Many claims have been made through the years about the success or failure of strategies that expect transfer of training to take place. Chalksoft proudly boast in the accompanying materials to these programs that "Rhythm & Pitch helps you improve your musical skills." Rather less ostentatiously on the back page, the author, Derek Riddell, claims the possibility of developing the musical "ear". These are different things and we would be wise to remember that! More realistically, we can look at these programs as a adjunct to the music teacher's time as it does present simply and boldly the type of exercises required by examining bodies up to CSE and 'O' level.

Surprisingly, the menu lists pitch tests before rhythm tests, but the accompanying notes (if you haven't lost them!) do suggest that the user begins with the rhythm exercises. In all categories ten questions are presented and different marking systems are used to score your results. The disc version is infinitely preferable in that allows the teacher to keep a record of the success (or failure) of the users. Here I must report that on the machines I used with a double disc drive attached the results sequence activated Drive 1, but even after transferring my disc I was still unable to retain my results as the program gave a systems error message. The strange fault only occurred with the pitch exercise so I am able to report that I wasn't very good on the rhythm exercises either.

Given that we accept the value of such exercise then these programs are well presented. The user has a choice of five colours to suit his situation (his decor perhaps!). The range of only three sound levels could have been wider and perhaps also a choice of tonal quality for the sounded examples.

As in other music software that I have reviewed some of the higher level rhythm exercises were made extra difficult by the computer's refusal to sustain resonance when choosing the slowest of the three available speeds. This also lead to the aural impression that rests needed to be added, as well as in some of the pitch examples producing some quite odd phrasing.

I think there can be little doubt that these programs will prove to be valuable tools in the harassed music teacher's armoury. Whether they give any indication of a child's musical aptitude is more questionable - but so are most of the wretched music syllabi that our luckless students have to study! Given the limitations of the exercise, and that after all is not in Chalksoft's control, I give a warm welcome to these materials.