Making sounds on the Apple is not too difficult, and if you've got a package like Electric Duet you'll know that making music is within the machine's basic capabilities. In fact, if you've ever heard David Ellis perform, you'll know the heights to which you can aspire on the Apple.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the current boom in educational software has produced a music tutor for the Apple.

Early Games Music is written by John Paulson, an active composer, conductor and music teacher. He also happens to be president of Counterpoint Software which publishes the package. According to the manual, it is designed for children aged four to 12, or the musical novice of any age. The price is about £25.

The package consists of four modules. In Perform mode the numeric keys of the Apple produce musical notes and the accompanying display can be a keyboard, treble clef or bass clef.

As a key is pressed the corresponding note is played and displayed on the keyboard or staff. In addition to performing, you can also record your efforts and play them back.

Guido's Quiz also allows a choice of keyboard, treble or bass clefs. The letters of the scale appear, then one by one they are replaced by a question mark. Each time, you must identify the note by pressing the appropriate letter key. A correct response results in the removal of the letter from the display. When all the letters have been removed, the quiz continues with just the question mark displayed on the keyboard or staff.

The Melody Tutor is, by its own admission, little more than a Simon variant, using simple tunes. The keyboard format and numeric keys are employed, with the tune built up one note at a time in typical Simon fashion.

There are six tunes on the disc, like Jingle Bells and This Old Man, but you can also use tunes which you have recorded using the keyboard in the Perform mode.

Finally, Kaleidoscore allows you to perform, record or playback a tune, but adds a coloured shape to the screen each time a note is played.

All four modules are linked via a picture menu. Pressing ESC from any module recalls the picture menu, which cycles through all the options.

When you see the picture you want, pressing any key runs it. There is also a text menu which can be accessed using Ctrl-I while in the picture menu. Obviously some thought has gone into this package. For example, in the sections where the learner is being tested, there is always direct correspondence between the display and the keypress required.

If numeric keys are being used for input, the keyboard notes are labelled with the numbers. If treble or bass clef is being used, the appropriate letter keys are used for input.

In thie way, the learner doesn't have to remember a translation code of which keys produce which notes.

However, the package suffers from a basic problem - the minimum time between notes is a bit long. This, combined with a not unreasonable fixed note length, means all the tunes have a slow, chunky feel to them.

In Guido's Quiz, this is not serious. The aim is to teach basic notation and the speed is reasonable. Furthermore, the easy section can be skipped using Ctrl-J. In Perform mode, the problem is more acute, and when using the Melody Tutor it is a real drawback.

Remembering the sequence of notes could be fun, but having to enter them at dirge speed puts the emphasis on memory, not music. Graphically, the package is quite strong, having been created with the aid of Penguin's Complete Graphics System II and Special Effects.

However, the irony is that it is probably the time needed to produce decent graphics which gives the long inter-note interval.

Overall, the quiz is a very useful teaching aid and the kaleidoscope has novelty value. However, the children I got to try the package preferred performing, recording and playing back on a Casio VL1, complete with adjustable rhythm accompaniment which in total costs little more than this package.

If I had time, I'd work on interfacing the Casio to the package because the combination would be quite good. It's clear now why David Ellis needs so much *more* than just the Apple.