Music+Mentor+2.0

GENERAL INFORMATION

 * Title - Music Mentor 2.0
 * Publisher - Midisoft Corporation
 * © 1991-1995(newer version 2001-2006)
 * Platform -Windows only
 * Midi keyboard is not required, but useful in this program
 * Age - Late Junior High School, High School, Adult
 * Focus - Music History, Music Theory, Composition
 * Availability - Not available in this version. New version is Quick Start Music Mentor, which is available at http://www.midisoft.com.

TEACHER SUPPORT

 * Music Mentor comes with a very detailed instruction manual. The manual is organized into different sections for the Music Mentor program and the Mentor Personal Studio which are both included in the same installation. An indexed help menu is also available in the program.

INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT

 * This software is designed to introduce students to fundamental musical concepts that are used for composition. Music Mentor is in a tutorial style and provides background information for the following musical concepts: melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre, texture, and form. Each of these topics is covered using text, standard notation, and sound clips. The categories are further divided into: basics, early music, baroque, classical, romantic, and modern. In other words, users can choose to read about basic rhythm, rhythm in baroque music, rhythm in modern music, etc.
 * The Mentor Personal Studio is a composition program with midi capabilities. Basic sound mixing functions are also included in the program. Standard music notation is used and transposition is possible. Music may be entered on tracks via midi-keyboard or manually using a keyboard and a mouse.
 * National Standards that could be addressed are:
 * 2) Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
 * 3) Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
 * 4) Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
 * 5) Reading and notating music
 * 6) Understanding music in relation to history and culture

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS

 * This is a visually clean program. The tutorials in Music Mentor are easy to understand and provide excellent, yet simple definitions of a variety of musical concepts. Some humorous pictures with captions are provided occasionally, which may motivate students to continue reading. The midi examples provided in the tutorial are out-of-date in terms of sound quality, but students can still get an idea of the overall concepts.
 * Users are able to move through the tutorials at their own pace and it is easy to return to a section for quick reference whenever necessary.
 * The Mentor Personal Studio portion of Music Mentor is out-of-date. This portion of the software runs very similarly to more modern notation software. The users are free to compose, arrange, and mix their own compositions.
 * Music Mentor is more suitable for high school or adult musicians, but advanced junior high/middle school students would certainly be able to work with the program as well. Students interested in further experience with composition should understand that this program provides very basic information and that further study using additional resources may be useful.

RECORD KEEPING

 * Students are able to save their work from the Mentor Personal Studio.

OVERALL EVALUATION

 * This program may have been excellent when it first came out. The portion of the software that explains musical concepts in terms of history could still be a useful resource for beginning and intermediate musicians if able to run on a computer. The studio portion of the software is out dated and no longer exsist in this form. A newer version has been published under a new name: [|QuickStart Music Mentor.]

Rating ** Fair (in this version)

Reviewed by Stacey Kolthammer, April 9, 2006 Revised: Adam Albright, 4/10/07