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Blending the rich world-renowned music, dance and drama traditions of The Juilliard School with multimedia technology produces a musical software classic for kids 9 and up, Juilliard Music Adventure.

Kids with an ear for music (including classical, jazz, latin, pop or rock) can master rhythm and melody as they play a medieval game full of mystery and intrigue and musical puzzles. Queen Chantre’s Queendom has been robbed of its music by an evil-doing gnome named Gnoise. Of course, she’s trapped in an amulet and needs your child’s help to regain the castle and restore music to her Queendom. Kids pal around with a good guy named Fiddle and learn to master Rhythm and Melody tools in this three-level adventure as they explore all of the rooms inside (the Royal Kitchen, the Princess’ Bedroom, Dragon’s Lair, Blacksmith’s Armory and Throne Room) and outside (Courtyard, Castle Drawbridge, and Chess Garden) the castle and solve musical challenges to earn keys to unlock magical doors. Along the way, kids create original composition performances, which can be saved and played back to animated scenes that move with the music.

Although the interface isn’t as intuitive as it could be and the tools seem to be a tad on the complicated side, my kid tester, age 12 (who plays the violin and piano) didn’t seem frustrated by it and was intent on learning how to use the Rhythm and Melody tools. Three instruments can be played simultaneously using the Rhythm tool, while in Melody, you can control both rhythm and pitch. Kids manipulate Tiles (clicking and dragging them into position) which act as musical building blocks. The Playback area is where kids place the tiles to create a musical piece, while clicking the Play button allows them to play the tiles back in order from left to right. To change the musical notes, you’ll have to enter the Editors section, while younger kids with little or no music background will enjoy the Banks of pre-made rhythms and pitches, which makes music composition easier.

Kids can identify instruments by sound; understand meter, rhythm, and melodic shape, combine pitch and rhythm to create melodies; compose and arrange music; and learn to appreciate different forms and styles of music by playing Juilliard Music Adventure. Destined to be a software classic, this CD-ROM helps budding musicians through the assistance of multimedia technology. Not bad for less than $35!