Instructions for MusicGoals by Eye & Ear trail version 1.6 

Please Note: If you are upgrading, be sure to backup student files before saving with version 1.6. The file format of version 1.6 cannot be opened by earlier versions..

1) Once downloaded, run the program MGtrial16.exe. This will extract the setup files into C:\MGtrial16 or a directory of your choice 

2) Next, run the setup file from within this directory to install the MusicGoals demo. (You may uninstall later from the windows control panel - Add/Remove Programs. Also delete the setup directory above.)

3) Start the MusicGoals demo by clicking the MusicGoals desktop icon or use "Start - Programs - MusicGoals".
 
4) Select "New Student" when asked and choose an instrument. Then select a routine. 

5) Press F1 or GO TO - Help and read "Getting Started" for a quick overview.

6) Click "Next Goal" to start the sequence of activities. Learn material by experimenting before starting the drill (try out buttons, click on staff and instrument).

7) Adjust the tempo slider before each drill begins. The program will advance through a sequence of activities (objectives) as the drill levels are mastered in "Goal" mode. It will also keep track your work on the "Scores" and the "Progress" pages. 

7) You may explore "Practice Settings" to see all the drill levels and to get an idea of the many features. The mode button cycles between "Goal" - gold, "Practice" - green, and "Custom" - blue. 

8) Click "GO TO" on the top menu bar to explore "Scores", "Progress", "Routines", and other features or to jump to another activity. 

9) Be sure to try "GO TO - Pick Routine - Set Goals from List". Set Goals by checking the objective check box for each activity to include in your routine. Then click on the drill level name and a list of level names will open. Select a drill level for each activity as your goal. There are 62 objectives and hundreds and hundreds of levels.

To see the drill levels for each of the string instruments, you must start a "New Student" file for each string instrument - guitar, violin, viola, cello, or bass. The drill levels are different for each instrument.

MusicGoals Terms

Take a minute to familiarize yourself with some of the MusicGoals terms used to describe components of the program and student activities.

Drill
This is the basic building block of all MusicGoals activities. A drill is a single exercise consisting of a number of MusicGoals prompts and student answers. After each answer, MusicGoals automatically presents the next prompt in the drill. At the end of the drill, MusicGoals displays your score on that drill.

Objective
An objective is a graduated and sequenced group of drills that pertain to one element of music study. After reaching an objective, you are expected to have mastered the element of music that the objective deals with. MusicGoals is delivered with 62 objectives. 

Course
A set of objectives assembled for use by an individual student forms a course. The course is your music curriculum, to be carried out with the aid of MusicGoals. MusicGoals includes a sequence of predefined courses for each of these instruments: piano, guitar, violin, viola, cello, and bass. You may also design your own course of study to suit your level of proficiency and to meet both the general goals of your musical education and specific instrument goals.

Routine
A routine is a cycle of objectives determined by an instrument course or by the user. The quickest way to start your training with MusicGoals is to select the routine for your instrument. These routines follow a series of courses that are predefined for each instrument and cannot be changed. However, you can create your own course by selecting objectives and setting a drill level as your goal. In addition, you can custom design a Practice Routine where you can include any selection of drills from any objective. MusicGoals does not record progress in the practice routine.

You can freely move between "Routines" without affecting your progress or custom settings.

Remember: MusicGoals keeps track of your progress. When you log into MusicGoals properly at the start of each sessions, MusicGoals loads your objectives, checks where you stopped at the end of the previous session, and presents you with the next objective and next drill in your routine.

All objectives have three modes of operation, Goal, Practice, and Custom. These modes of operation affect the order, content, and progress credited for the drills. In the "Goal" mode you must master the drill levels in the order in which they are presented. In the "Practice" mode, you can start at any level and follow the sequence of goal levels from that point. However, practice drills do not count toward your level of mastery shown on the Progress page. The "Custom" mode retains drill settings that you create. The drill does not change until you change the settings. Use "Custom" mode for extra practice in areas of weakness or to create a drill that follows some other course of study.

Do you need to prepare for a test at school? 

Each activity can be customized to create your own tests. You may adjust the range, key signature, clef, drill length, tempo, scales, intervals, or chords, etc. that will be included.

A detailed printed manual is included with the full working version of MusicGoals. Please visit our website for the latest information or e-mail: support@musicgoals.com. 

Tutorials

“Help – Shortcut Key Chart” provides a list of shortcuts.

Custom Drills -- Help! I have an ear training test on Friday and need to practice Perfect fourths and Fifths.

1) Click GO TO on the menu bar or (alt + g).

2) When the GO TO dialog box appears, click Pick Objective.

3) Below Staff select: Name Intervals.

4) Select the By Ear radio button on the right side of the panel.

5) Select the Custom radio button just below.

6) Click OK.

7) On the menu bar on top click: Practice Settings - Intervals or press F12.

8) Select P4 and P5 and un-select everything else. You may want to study these intervals just ascending or just descending or just harmonic. Make these changes at the bottom of this dialog box.

9) Click OK.

10) Click Begin.

You may create custom drills with any of the objectives. The Practice Settings allow you to adjust the key signature, range, drill length, and many other elements. The elements included will depend on the objective selected. Custom drills do not automatically change or advance like Goal or Practice mode drills. 

Good luck on your test - We know that you will do well!

Selecting a Routine

The easiest way to begin a structured program of study with MusicGoals is to choose one of the instrument course routines. MusicGoals offers course routines for: piano, guitar, violin, viola, cello, and bass. They allow you to follow a graduated sequence of drills chosen from all the objectives relevant to your instrument. 

To select a routine:

1) Click GO TO on the menu bar or (alt+g).

2) When the GO TO panel appears, click Pick Routine in the upper left corner. From the Routines panel select the routine available for your instrument. Click “OK”. MusicGoals has recorded your choice and displays a summary of your current objectives, “Current Goals”, under the selected routine. 

3) To begin work under your newly selected routine: Click GO TO once more on the menu bar.

4) When the GO TO panel appears, click Next Goal (F6). 

You can stop work whenever you want. Next time you return to MusicGoals you need only click Next Goal from the GO TO panel. MusicGoals remembers where you stopped working and resumes your course of study with the next drill.

Set Objectives - Create your own Routine

If you want to use MusicGoals in a structured way but find the instrument routines too rigid, you can custom tailor an individual set of objectives for yourself (or for your students). You can then progress through the course by completing the
required drills. MusicGoals keeps track of your progress and automatically brings up the next objective and/or drill when you master a drill in “Goal” mode.

To set objectives:

1) Click GO TO on the menu bar (alt+g) and click Pick Routine in the upper left corner. 

2) Click Set Goals from List. The Set Goals from List panel presents the MusicGoals objectives organized into three groups: Keyboard, Staff, and String Instrument. In each group there are 18 to 24 objectives. 

3) To add an objective to your course: Check the box next to the objective. Each objective comprises several dozen drills – graduated exercises executed by MusicGoals in sequence. For each objective, you can set the drill level that must be mastered to complete the routine. For example, the objective Keyboard Note Names contains 31 drill levels, from recognizing 3 to 5 white keys to identifying all the chromatic notes between C2 and C6. If you set drill level 5 (9 to 10 white keys) as the level to master, the Note Names objective will be completed when you successfully complete drill level 5 (correctly identifying the white keys on a section of a keyboard a little larger than an octave). 

4) To set the drill level of the objective: Click on the Level to Reach text to the far right of the desired objective. (Note that the Level to Reach text appears only after you check the objective’s check box.)

5) When the Set Level for objective list appears, click on the highest level you want to master for this routine, then click OK. Your selection appears in the Level to Reach column to the right of the objective.

6) Repeat the procedure with every objective you want to add to this routine.

7) Save the file: GO TO - File - Save (ctrl+s).

8) Click GO TO - Next Goal to begin your new routine. 

Working Toward Objectives

Once a routine has been selected, working toward the objectives is easy.
1) Log into MusicGoals by identifying yourself as a returning student.

2) Click GO TO on the menu bar.

3) When the GO TO panel appears, click Next Goal.

You can now continue with the next drill or stop your MusicGoals session and continue some other time. In either case, MusicGoals remembers the last drill you executed and takes you directly to your next assignment.

The number (level) of the last drill you have successfully completed (in “Goal” mode) is shown on the “Progress” page. 


Printing and Saving

Goal levels completed and user setting are saved with the student file. At the completion of every drill a dialog box pops up with score, average time and a list of mistakes if any. This information is also added to the Scores page for every drill completed. However, the scores page is a record of the current session only. Each new session starts with a clear scores page. Therefore, to keep detailed information about each session, print the “Scores” page before exiting or starting another student. 

To print the scores page:

1) Click GO TO - File - Print Scores.

2) Click OK.

All of the information on the progress page is saved with the student file. The Progress page may also be printed - GO TO - File - Print Progress. 

The Current Goals page can only be printed when keyboard or string routines are selected. Remember objectives disappear from this page as the required levels are mastered. 

All settings and custom drills are saved with the student file. Before exiting or opening another student file, the current student file must be saved. Use File - Save to replace the existing file with the latest advancement. Use File - Save As to create a new file. If a new file is created, the original file will not be updated and may be used to go back and re-test the same levels. 

The File - Save As dialog box allows saving of two file types: MusicGoals Student (.MGS), and MusicGoals Backup (.MGB). The File - Open dialog box also allows for these two file types. The default filename is the same as the name entered by the student when a New student begins. The filename may be changed, but the student name that is entered at the start of a New Student cannot be altered. 

To Save a student file:
1) GO TO - File - Save, or GO TO - File - Save As

Scale and Chord Reference 

There are several ways to see and study scales and chords with MusicGoals. The instrument Note Names and instrument Staff Reading objectives offer a great way to study and learn a new scale, chord, or chord arpeggio. Use these objectives to study in one key at a time. The instrument Scales and instrument Chords objectives offer a way to study many different scales, chords, and key signatures one after another. Below you will see how to use several of the many ways to use MusicGoals to learn scales and chords. 

We will start with the guitar in drop D tuning. The procedure will be very similar for keyboard or any of the other string instruments. 

Instrument Note Names - Use this to study one scale and one key.

1) Click GO TO - Pick Objective (or press F7).

2) Double click Instrument Note Names where instrument is the string instrument that you started with as a new student. You can still look up guitar scales and chords even if your main instrument is another string instrument.

3) Next select Practice Settings - Instrument and Tuning. 

4) Check “Guitar Drop D” and click OK. This tuning lowers the 6th string from E to D.

5) This will automatically open the Portion of the Fingerboard and Drill Length dialog box (F11). For this example select Reset to 12 frets and click OK. For keyboard, click “Practice Settings - Portion of Keyboard, Staff ...” or “Practice Settings - Staff Presets”. Adjust the range to at least two octaves.

6) Now click Practice Settings - Scale or Note Set (F12). This will allow you to select a scale or chord arpeggio or other set of notes to study. 

7) Scroll down and select “I, do mi so, Major Chord” from the “Triads” section and click OK. 

You will see on the fingerboard (or keyboard) the tonic, “do”, is dark green, “mi” is light green, and “so” is orange. The shapes of the dots on the fingerboard indicate the octave where the pitch would be notated (C4, the fourth C on the piano, is shown as a square - four sides). Remember, the guitar sounds an octave below where it is written on the staff. 

8) Next click Practice Settings - Key Signature (F10) and select “C Major - a minor use flats”. Change the key signature in this manner to see the selected scale or chord in a different key. 

Instrument Staff Reading - Use this to study one scale and one key.

9) Repeat the above sequence of steps but use the Instrument Staff Reading objective instead. This works the same way but adds staff notation. 

Instrument Scales - Use this to study many scales and keys.

10) Repeat steps 1 to 6 but use the Instrument Scales objective instead. 

12) Click Practice Settings - Scales (F12).

13) Select “Blues Scale” and “do Pentatonic”. Un-select everything else.

14) Click OK and then press the “Hint” button. One of the selected scales will be played and displayed on the fingerboard.

15) Use the mouse to click on another note on the fingerboard. Another scale will be played starting on this note. Each time you click or play a note on your midi instrument, the next of your selected scales will be played and displayed. Adjust the tempo slider to play the scale faster or slower. 

Instrument Chords - Use this to study many chords and keys.

16) Repeat steps 1 to 6 but use the Instrument Chords objective instead.

17) Repeat steps 12 to 15 selecting any chords you wish (F12).

You now have at your fingertips an extensive inter-active scale and chord reference for keyboard and all kinds of string instruments and tunings.


Custom String Instruments and Tuning

Want to create your own sound? MusicGoals lets you create your own string instrument and tuning. It then allows you to use any of the string objective activities to see, hear, and test notes, scales, chords, intervals, and solfeggio.

1) Click GO TO - Pick Objective (or press F7).
2) Double click Instrument Note Names where instrument is the string instrument that you started with as a new student. 

3) Next select Practice Settings - Instrument and Tuning. 

4) Select “Custom 1” and click OK.

5) Set the “Number of Strings” to anything from 1 to 11.

6) For each string select the string number on the left and then scroll to a note and octave on the right. Select a note to tune each string in this manner. If you want a 5 string banjo use the “Reset to 5 String Banjo” button first. Then change the tuning.

7) Click OK. You will have the option of adjusting the portion of the fingerboard.

It is important to remember when creating custom string instruments to make sure the portion of the fingerboard includes all the notes of the chromatic scale from the lowest to the highest pitch. Otherwise, you may be asked in a drill for a note that you cannot play on the fingerboard.


Create Drills and Routines for Your Curriculum

Teachers can create and save master files with custom drills and routines. Save a master file for each assignment. Then have students open and save (save-as) their own copies. Use the Set Goals from List routine to use the existing objective levels or use the Practice routine to create a cycle of objectives made up of a mix of practice and custom drills.

All that the students need to know once they have opened the master file is to press Go To - Next Goal (F6). Students can print their Scores page when they are done. A detailed list of their mistakes will be listed as well as their score and average time for each drill. To protect your master file you can set its properties to “read only” in Windows. Here is an example for a fictional class, Music 101:

1) Start MusicGoals and click New Student or GO TO - File - New.

2) Enter “Music 101 Lesson 1” for the student name.

3) Select the Keyboard instrument (or whichever is appropriate) for your class.

4) Click OK. If asked enter a secondary instrument or cancel for the default, guitar.

5) Click GO TO - Pick Routine - Practice Routine. Click OK, OK.

6) On the goal selection page uncheck all of the default check boxes.

7) Scroll down and check Staff Key Signatures.

8) The level name will appear on the far right. Click on this name “C F G” 

9) When the dialog box opens, double click level “8) F Bb Eb Ab (F Clef).”

10) Check Staff Name Intervals by Ear.

11) Click GO TO - Next Goal (F6). If you are not in Staff Name Intervals click Next Goal again.

12) Once in Staff Name Intervals click Practice Settings - Intervals.

13) Select the M2, m3, and P4 and click OK.

14) Save this file. GO TO - File - Save (ctrl+s).

15) You now have a master file for lesson 1. You can make it impossible for students to overwrite this file by doing the following: Open the MusicGoals Students folder from the desktop MusicGoals folder or from the start menu. You may also reach this folder with Windows Explorer. Right click on your master file and select “Properties” - then check “Read Only”.

When a student opens this file and clicks GO TO - Next Goal (F6), they will move to the drills you have selected and created. They will need to use GO TO - Next Goal when they are ready to move on for each objective that you add to the master file. If they print their scores you will have a record of their progress. If they rename and save-as their own copy of the master file, they can make changes to review or go beyond the assigned material.

Simplify Melody by Ear

If you or one of your students find the “Instrument Melody by Ear” drills too difficult, there is a way to simplify the drills and still pass the levels in goal mode. There is a way to change the way “Replay” works that will greatly simplify the drill.

1) Click “GO TO - Pick Objective.” Select “Keyboard Melody” and click the “by Ear” and “Goal” radios buttons. Click OK.

2) Click “Practice Settings - Melody”. Select “After a mistake user must play just the missed notes.” Click OK. This will put you into “Custom” mode.

3) Click the “Custom” button. This will put you back into “Goal” mode with the above option selected.

The user can still replay the example as many times as needed and the whole melody will still be played back each time. However, now only the notes yet to be answered need to be entered. This way you only need to find one note at a time.

This is one option that you are allowed to change for goal mode. Most other options are completely controlled in goal mode by the requirements of the drill level.