It's also one of the education areas that hasn't benefited a lot from the ubiquity of personal computers. But most music basics and theory are still delivered in school or at private lessons. A Windows-Macintosh product called Music Ace 2 might change that. It's from Harmonic Vision, an Evanston, Ill., company. The student's guide throughout is Maestro Max, an animated conductor.
Appropriate behavior is rewarded by praise and audience applause.
What makes Music Ace 2 stand out is attention to detail. When an audio clip is played to illustrate a concept, for example, the composer and title appear and the notes are displayed as animated heads that sing the appropriate tone at the appropriate time. The Singing Notes are cute. Overall, the software contains more than 2,000 music examples from 75 composers, used to deliver 24 lessons. The lessons are teamed with games that reinforce the content.