Music Ace Music Ace from Harmonic Vision is a best-selling package that teaches beginning music students the basics of music theory, note reading, rhythm, and more.  There are a few different versions of the product available; namely, Music Ace, Music Ace 2, and Music Ace Deluxe.  Music Ace has twenty four lessons that cover the basic staff, note reading, sharps and flats, and pitch identification.  The pitch identification exercises are, I thought, a very good idea - I haven't seen them in any other product.  They give the student the chance to realize the relationship between the different note pitches and the layout of the keyboard.  All the Music Ace products run on Macs or PCs. All the Music Ace products are presented with an arcade-like interface, with Maestro Max as the "teacher".  It is an effective way to keep the students attention and actually makes using the product fun.  A facility to keep track of the user's progress is included too, so young users can get feedback about how much they have accomplished.   There's a game after each lesson (arcade style) that reinforces the concepts presented in the previous lesson.  The other great feature in all the Music Ace products is the so-called Doodle Pad.  The Doodle Pad lets the student place notes on the staff and play them back.  It's a lot of fun!  These "compositions" can be saved and played back.  So expect your child to be writing little tunes for you!  With the Doodle Pad, you can also listen to tunes included in the package and even modify them.     Music Ace 2 continues in the same style and supplies twenty four more lessons that cover slightly more advanced topics.  Some of the included lessons cover counting, quarter notes, eighth notes, syncopation, and introductions to harmony and ear training.  The Doodle Pad is still there as are the "games" at the end of each lesson - and, of course, Maestro Max too.  Music Ace 2 also includes a feature that lets you set the level of difficulty of the exercises and also control how the lessons are presented. Music Ace Deluxe combines lessons from the first two products (a total of thirty six) and uses the same motif.  So it's more instructional material than either of the first two products.  It has the Doodle Pad, and Max, and the control feature mentioned for Music Ace 2.  By the way, you can visit the Harmonic Visions (www.harmonicvision.com) site and downlaod a free demonstration (and see more pictures) if you like.  For complete beginners, I would suggest the first Music Ace product.  If your student shows interest, you can always get the extra material in the deluxe version later on.  For a student with a bit of experience, Music Ace Deluxe is worth the extra cost.  In any case, the products are well worth the price and will impart far more knowledge of music than can be gained at a similar price from a personal teacher. The products are all available at Amazon.com