Sibelius Groovy Shapes - Music Concepts Teaching Software

The Groovy Music series from Sibelius consists of three software programs for elementary and middle school students. Fun to use, the software teaches the basics of sound, rhythm, pitch and composition using pictures and animation, progressing to the study of simple notation as well as major and minor scales.

In Groovy Shapes, the first of the three programs, children five to seven years old learn about basic music concepts. There are two main modes for the program, create and explore. In the explore section, students are guided aurally through a series of progressive musical exercises and games which teach them the fundamentals of music.

In the create section, students can put into practice what they learned earlier by creating their own music. Various shapes represent the different elements of music, including rhythm, melody, bass lines, arpeggios, chords and so on.

Every version of the Groovy Music series has teacher controls. Teachers can control the kind of musical material that the children work with, control various settings within the program, and how the software will work in a computer or lab environment.