff or a keyboard. It provides progress tests for each drill, and students can view their progress reports. Many ECS programs are available in lab packs and network versions, and most include record-keeping functions.

ECS offers more music programs for younger students that aren't classified as theory programs but have closely related purposes. For example, Tap It (Mac/Win, $39.95) features rhythm drills; Adventures in Musicland (Mac Classic/Win, $49.95) develops an understanding of musical tones, composers, and symbols by means of colorful games influenced by Alice in Wonderland; and Clef Notes (Mac/Win, $39.95) teaches note identification on the musical staff. Because each title is so specific, I suggest looking at your music curriculum, determining which theory concepts your students usually have the most difficulty with, and then planning your purchase.

Harmonic Vision Music Ace 3.11 ($49.95), Music Ace II 3.11 ($49.95), Music Ace Deluxe ($79.95), and Music Ace Maestro ($127.95); Mac/Win; grades K — 6. The ever-popular Music Ace (see Fig. 1) and Music Ace II are my favorite theory programs for younger students. They are primarily intended for students in elementary school, but I have used them with middle-school students, and they love the programs too. Music Ace Maestro combines Music Ace and Music Ace II into one program, and Music Ace Deluxe is a sort of “best of” version that has a selection of lessons from the first two volumes. Of the software I looked at for this article, the Music Ace series has the only true CAI programs for younger students.

Music Ace and Music Ace 2 have a character named Maestro Max to teach basic music-theory concepts. There are 24 lessons in each volume, covering concepts from tempo to melodic contour. This self-paced tutorial is perfect for the beginning music student. The exercises that reinforce the lessons are fun and make creative use of technology. The positive reinforcement is terrific. The musical examples used to illustrate the theory concepts are wonderful and cover all periods of music history. Music Ace Maestro includes all 48 lessons, and Music Ace Deluxe has 36 of them.

Music Ace focuses on melody and on reading music, while Music Ace 2 focuses on notation, rhythmic dictation, and more. With the addition of the Doodle Pad, students can also do some basic composition. Music Ace Maestro adds in-depth record-keeping capabilities for up to 240 students. Network versions of Music Ace Maestro are also available; see Harmonic Vision's Web site for more information.

Riverdeep/Edmark Thinkin' Things, vol. 1 through 3 ($69.95 each); Mac/Win; grades K — 3. Although this software is not intended to be a music-theory title, it includes many musical activities that are perfect for younger music students. I have used this software with kindergarteners, and they love it. Ask the computer specialist in your building if they have a copy of this software, and they probably will. It was very popular when it first came out in 1993, and thanks to upgrades, it still is today.

FIG. 2: With Edmark’s Thinkin’ Things, Volume 2, students can play with Oranga Banga’s band. Here, students are asked to determine which rhythmic line (displayed as dots) each character is playing.

The program has six areas for student exploration. Two of the activities, Toony Loon and Oranga Banga, are wonderful music-listening games. Toony Loon is a bird that plays simple melodies on a colorful xylophone. Students can also choose to play the example on fun instruments such as strings, glasses, hollow logs, and chickens. After listening to the short melodies, students play the melodies themselves by clicking on the corresponding instruments. They can even create their own tunes.

In the Oranga Banga section (see Fig. 2), an orangutan plays rhythms on a drum set, and the students have to repeat the rhythms by clicking on the corresponding percussion instruments. To make the exercise more challenging, students can have Oranga play in the dark. They then have to play the instruments based on what they sounded like. It's a terrific piece of software for young students. Of the three volumes, volumes 1 and 2 are the best suited for music classes.

Viva Media Morton Subotnick's Making Music, Making More Music, and Hearing Music ($30 each); Mac/Win; grades K — 6. Created by famed composer Morton Subotnik, this software suite is a great tool for teaching basic composition, theory, and aural skills. Unlike the Music Ace series, these programs are intended more as creative tools for students to use their theory skills than as CAI programs. A few games in each of the three titles reinforce aural-skill concepts, such as discriminating between musical phrases, high and low notes, and same or different notes.

FIG. 3: Morton Subotnick’s Making More Music presents innovative games that reinforce critical listening skills. In this game, students must discern which of the four melodies (represented by colored balls) has the same form as the listening example.

This software's unique attributes come from the way Subotnik presents the composition features. In Making Music, the user draws a melody on a virtual canvas. The software then translates the drawing to pitches and plays the melody. Students can add different instruments and parts to their composition, and wind up with some very interesting stuff.

In Making More Music (see Fig. 3), students explore musical forms and experiment with changing existing melodies and phrases. All three programs have record-keeping capabilities, although they can't keep track of the game progress. Students can also record and store their compositions.

Because many school districts offer formal music-theory courses only at the middle- and high-school levels, the software companies must serve their core market. The majority of music-theory programs are therefore for students in grade 6 and above. Today, some college-level theory courses are completely based on software, and some colleges even require students to take online theory examinations to gain admission.

For many years, there were only a few choices for precollege students. Recently, that drought ended, and today there are many high-quality music-theory programs for middle- and high-school students.

As is the case with software for younger students, there are several ways to use theory software in the middle- and high-school classroom. Most of the titles discussed here are most effective when used in a multistation music-technology lab with a copy of each program on every computer. If that is not possible, then I recommend using the software with individual students or with an LCD projector for class instruction and assessment.

Alfred Publishing Essentials of Music Theory 2.0, vols. 1-3 (student version $59 per vol., teacher's version $159 per vol.); Mac/Win; grade 6 and above. Based on the popular Alfred Theory Course, this in-depth theory program could be used in an elementary setting, but is intended for students of a more advanced age group. Unlike Practica Musica, which requires an instructor to teach the theoretical concepts, Essentials of Music Theory (EMT) is a true CAI program that is further enhanced when used with its associated book series. The graphics are excellent (see Fig. 4), and all of the sound files are realized through recordings of actual instruments, not MIDI files.

FIG. 4: Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory is a comprehensive CAI program that teaches music-theory concepts and assesses the students’ understanding. Here, students are asked to construct an F major scale by clicking the notes of the labeled keyboard.

Each volume of EMT has six units. Each unit has several different activities and narrated instruction. Collectively, the three volumes cover virtually all of the basic theory concepts, from pitch reading to advanced ear training. A glossary defines hundreds of theory terms and gives both visual and audio examples.

As with Practica Musica, the teacher's version of Essentials of Music Theory has recordkeeping capabilities for up to 30 students. You don't have to purchase additional student files, because the records for individual students can be erased. The teacher's version also enables you to customize the tests that you administer to your students, although you cannot customize the material that is presented, unlike Practica Musica. Unfortunately, EMT doesn't use MIDI instruments for input and playback, which some teachers might find limiting.

Alfred Publishing Interactive Musician 1.0 (student version $39, teacher's version $99, network version $249); Mac Classic/Win; grade 6 and above. Alfred's Interactive Musician differs from Essentials of Music Theory in that it follows the drill-and-practice model, focuses more on ear-training skills, and allows users to input their answers with MIDI instruments (as opposed to the point-and-click format of EMT).

The new program is divided into three sections, with five pitch training, one sight reading, and five rhythm exercises. Each exercise has up to 100 levels of difficulty. A typical exercise has the software play an interval (both pitches simultaneously), show the bottom pitch, and ask the student to click or play the correct pitch. With so many levels of difficulty and randomized exercises, there are literally thousands of examples.

Teachers can customize each exercise (another feature lacking in EMT), making this software great for building your students' comprehensive theory skills while meeting your curricular demands. Used in tandem with EMT, Alfred's Interactive Musician provides a comprehensive music-theory course for students.

Ars Nova Counterpointer 1.0 ($65); Mac/Win; grade 9 and above. This brand-new program is the first to offer the opportunity to more-advanced music-theory students to create species and free counter point and have the software analyze it for accuracy. Its interface looks like a notation program's, although it is a bit more cumbersome than Sibelius and Finale.

Counterpointer's features are impressive. Aside from analyzing counterpoint, it has an onscreen manual that introduces students to the basic rules of counterpoint in an easy-to-understand manner. Exercises include realizing figured bass into four-part chorales (in the style of Bach), realizing four-part chorales from Roman numerals, and creating various species counterpoint in varied meters. Finally, its recordkeeping functions correlate with those of Practica Musica so that student work from Counterpointer is recorded into the student files on Practica Musica.

FIG. 5: In this example from Ars Nova’s Practica Musica, students are asked to play various major and minor chords in root position on a MIDI instrument or by clicking in the correct notes on the onscreen keyboard.

Ars Nova Practica Musica 4.56 (standard edition $125, site edition $600); Mac/Win; grade 6 and above. There is little question that Practica Musica (see Fig. 5) is one of the most successful music-theory programs for grade 6 and above. There are 24 activity types (a total of 80 individual activities), including everything from pitch matching to rhythmic dictation. For each activity, there are four skill levels. Even the most skilled theoretician will find the advanced activities challenging.

Practica Musica allows teachers to create custom activities, and comes with a well-written theory textbook and workbook. Students can enter answers using a MIDI instrument, an onscreen keyboard, and even a virtual guitar fretboard. The company's new Vocalis technology even allows students to sing parts for pitch reading, interval playing, and other exercises, using a standard USB microphone.

While Ars Nova has made some improvements to the program's graphics, they remain small and a bit dull. Visual attractiveness aside, this is an incredibly comprehensive drill-and-practice theory program that can enhance even the most rigorous theory course.

The software keeps records for up to four students. The recordkeeping capabilities are terrific, but once a student has completed their activities, the program no longer keeps records for future students, and previous student work cannot be erased. For other students to use the software, you must purchase additional student files ($40 for 10 students), even if you have purchased a site license.

Electronic Courseware Systems Functional Harmony 4.1/3.0 ($149), Music Theory Builder 1.0 ($99.95), Music Skill Builder 1.2 ($99.95), and inForm 1.0 ($79.95); Mac/Win; grade 5 and above. ECS has so many theory programs that we can't possibly discuss them all. These four titles, however, are the most important titles that the company has for older students.

Functional Harmony (grade 9 and above) develops harmonic-analysis skills, including analyzing basic chords in major and minor keys, and in root and inverted positions. From there it progresses to diatonic seventh chords, secondary dominants, and borrowed and altered chords.

Chord and interval identification are the focus of Music Theory Builder (grade 8 and above). This drill-and-practice program uses visual and aural cues to drill major, minor, diminished, and augmented intervals and chords. Teachers can select the inversion and the clef for each drill. The program also provides student evaluation and recordkeeping.

FIG. 6: ECS’s inForm form-analysis software generates bubble charts that help the student analyze the music.

Music Skill Builder (grade 5 and above) is a comprehensive drill-and-practice theory program that allows you to customize the material, including and omitting whichever questions you wish. For example, with notes and clefs, you can choose which notes to include and select treble or bass clef; you can select upper, lower, or no ledger lines; and you can choose whether answers should be in note names or solfege. You can also customize key signatures, scales, intervals, chord quality and inversion, and so on.

InForm (grade 10 and above) allows students to view a scrolling musical score while listening to the music, and then to analyze the piece's form and mark up the score onscreen, starting and stopping the music at will. The performances are MP3 files from the Naxos catalog, and feature classics by Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Haydn, Beethoven, and Purcell. The software generates umbrella charts that compare the user's score analysis to that of the program's author, and bubble charts that help the student learn to analyze a piece (see Fig. 6). A series of questions then guides the user through making decisions about the form.

MiBAC Music Lessons I 4.0 ($119), Music Lessons II 4.0 ($149); Mac/Win; grade 6 and above. Music Lessons, vols.I and II, have been around for a long time and are still effective drill-and-practice tools for reinforcing music-theory concepts. Music Lessons I focuses on fundamentals, and Music Lesson II centers on chords and harmony (see Fig. 7). Both programs are open ended in design, which allows the student and teacher to work on any skill at any time.

Music Lessons I presents 11 topics, including note names, the circle of fifths, key signatures, intervals, and modes. Music Lessons II contains six topics: chord elements, triads, triads ear-training, seventh chords, seventh chords ear-training, and Roman-numeral chord identification. Each of these topics has naming, writing, and playing exercises, with various levels of difficulty. Students can complete the exercises in treble, alto, or bass clef, and can use the mouse or a MIDI instrument. You also can create custom exercises. Like other theory software, Music Lessons I and II can keep track of student progress.

FIG. 7: In this example from MiBAC’s Music Lesson II, the student must identify a four-note chord by root, quality, and inversion.

Sibelius Software Musition 2.0 (standard version $149, academic version $119); Win; grade 6 and above. Sibelius's Musition is a music-theory program that partners with the company's Auralia ear-training course. Musition uses the same interface as Auralia, in which the students listen and respond through point-and-click or using a MIDI instrument. Musition has hundreds of drill-and-practice exercises for 25 theory topics. Its topics are categorized into four sections: Note Reading, Key Centers, Terms, and Instruments. Within each category are different topics, each of which includes various levels of difficulty.

Teachers can build custom tests focusing on specific skills at various levels of difficulty. The recordkeeping functions of Musition work in tandem with Auralia, so it is easy to track your students' progress.

If you are comfortable using notation programs like Sibelius and Finale, it is easy to create music-theory worksheets for your students. Sibelius Notes ($59, Mac/Win) is a collection of more than 200 pages of premade theory worksheets that can be either printed out in PDF format for students to complete at their desks or posted on individual computers. Each package includes 20 student workbooks that relate to the exercises contained on the software. Combined with Sibelius, these exercises help the students to begin applying their theory skills by actually writing music.

Makemusic Finale 2005 (Mac/Win, educational price $300) features an excellent Exercise Wizard that allows teachers to create custom theory worksheets. It uses an exercise palette that covers almost every aspect of music theory. Like Notes, the exercises can be printed or posted for the students to complete.

I have obviously been unable to cover every theory program in the space available here. There are several more very good ones, and I recommend investigating as many as you can before you buy. You can either look on a retailer's Web site or search for “music theory software” on an online search engine. You'll be surprised at how much software is out there.

There are also many Web-based theory programs, such as Ricci Adams's www.musictheory.net. Some of these programs contain exercises that are similar to those in the programs I have discussed here. Most of the music-theory Web sites are free, and Adams has made the content on his site available for download so that students can complete the exercises on any computer.

When competing with the many other forms of information dissemination to which our students are exposed on a daily basis, it is crucial that we use all of the tools available to teach our subject matter in a meaningful way. This is even more crucial today, because some aspects of music education, such as theory, are often thought of as boring.

Our students have different learning styles, and technology helps us to address them. Let's face it: there are times when traditional teaching methods are best and other times when they just don't work. Think of that student in the back of your classroom. If it takes software to make theory more understandable and more personally meaningful for him or her, don't you owe it to that child to use these tools?

James Frankel is an instrumental-music teacher at the Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Teachers College, Columbia University, and at Montclair State University. He is the author of Teaching Classroom Music in the Keyboard Lab (SoundTree, 2003).

Alfred Publishing tel. (818) 891-5999; fax (818) 891-2182; Web www.alfred.com

Ars Nova Software tel. (800) 445-4866 or (425) 889-0927; fax (425) 889-8699; email info@ars-nova.com; Web www.ars-nova.com

Electronic Courseware Systems (ECS) tel. (800) 832-4965; fax (217) 359-6578; email sales@ecsmedia.com; Web www.ecsmedia.com

Harmonic Vision tel. (800) 474-0903; fax (312) 726-1946; email sales@harmonicvision.com; Web www.harmonicvision.com

MiBAC Music Software tel. (800) 645-3945 or (507) 645-5851; fax (507) 645-2377; email info@mibac.com; Web www.mibac.com

Riverdeep/Edmark tel. (888) 242-6747 or (415) 763-4700; email info@riverdeep.net; Web www.riverdeep.net/edmark

Sibelius Software tel. (925) 280-0600; fax (925) 280-0008; email infoUSA@sibelius.com; Web www.sibelius.com

Viva Media tel. (212) 431-4420; fax (212) 431-4537; email mail@viva-media.com; Web www.viva-media.com/vivaMusic.html