JamaMambo

• Title: JamaMambo • Authors: Craig Gonci and Marc Jacoby • Publisher: [|The Music Interactive] • Copyright Date: none given • Platform: Macintosh, Wintel • Peripherals: Speakers or headphones, mouse • Grade/Age: Mid/Late Elementary • Type of Class: General Music (could be used in instrumental classes)
 * 1. CITATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION**

• Documentation: Very limited. "Help" page within program gives instructions on how to play. • Objectives: Rhythm pattern recognition, notation identification • Lesson plans: None included; developers recommend use of interactive whiteboard
 * 2. TEACHER SUPPORT**

This is a software-directed drill-and-practice rhythm recognition game. In this program, students are asked to listen to a short (one measure of common time) rhythm "sung" by an alien named Sammy. They then select the rhythm they heard from three notated choices. If the student chooses correctly, the alien does one of a series of dances (unrelated to the rhythmic material and in a techno or hip-hop style) and a yellow block is added to the progress bar before immediately proceeding to the next question. If the student chooses incorrectly, a gray bar is shown on the progress meter and the student can re-try the rhythm. No time limit exists. Rhythms can include eighth, quarter, dotted quarter, half, dotted half. and whole, as well as rests, and may be syncopated. An optional click track can be toggled on or off.
 * 3. INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT**

• National Music Standards that could be addressed through this software: 5. Reading and notating music; 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.


 * 4. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS**

• This program is a drill-and-practice instructional game suitable for middle-to-late elementary students with a preexisting knowledge of basic and intermediate rhythm patterns. • Synthesized sound can be a bit jarring, graphics are very colorful and stylized. Some students may be confused by the fact that the alien's "jam" does not have any relationship to the rhythm that is being tested. • User interface is limited to "Help," "Play Again," a click track toggle, and "Quit" but does allow students to progress at own pace and exit at any time.

• Sequence of Materials: Fair (fully randomized, no difficulty curve) • Pace of Instruction: Good (student-controlled) • Quality of Interaction: Good (clean interface, simple structure is easy for students to grasp right away) • Motivation for Students: Fair (students may be amused by this program for a limited time but the repetitive quality of the rhythms and dances means that this has limited relay value for individual students.

5. RECORD KEEPING • Hall of Fame? No • Student Records? No

6. OVERALL EVALUATION • This colorful drill-and-practice game may have initial appeal to young students but the extensive amount of repetition means it does not have long-term usefulness for individual students. Some students (especially those on the autism spectrum) may find the sounds and graphics distracting.

The game, while simplistic in execution, is well-designed in terms of accomplishing the goal of rhythm pattern recognition. There is a good variety of patterns and randomization works well. The relative difficulty of the patterns demands prerequisite knowledge and understanding of basic rhythm patterns as well as dotted and syncopated ones.

Overall, a decent application, especially for freeware, that accomplishes a straightforward goal in a way that younger students should find reasonably engaging.

•Rating -- ** 1/2

7. Reviewed by Rachel Gamin 6/14/2011