LenMus Phonascus

Learning music is one of the activities that can be started in school. If not, you can let passion drive you into discovering what gives you the chills when listening to favorite tunes. A computer greatly helps in this regard, with an abundance of applications like LenMus Phonascus that aim to replace your ordinary music teacher with comprehensive, interactive lessons for supposedly better performance.

A short and uneventful setup process makes sure everything is safely deployed so you can enjoy all the app has to offer. With a simple interface, fitted with an upper toolbar that holds quick access links to most functions, as well as enough rooms for the interactive lessons, accommodation is amongst the least of your worries.

You start off with a MIDI wizard that so that the application knows what source to use and deliver sounds. Following the few steps lets you choose the appropriate input device, channel to use, section, as well as instrument, with options to test out your configurations before they are applied.

There's not a lot of variety at your disposal once you're through with the wizard. Get your thinking cap on because the general experience consists of different lectures and exercises that aim to make you a good, or at least a better musician.

These come in the form of books, with the application already having a few packed within the basic set of features. Referring to general exercises, music reading, as well as theory and harmony, different pages are put at your disposal either to read documentation or answer simple questions to improve your skills.

Another counterpart is the possibility to play and analyze scores. Again, the application puts several selections at your disposal. However, the supported format is only LMS, the app's own type, and it would have been useful to see support at least for MIDI files. What's more, playback is simple and highlights the notes, with editing not being amongst the operations you can perform.

On an ending note, LenMus Phonascus comes with good intentions, but the way they're delivered leaves a lot more to be desired. Sure, it comes with an impressive amount of documentation that can teach you basics and advanced theory, but it's hardly interactive and quickly makes you lose interest, delivering no sense of accomplishment in the end.