Jalmus

Even though a computer with an active Internet connection is also home to distractions, given the proper applications and good will, a lot can be learned about nearly anything there is. When it comes to music, applications such as Jalmus give you the possibility to gain the knowledge to read notes with the help of an interactive keyboard display and helpful lessons.

At its core, the application is designed to provide a suitable environment to learn musical theory so you can read and write notes. The workspace is interactive, with piano keys available for input. Sadly, there is no keyboard support for an easier approach, with the mouse being the only method to interact with keys.

The application comes equipped with a large variety of lessons and three types of exercises. These are for note, rhythm and score reading. Depending on your knowledge level, you can customize each one to include only several notes, customize the clef display, beat and rhythm style.

Triggering an exercise reacts similar to a simple game where you have to press the corresponding note on the piano keys, with the possibility to get it wrong a few times before starting over. Lessons include basic, violin and sax, but only the first being able to provide some degree learning material.

However, after some time invested in using the application for music theory, you mostly find out how notes are positioned on the stave, with no actual music theory, or at least documentation with notes and other definitions for elements. What's more, there are no future updates planed to change all of these, since the application is a discontinued project.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Jalmus only provides the means to learn the basics about a stave and note placement. Lack of support for your keyboard is a major disappointment, with the incomplete lesson database leaving a lot more to be desired. Enthusiasts that really want to get solid knowledge are advised to look somewhere else.