Musicsuite multimedia software is on a CD-Rom but can also be networked. It is designed to support music at key stage 3. In seven modules, it uses interactive video samples of many music genres not just the classical music you’d expect from the publisher, OnlineClassics, part of the cable outfit Digital Classics. Users of the software get access to www.onlineclassics with its 100 hours of world-class performances, and there are online and offline activities geared to the QCA schemes of work.

A school site licence costs pound;300 and it’s approved by Curriculum Online so you can use your Electronic Learning Credits.

OnlineClassics

Tel: 020 7636 1400

www.onlineclassicseducation. com

Nine-hit wonder

Music in Action Together, from the Wakefield Music Centre, comprises nine original classroom ensemble pieces suitable for upper key stage 2 and lower KS3, a full score for the teacher, separate photocopiable parts for pupils and a CD of backing tracks for teaching and performance purposes.

Music in Action Together, book and CD; pound;20 plus postage.

Lovely Music, 17 Westgate, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire LS24 9JB

Tel: 01937 832946

Klezmer’s covered

World Music: Klezmer offers musical arrangements of The Silver Crown and other works by Yale Strom, a Klezmer scholar-musician whose research has focused on the Jewish and Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The booklets cover flute, saxophone, clarinet, violin and ensemble.

Play-Along series: World Music; Klezmer, booklets with CD edited by Yale Strom. pound;8.95 each; pound;14.95 (ensemble booklet) Universal Edition, 48 Great Marlborough Street,London W1F 7BB

Tel: 020 7437 6880

www.universaledition.com

Speaking of musical lingo

Listen Hear! has a CD-Rom which offers definitions of musical concepts, scores to illustrate them, video clips of musical techniques in action, soundtracks including extracts from Renaissance to rock, classical, jazz and world music.

Listen Hear! Understanding the Language of Music, CD-Rom; pound;19.98.

Articulate Music, 36 Kilrymont Road, St Andrews, Scotland KY16 8DE; tel: 01334 473277 www.articulatemusic.com

What do you want, jam on it?

With Jam Academy’s Band Jam, you can play along with top professional musicians. Guides are included for guitar, bass, keyboard, harmonica and singers. Contains eight complete songs in rock, blues, country, reggae and latin styles.

Jam Academy: Band Jam, combined CD-Rom and DVD; pound;14.95 or pound;24.95 (including DVD) No Excuses Guides www.noexcusesguides.com

Seaside singalong

Under the Sea is a handy audio cassette offering 60 minutes of salty sea songs for young children.

Under the Sea, audio cassette; pound;3, produced for the Early Learning Centre by CYP Ltd, The Fairway, Bush Fair, Harlow, Essex; tel: 01279 444707

www.kidsmusic.co.uk

Brass for beginners

The Brass Repertoire books contain easy pieces for beginners, including classical, pop, jazz and world music. They can be used with stages 1-4 of the method books. The Palladio arrangement is an ideal showpiece for brass quintet.

Brass Repertoire books, pound;8.99 each; Palladio for brass quintet Pounds 24.99. Boosey Hawkes, 295 Regent Street, London W1B 2JH; tel: 020 7580 2060 www.boosey.com

More choral capers The Choral Basics series has some new titles covering gospel and classic spiritual; songs from South Africa; “Danny Boy” and other classic Irish melodies. It also offers volume one of Abba’s smash hits.

Choral Basics pound;2.95 per booklet. Faber Music, Burnt Mill, Elizabeth Way, Harlow CM20 2HX

Tel: 01279 828989 www.fabermusic.com

On a high note for revision

A revision guide for GCSE music has a range of practice materials that meet AQA, OCR and Edexcel specifications for music theory.

GCSE Music: Revision Guide (Core Content); GCSE Music: Areas of Study (OCR Specification). Schools’ price pound;4.50 (guide); pound;4 (workbook). Coordination Group Publications, Kirkby in Furness, Cumbria LA17 7WZ

Tel: 0870 7501262; www.cgpbooks.co.uk

Tobin in her own words

Lifting the Lid is the new autobiography by Candida Tobin, known for devising the Tobin Music System, which imaginatively combines pattern and colour to illuminate music theory for children, Tobin reveals how her personal experiences from early childhood have influenced her method.

Lifting the Lid by Candida Tobin; pound;10. Helicon Press, The Old Malthouse, Knight Street, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire CM21 9AX

www.tobinmusic.co.uk

Buyers’ guide to hardware

A new guide to software applications for Mac and PC compares rival systems to help readers in choosing purchases or upgrades and is packed with tutorials and advice.

Choosing and Using Audio and Music Software by Mike Collins; pound;34.99 (paperback). Focal Press, Elsevier Ltd, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP Tel: 01865 314572 www.focalpress.com