Groove+Builder

Title & URL:

 * Wholenote.com Groove Bulder
 * 
 * Groove Builder opens in a frame on the same page

Authority:

 * Domain: .com. This .com domain is appropriate for the rest of the site as there are products (such as guitar accessories, amplifiers, cases, and guitars) available for sale through this website.
 * Authors: Christopher Sung, Sean Kelly, Jim Burger
 * Multiple awards have been won by this site for its quality and content. All can be seen on the website's award page (again, opens in a fram so no specific URL is available). A link search listed about 800 sites linking to this webpage and it is backed by [|eTonal Media], propriators of several other online music educational information sharing communities.

Instructional Content:
While this site is packed with education information, ranging from lessons designed by website users incorperating midi playback and tabliture, to composition lessons, to forums, to basic information to chord spellers and drill applications, this review focuses on the Groove Builder offered by the website. The Groove Builder is a web application similar to Band-in-a-Box. Users simply develop a chord progression and enter the progression into the application, then select a style and tempo. The application then generates a midi loop of the chord progression using the idiom that was selected. Users are then free to practice improvisation or develop counter melodies over their chord progression. I would deem this source as very reliable as it is backed by propriators of other similar websites and is linked to by multiple other websites and even though the articles and lessons are designed by users, the site is moderated by the propriators. MENC Standards addressed: The website is constantly being updated as users add more information to the website. The latest copyright is from 2007.
 * Standard 2: Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
 * Standard 3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniaments
 * Standard 4: Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines

Purpose, Viewpoint:

 * As stated in the website's about page: "As an experiment, [|Christopher Sung] and [|Sean Kelly], being both avid guitarists and programmers, decided to create a unique community-based website to cater to the two strongest characteristics inherent to guitarists: their desire to get better, and their generosity in sharing what they know. The result of this meeting was the conception of the WholeNote.com website." The webstie was created so that users could share information to help other users improve their guitar and musical skills.
 * Again, the site is sposored by [|eTonal Media], which also sponsors other similar educational sites
 * Since the website is a collaborative site for guitar enthusiasts, no specific viewpoint is adopted by the website. The site, however, does contain a "resources" page with links to several hundred other websites (all categorized) with various topics.
 * There is no specific viewpoint adopted by the website, so no bias is evident

Reputation:

 * The site is linked to by about 800 other sites of a similar nature.
 * Several professional educational sites link to this page

Overall Evaluation
Overall, I believe that the entire site and specifically the groove builder are excellent sources for any music educator to use with a class or even for a private person to study on their own. I personally found the groove builder extremely useful as improvisation is a technique that is sometimes overlooked in an education and this application allows for a student to hone that specific skill in a fun, interesting, and productive manner.

Rating: * * * *

Michael Pavlik (4/5/2007)