Many years ago I was one of the many fortunate (?) children sent on the road to passing music grade exams. Memories of sitting for hours with dry music theory workbooks trying to work out the tonic triad of G Major came flooding back as I sat down with these programs. Would I receive again those disdainful looks as I put in the incorrect rest or managed to get wrong, yet again the key signature of G- minor?

These were fears that I am sure I was not alone in encountering but now comes Ardsoft with an answer, or so they say in the rather meagre accompanying notes. Many claims are made about the motivational factors coming from the use of the computer's sound facilities and these for once can be largely substantiated. In fact, Ardsoft has produced a most impressive package that can be used with children and adult learners alike from, it is suggested, the age of nine upwards.

The course presupposes no existing knowledge of musical theory and takes the beginner at a moderate (if sometimes, for my taste, a little too slow) pace through the basic elements of reading and understanding musical notation. Rhythm and pitch are introduced separately and reinforcement exercises such as clapping rhythms and counting note values are required. Each program is divided into Chapters and Sections according to the areas of the subject being attempted. The programs can be entered at the various sub-stages listed in the individual menus provided.

At strategic points in the course, "Information Tester" programs are introduced which give the pupil direct feedback on how well he/she is doing. The last two programs are music examination papers similar to the kind used by institutions such as the Associated Board of Music.

Comprehensiveness is the keyword of this course. Indeed, all Grade 1 theory is covered in detail and much of Grade 2 also. Structure and progression have been very well thought out and all the practical exercises lead on well from one another. The six parts of the teaching course are subdivided into sections dealing separately with rhythm and pitch and in part six, expression marks in both English and Italian are introduced.

When errors are made the pupil is either given on screen clues or references to other sections of the programs to be revised or is sent directly to other screens to accomplish that revision. This is all very well managed. Occasionally, however, a silly slip on the keyboard can lead to frustration as you are whisked away from your work to a revision screen. Perhaps an "Are you sure?" query could have been used to trap errors arising from keyboard "slips".

In any scheme of such a comprehensive nature there are bound to be some niggling points and this package was no exception. The following are examples of a few such niggles:

In Program 2 the dot marking sounding notes did not "reshow" for second semi-breve.

The statement: "This (bar line) is to show the main accents of the music" is, I have found, a misleading statement and often causes children to place unnecessary attention to the first beat in the bar. Many recorder tutors, for instance, use folk material for their examples, and this could be very damaging to children's interpretation. One thing contemporary music has shown us is that the domination of the barline is now past – so we must be careful!

When counting note value in the exercise, why has more care not been taken over last notes in musical phrases - none of the semibreves count their full value?

The term "tetrachord" is introduced in Program 4 without any explanation. In Program 6, the diagram showing why F- is needed in the scale of G Major links B and D instead of B and C.

Program 7: although clapping examples in 3/8 time for instance, are naturally fast, some allowance needs to be made for learners who would find the speeds excessive.

Program 11: when entering the scales the bass line should line up with the treble and this causes visual confusion. When sounding the notes of the tonic triad, the indicating dot should appear along side the sounding note rather than underneath. Perhaps the note could have been made to flash whilst sounding?

Programs 14-18: explanations of using accents with slurs needs a "sounding" example.

These are all small points put alongside the overall excellence of the programs. Perhaps a more positive response to correct answers could have been given and a more colourful screen display would have been welcome, but a great deal of care and expertise has obviously gone into this enterprise and it is all too easy to nit-pick. If you are going in for musical grade exams then this program would be tremendously helpful. Equally, if you just want to learn musical notation then I can think of no less painful or thorough way of doing it. Congratulations Ardsoft - let's have some more - but somewhere, how about reminding pupils that musical inspiration lies outside musical theory not alongside it!