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Morton Subotnick's HEARING MUSIC

© Kay Pluta

There it is right on the box - a little gold circle that states "The game that teaches you how to listen." Don't get too excited, buying this game is not likely to get your kids to clean their rooms, take out the garbage, or do their homework the first time you ask. But it will teach them to listen to music, to recognize the connection between the melody they hear and the one they see written down, and give them the chance to learn about Western musical tradition. There are four games included on this program. Each has four difficulty levels.

Comparing Game - Click on the decorated balloon to hear a piece of music. Click on the balloon with the question mark to hear another. Then choose whether the pieces are the same or different. At advanced levels you must figure out "how" the two pieces are different. For example, is the second piece slower, lower, backwards, or upside down as compared to the first?

Matching Game - Select two pieces of music out of three or four that match each other exactly. The music becomes more complex as you change difficulty level, requiring you to listen more closely. At level four you listen for a piece that is similar but not the same as the key melody.

Reading Game - A friendly fellow sits on a bench reading a musical score as if it were a newspaper. Click on the green arrow beside him and listen to the music. Now click on the written piece of music that matches. It's easy to begin with because you can match the number of notes and whether they repeat, go up, or go down. But it gets much harder on the more advanced levels.

Ordering Game - Click on the silhouetted train to hear the melody. Below are characters, each of which represents a part of the melody. Click on a character to hear the phrase, and then seat the characters in order on the train. I was disappointed that if you make a mistake you don't get a chance at the same piece again. Instead the program moves on to the next piece. However, you can check your arrangement before hitting okay. I thought this game was the most fun and challenging of the four.

The CD-ROM also includes an About Music section. This is very informative with amusing drawings, but the soft slow narrator's voice might not hold some kids' attention. Also included is a Note to Parents and Teachers, which explains the program and gives tools to keep track of individual users and also assess the progress of each player/student. There is also a Padlock feature that keeps children from accessing scores, student lists, or other controls parents and teachers would rather not be changed. This feature is easily turned on and off.

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