These general labs allow students to use music-learning software and provide music teachers a resource that they can use in the way that writing teachers use word processing software. The key to using a general computer lab is knowing how to set up the software to produce sound without MIDI keyboards or external sound modules. Figure 1 below indicates the software and hardware components and how they work together to produce sound. While the aural quality of internal sound sources will be less pleasing than that of external MIDI keyboards or sound modules, it is acceptable for many classroom music activities. He or she uses the mouse to click notes onto a staff displayed on the monitor.
Headphones then amplify the notes that the student hears.