Software for Learning, Teaching and Composing Music

MusicMastery is a comprehensive music learning and composition system for music enthusiasts from beginning students to professionals. MusicMastery uniquely gives teachers flexibility and complete control over music lessons and activities they create. The methods of creating lessons and activities were designed by musicians and music education professionals. Using these open-ended methods the educator can help students quickly master the important aspects of music. For example, MusicMastery separates melody learning into two parts: pitch learning and rhythm learning. Similarly, it separates melody creation into a two step process: rhythm creation and melody creation.

MusicMastery plays music through the MIDI Manager, OMS and QuickTime on Macintosh computers and through a MIDI device or sound card on Windows-based computers. MusicMastery plays full music chords of up to four timbres plus a percussive metronome note which you choose. It displays and prints musical symbols in five different sizes so that beginners and advanced users can view the desired amount of detail in their scores. MusicMastery has three main views:

• Composition View, in which you create music and you can choose music to scroll by when you play it
• Sheet View, in which the music is displayed in sheet form
• Lesson View, in which you can take lessons pressing buttons. You can take the provided lessons or create your own!

In the Sheet View, you can print high quality sheet music complete with title, lyric block (or subtitle), musical directives, two author names, two line footers (left and right) and page number. From the Composition View, you can print sections of the musical scores.

For more information see teacher testimonials, computer system Requirements, detailed Features and Sales pages.

Look at what teachers are saying about MusicMastery:

MusicMastery has changed the way we approach music learning in our district. As we work toward the National Standards, the Minnesota Standards, and our local standards, this remarkable software allows our teachers to customize lessons and specific content for individual classes and individual students.  We have designed lessons for composition, improvisation,  and dictation (melodic and rhythmic). We use it with large groups and a large monitor or video projector in the classroom,  and we use it in our computer labs with each individual student working through lessons at a pace that meets his or her learning needs.  We continue to offer training to our staff to help them use MusicMastery to its highest potential, and we have yet to find and utilize all of its features!  A round of applause to the developers! This is a great tool for classroom music!
Loretta Norgon, Coordinator, Classroom Music K-8 ISD 181, Brainerd Public Schools

I have used MusicMastery in my classroom for over seven years.  Our students had the opportunity to pilot the program on a networked system and give feedback for it’s development.  Over 1500 students at South View alone have used the program, and we also have a district license allowing all of our schools access to the program.  The main benefits that I see in the program are the ease of student use and the ability for each teacher to focus on specific skills and concepts which need to be practiced.  It can be used in either a lab setting or an individual work station, and with either a Mac or IBM platform.  Students quickly understand the program and begin creating immediately.  I highly recommend MusicMastery as a composition and drill and practice program!  
Janet Jans, South View Middle School, Edina, MN

I have been using Music Mastery for three years in a Mac-MIDI lab setting. My students are 4^th-6^th graders and I use it to teach the basics of composition. They love the fact that their compositions look so professional, they can have immediate results, and the fun player settings is the icing on the cake. I use it with specific guidelines such as “key of C, 8 measures long and 4/4 meter,”  which keeps the students on track yet gives them the freedom to create a wonderful piece of music to share with the class. The lessons and drills are also very helpful for backing up the basic theory which I teach. The best part of the whole process is that students are learning basic composition principles but don’t realize it because they are enjoying the software so much.  
Debra Graf , Valley Crossing Community School  

MusicMastery Features     

Here is a partial list of MusicMastery's many features and new ones:

• Improved! Pitch Mastery, Rhythm Mastery, and Melody Mastery activities where MusicMastery helps you through hidden drills. For example, in Pitch Mastery, you play in the note pitches of a drill while MusicMastery provides the rhythm. Check and easily compare your entry to the drill answer; wrong notes display red.

  

• Rhythm Creator and Melody Creator. Create a rhythm without worrying about pitch. Add pitch to create a melody—MusicMastery adds your rhythm!
• Music-educator designed drills and lessons. You easily create and tailor your own with the Lesson Creator—there are unlimited possibilities for music education!
• Network operation, where multiple computers can access a central server computer containing lessons and composition template settings
• On-screen keyboard, step-time and real-time MIDI keyboard input
• Change tempo, program, volume and key while music plays
• Metronome which you can completely configure
• Multiple voices and timbres per staff
• Friendly on-line User's Guide, tutorial and help to give you the information you need at the press of a button
• Full or partial diatonic or chromatic transpositions
• Independent and complete control of four musical voices and metronome play
• Multiple document design, allowing you to work on and paste among multiple scores at the same time
• Musical score can be viewed and printed in five different sizes
• MIDI file import and export (MIDI Format 0 and Format 1)
• High resolution music printout. You have complete control of titles, lyric blocks, footers, and fonts.
• Intuitive document setup with full margin control
• Question/answer drill capability
• Multiple part two-staff harmony drills
• Printable lesson progress report with student name and class identifier
• Self-contained lesson files for easy e-mail and Internet distribution
• Selectable primary and secondary accent metronome note velocities!
• Automatic note beaming with selectable beaming interval
• MIDI percussion instruments selectable by note position or via setup dialog!
• Multiple clefs and key and time signature capability
• Undo command which removes the most recently added symbol or restores the symbols most recently deleted
• Open Music System (OMS) MIDI support (Macintosh version only)
• On-screen keyboard keys move when the MIDI keyboard keys are pressed and when music plays!

The following features are new to MusicMastery 4:

• Unlimited progress tracking. You can monitor and record your students' drill and practice and question and answer progress, recall their records, and print out reports
• 15 Lessons. Comprehensive music-educator designed rhythm, pitch and question and answer lessons are provided
• Improved point and click access. Access views and lessons with just the click of a button
• Selectable symbol bar. You can setup and save the symbol bar with just the symbol buttons you need
• Pitch limiting. You can setup your composition templates and drills so that only certain pitches (e.g. Sol, Mi) are allowed
• Quick start video-based tutorial. Tutorial provided on CD to get you started right away
• Measure numbers. You can optionally turn them on or off in the sheet and composition (linear) views
• Expandable on-screen keyboard. You can select either 4 or 5 octaves
• Lesson button icons. You can choose attractive and music oriented icons for your lesson buttons
• Free internet updating. You can instantly download updates via the Internet

Copyright Ó Northern Lights Technologies, 1995-2007, All rights reserved

MusicMastery is a registered trademark of Northern Lights Technologies
Windows is a Trademark of Microsoft Corporation
Macintosh is a registered trademark and QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.

Revised 02/10/07