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Hal Leonard: Essential Elements 2000 - Percussion (Book 1 & DVD) Review

Star Ratings: Teaching Effectiveness: Styles Covered: Features: Ease of Use: Formats of Supplied Materials: Customer Support: Value for Money: Editor's Overall Rating:

Cost

• $9.00. Plus shipping, depending on your choice of retailer.

Features:

• Multimedia course, containing:
• • A 144 page book.
  • An audio CD.
  • A DVD (PC and Mac compatible).
  
  
• 185 play-along tracks:
• • 85 of which are professionally recorded and available on the CD.
  • All of which are featured on the DVD.

• Other features include:
• • Video start-up lesson.
  • Practice exercises.
  • Printable sheet music, including duets and trios.
  • A listening library.
  • Tempo adjustment software for play-along tracks.
  • Finale NotePad composing software.
  • SmartMusic software - practice, record and e-mail your performances. Also includes in-built on-screen metronome and the on-screen assessments facility.

Editor's Verdict:

Hal Leonard: Essential Elements 2000 - Percussion is as good value for money as any product you are likely to find in this category. Not only is it one of the cheapest drum tuition packages available, but it also offers more useful features than many of its more pricey competitors. There is a vast collection of play-along tracks, for instance. These can provide one of the most encouraging ways to learn, as you will soon be playing something that sounds acceptable! Also included is a music printout feature, allowing you to expand your repertoire with a selection of music, including some ensemble pieces if you have the opportunity to practice with other musicians

One of the real strengths of the course is its multimedia nature. Learning from a book, a CD and a DVD allows you to utilize all the important methods of learning and makes the course suitable for people of all learning styles. Good drummers can often both read music and play by ear, and this course allows for either or both approaches. The course has been designed to stretch you and to push your musical horizons, and this is clear from such features as the listening library and the collection of free software.

The software itself provides another of the benefits of Hal Leonard: Essential Elements 2000 - Percussion. Finale NotePad allows you to create simple compositions for a variety of instruments and hear how they sound. SmartMusic allows you to input your playing and have it assessed by the computer. However, both pieces of software as they are presented here are quite limited; if you are serious about composing, for instance, you should consider the full version of the Finale software or one of the alternative brands. The software provided here is a taster, but remember that it is probably included with the aim of encouraging you to purchase the full versions, and this gives you some idea of its limitations.

Another important fact to note is that the product is true to its title; as a tuition course in 'Percussion', much of the space is given over to keyboard percussion. Therefore, if you are purely interested in the drum kit, this may not be the package for you, as you are paying for content you won't be able to use.

The central weakness of the course is that it is more a selection of resources than a step-by-step approach for the self-taught musician. The start-up video lesson is only fifteen minutes, and this gives some indication of the focus of the DVD. However, given its incredible value and wide-ranging content, Hal Leonard: Essential Elements 2000 - Percussion would make a useful resource for teachers of percussion. Whereas solo learners require a more step-by-step approach, teachers can provide this themselves in the lesson plan and use this package as bonus material. Despite all its flaws, Essential Elements 2000 is such good value for money that it makes a worthy purchase for those on a tight budget.

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Review of Hal Leonard: Essential Elements 2000 - Percussion (Book 1 plus DVD)