My Piano
© 2008 eMedia Music Corp.
An ideal supplement to beginning piano lessons, eMedia's My Piano is best described as an interactive piano book. The content is organized into five chapters, each with about 20 lessons that range from types of pianos, to the finer points of crescendos and diminuendos. Video demonstrations help guide children through key concepts, and the timed games reinforce skills like note names, basic ear training and music notation. An animated character named Pam The Piano (based on a real teacher, Irma Irene Justicia) starts with proper hand position and names of notes. It then moves on to playing songs and reading music. Other features include a built-in metronome, a recorder, and the ability to plug in a MIDI keyboard to show the child when incorrect notes are played and what should have been played instead. This is an optional, but very impressive feature. Songs include 34 beginner's titles, and it is possible to jump from lesson to lesson. There are no record keeping features. Keep in mind that this is not the type of program that works by itself, unless a child is unusually motivated.
$30, Windows, Mac OSX
Teaches: music, piano
CTR Rating: 92%