It would be even better if they had street view enabled.
Suggestion to Google - send up a fleet of Google Rovers and trace out all the old Martian roads. While you're at it, do the Moon as well - we need some new pictures from there.
There's also software for helping you out with your pitch while playing, etc.. I wouldn't bother (you can talk to your teacher about this as well). Playing along with a recording, and just playing for your teacher will give you better feedback.
Actually, I think that one of the things that software can help with in learning a musical instrument is that any feedback it gives you is totally impersonal and "artificial". [now for blatant self-promotion] With Sing & See (http://singandsee.com/) one of the comments we have heard a number of times is that teachers and students find it useful because it is an "impartial 3rd party" giving feedback - if it says your voice is flat, there's no negative undercurrent, but simply a "fact" given by a machine - so the student doesn't feel any put-down, and the teacher and student can more easily process that information and work on how to improve the voice. Possibly the same issues are not so severre with instruments other than the voice.
Another thing with computer feedback (I'm talking about visual feedback) is that it gives a visual representation of the performance that can complement the aural sensations. Many people are visually focussed (including probably most of those who spend their time in front of the computer) so this added information can help the student in learning the aural skills and the motor skills required for performance. Obviously there are issues about coming to rely on external feedback, and there's quite a bit of research going on at present into how best to incorporate visual feedback into motor skills learning in general - not just music but also in sports and other areas, but I think there is quite a bit of evidence that this type of software can help (I'll collate some of it if anyone is interested)
There are lots of problems with Smartmusic. First, the interface. It's terrible. It is my biggest complaint with the program. Second, the "Jazz" section does not let you print out anything. Third, when you play with it, say if you are a drummer, it lags behind on the screen. On my Mac Mini it couldn't refresh at the start of a bar the same time the music was. Fourth, the sounds. Cheezy. Big time.
Give "In The Chair" http://www.inthechair.com/ a go - the interface is much nicer than smartmusic, and it uses real recordings (sound+video) rather than MIDI. It is still quite an early stage product, so the quantity of available music is still small, but it's growing pretty fast. And the timing is mostly pretty good (ok, I admit it, I did the timing so I'm completely biased)
Printing sheet music is always going to be an issue with these programs because of the music publishers - anything copyrighted can only be printed if you pay them the price for a printed copy.
The whole issue of how these kinds of computer programs are used in learning music is still in its infancy - there are the "ear trainers" and the "sight reading trainers" and even the "teach you to play" packages, but possibly one of the best things that software can offer is simply help with practice. As a couple of other posters have noted, the main thing you need to do is to practice. For a lot of people, having something like In the Chair that gives you some interactive feedback (and video accompaniment) while you're practising is going to help make that practice more interesting. And the feedback can help also because it gives you a pretty unbiased response about how you're performing (as long as you remember that the computer doesn't have very good ears so isn't going to be perfect in its assessments)
Slashdot Mirror
Or else something else shows up...
How cool is Google?
It would be even better if they had street view enabled.
Suggestion to Google - send up a fleet of Google Rovers and trace out all the old Martian roads. While you're at it, do the Moon as well - we need some new pictures from there.
Actually, I think that one of the things that software can help with in learning a musical instrument is that any feedback it gives you is totally impersonal and "artificial". [now for blatant self-promotion] With Sing & See (http://singandsee.com/) one of the comments we have heard a number of times is that teachers and students find it useful because it is an "impartial 3rd party" giving feedback - if it says your voice is flat, there's no negative undercurrent, but simply a "fact" given by a machine - so the student doesn't feel any put-down, and the teacher and student can more easily process that information and work on how to improve the voice. Possibly the same issues are not so severre with instruments other than the voice.
Another thing with computer feedback (I'm talking about visual feedback) is that it gives a visual representation of the performance that can complement the aural sensations. Many people are visually focussed (including probably most of those who spend their time in front of the computer) so this added information can help the student in learning the aural skills and the motor skills required for performance. Obviously there are issues about coming to rely on external feedback, and there's quite a bit of research going on at present into how best to incorporate visual feedback into motor skills learning in general - not just music but also in sports and other areas, but I think there is quite a bit of evidence that this type of software can help (I'll collate some of it if anyone is interested)
Give "In The Chair" http://www.inthechair.com/ a go - the interface is much nicer than smartmusic, and it uses real recordings (sound+video) rather than MIDI. It is still quite an early stage product, so the quantity of available music is still small, but it's growing pretty fast. And the timing is mostly pretty good (ok, I admit it, I did the timing so I'm completely biased)
Printing sheet music is always going to be an issue with these programs because of the music publishers - anything copyrighted can only be printed if you pay them the price for a printed copy.
The whole issue of how these kinds of computer programs are used in learning music is still in its infancy - there are the "ear trainers" and the "sight reading trainers" and even the "teach you to play" packages, but possibly one of the best things that software can offer is simply help with practice. As a couple of other posters have noted, the main thing you need to do is to practice. For a lot of people, having something like In the Chair that gives you some interactive feedback (and video accompaniment) while you're practising is going to help make that practice more interesting. And the feedback can help also because it gives you a pretty unbiased response about how you're performing (as long as you remember that the computer doesn't have very good ears so isn't going to be perfect in its assessments)
I find that using ZIT files for emailing EXEs gets through GMail with no problems
So maybe the virus can do some useful pruning (did I hear culling) of the exploding population of AIM users. When's the best season to start?