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spacer all reviews > > > music software

Tooning Up - The C Major Scale

Universal Child Productions, Ltd

Ages 3 to 8

Rating Scale
5 = great,    1 = poor
Educational Value
3.0
Kid Appeal
3.0
Ease of Use
5.0

Tooning Up - The C Major Scale arrow indentSystem Requirements

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Tooning Up - The C Major Scale (Episode 1) is an educational music game that teaches the notes of the C major scale through lessons and games. There is a lesson for each note: C D E F G A B. Games and printable flashcards and a workbook drill and test the player’s understanding of the lessons. Unlike the program Playing Music, this game teaches the notes of the C major scale; it does not aim to teach dynamics and mood of music.

Educational Value

Tooning Up - The C Major Scale includes very animated lessons and games. Games include mimicking C scale tunes after hearing them played, and writing, recording, and playing back the player’s own tunes. Also, C scale workbooks and flashcards can be printed from the game for extra practice. Sadly, our testers felt that the flashcards and workbook are more educational than the game itself. Perhaps when it comes to learning notes and scales, it's best to learn on a real instrument.

Kid Appeal

Tooning Up - The C Major Scale is very energetic with cheering sounds, cartoon characters, and electric colors that prevent boredom. Whenever a lesson is completed, there is a celebration of colors and dancing cartoons with giant words YOU ROCK flashing on the screen. Positive reinforcement can’t get bolder than that. Our young reviewers thought that getting to act the part of a music composer by creating original songs and recording them was creative and fun. But, the game (not counting workbook and flashcards) can be completed in less than a day. There is not much content so they found it hard to get obsessed/ addicted to the game. One commented that, "After learning the seven notes and writing a few original songs, the game gets old. However, it's fun while it lasts."

Ease of Use / Install

The program is played off the CD— no installation is required. The menu is arranged into a house. By clicking on the different doors, a new lesson can be accessed. There are separate buttons for composing music and printing the extra educational material. Navigation is simple and intuitive.

Best for... / Bottom-Line

Tooning Up is only educational for kids being exposed to music notation for the first time and cannot match the education gained from playing a real musical instrument. If a child has already played an instrument before, the game is too basic.

See SuperKids' comparisons with other Music software titles, and the Buyers Guide for current market prices of the product.

System Requirements
PC: Windows 2000 and later, 300 MHz Pentium II or faster cpu, 128 MB RAM, CD-ROM .

Mac: OS 10.1 or later, 400 MHz G3 or faster cpu, 128 MB RAM, CD-ROM .

Reviewed on:
-     Pentium 4 - 3GHz running Windows XP, with 1GB RAM and 24x - CD-ROM
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