Practica Musica 4.5 (Windows/Macintosh)

Works great. Arrived quickly.

bought 5, got 4. Version 4.X upgrades to 5 free on AN site; V4 does...not. O well - in due course the cool active-in-the-community business accepted the return and made...the . . . refund .

I got this package on Ebay for a killer deal and I am glad I did not pay the full price for it.The strength of the package is that it allows you to view your progress and gives your instructor some degree of control. The weakness is that the program is very confusing to work with and not user friendly.On the menu you have to choose from a drop down list of activities. The program gives you NO idea of where to start. Which activities should I do first?The book cancels out some of the confusion. However....the book should have been more practical and more easier to read...too rigid as one person said.I would not suggest this for the absolute beginner.

A very shoddy, sloppy unreliable program that always seems to have some type of problem with connecting to the internet, clearly communicating your progress, and crediting completed exercises. The ridiculous amount of time you put into figuring out the bugs/inconsistencies is very discouraging and distracting to anyone new to reading music.

I took music theory classes for two years in college, got my undergraduate degree in music, became a professional musician and never felt like I really understood music theory until a fellow musician told me about Practica Musica. The really great thing about using this program is that you can practice and practice and practice each new thing that you learn until you really know it. You always know if you're getting it because the program gives you constant feedback (something I didn't get in school!) This product has really helped me with ear training. When you give an incorrect answer you can compare your answer with the correct one. Hearing the two side by side is very helpful. Practica comes with a great theory book written just to go with the software. It's written for someone who knows nada about music, but it covers just about everything I studied in school and I have to confess that I learned a lot from it.I found the software easy to use and I'm not a techie. I haven't tried any of the other music theory software, but my friend uses it to teach music fundamentals at a CC and she told me that it's the best out there. I can believe it.