(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 01, 2001 ) Mars Music, the nation's hottest seller of musical instruments, audio equipment and pro audio gear, announced February 28 that the company will begin offering online music lessons on its Web site, www.marsmusic.com. The nation's largest provider of private music lessons with over 1 million lessons taught since 1997, Mars Music will combine a thorough and progressive curriculum with the latest and most interactive technological tools available.

Starting March 1, 2001, MarsMusic.com, the online musician's destination, will offer the first instrument, the guitar, online. Following that, approximately every 15 days a new instrument, such as the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano and bass, will be added - 15 in all.

"While there are other lesson series available online, none have established the broad range of technology, content, curriculum and materials that Mars Music uses," said David MacBlane, President of MarsMusic.com. "Our lessons are unique because the Learn2play software can tell the student that not only was a wrong note played, but what the correct pitch and instrument fingering should be; what rhythmic mistakes were made; and whether the note played was too early or too late, too long or too short."

Mars Music uses some of the latest technology in video (Real Video) and interactive animation (Macromedia Flash) along with the Learn2Play engine from one of the leading innovators of music recognition learning technology (Audioworks Ltd), to develop its leading edge instruction, added MacBlane. All online lessons meet the national framework for music education that has been established by MENC: The National Association for Music Education, who is largely responsible for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.

"Audioworks Learn2Play system is the latest in technology available for the Internet, and we are pleased to be partnering with Audioworks Ltd., to supply this product to our customers," said Randy DeWitt, Director of Education for Mars Music.

"Mars Music has very successfully addressed the private tuition needs of thousands of students through its in-store Learning Centers. Their commitment to music education makes them a natural partner for Audioworks. With the help of our Learn2Play technology, Mars can extend this successful education model to a far wider audience over the Web," said Philip Collins, CEO & Founder at Audioworks.

After downloading the Audioworks Learn2Play Engine, the student connects their instrument to their computer either by attaching a microphone to it or by placing one in front of it. After starting the Engine and following the directions of the online instructor, a student will be able to play any exercise in step time (note-by-note) mode, or in real time at any speed.

For difficult passages, the engine can let the student practice in loop mode, slowing down as necessary until the student is able to play the part perfectly, then gradually increasing the speed to playing tempo.

"Audioworks courseflow technology can decide to automatically start the 'note-by-note' step mode, slow down or speed up the tempo, depending on the progress being made. This is all done automatically which can't be a bad thing when you're holding your instrument with both hands. In fact, the more we can do to avoid the student touching his PC, the more he'll be able to get on with learning to play," said Dr. Crawford Tait, CTO of Audioworks.

"Taking music lessons to the Web allows us to extend the learning process outside the classroom," said DeWitt. "In between lessons with an instructor, the student may lose some of what they learned. When they go home to practice then, they end up practicing something wrong over and over again without ever realizing they are doing it."

"Online lessons allow someone to rehearse, practice and learn outside the classroom and around their schedule - whether it's during the summer or during the school year, whether it's nine at night or nine in the morning," added DeWitt. "Furthermore, and most importantly, this is another way to create an additional degree of excitement over learning."

Much of the musical material utilized is from the extensive catalog of Warner Bros. Music, a strategic partner.

"Putting lessons on the Internet goes back to Mars Music's philosophy of meeting our customer's needs," said Mark Begelman, CEO & Founder of Mars Music. "Whether it's online or offline, we want to be able to offer our customers the most accessible way for them to further their musical education."

Lessons will cost $11.95 per instrument. They can also be purchased in packages of five lessons for $47.95.

About Mars Music

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Mars Music was founded in 1997 by Mark Begelman and currently operates 46 stores in 24 states, plus a public Web site at www.marsmusic.com. Each "concert hall-size" superstore is filled with more than 100,000 name-brand musical instruments and recording and pro audio products. All Mars Music stores also have a full-size stage and Entertainment Center, recording studio and Learning Center. Through a variety of innovative programs (the Learning Centers, the Mars Music Foundation, Rock U., Be A Player, Mars Babies Make Music), Mars Music is already the largest provider of private music instruction in the United States, having given more than 1 million lessons since the company's inception.

The Web site, MarsMusic.com, educates, motivates and inspires people to learn, play and enjoy music, offers interactive music information, online music lessons, accredited music courses and access to a cyberstore containing more than 100,000 musical instruments and recording gear products. Other features on the Web site include high-quality product presentations, reviews and comparisons; product video and audio clips; customized search tools to help customers choose an instrument; a repair directory and trouble-shooting capabilities; and online order tracking with email confirmation of orders and shipments.

About Audioworks Ltd

Based in London, England, Audioworks was founded by Philip Collins and is a leading developer of Music Recognition Enhanced Learning Technology. Its flagship Sound2MIDI product is used by thousands of musicians worldwide for converting musical performances via a microphone into MIDI data. Learn2Play AL2P(tm) is the result of a 5-year R&D effort which combines music recognition, music notation, video based technologies (Microsoft, Real Networks) and Web-based authored media assets, such as Macromedia Flash, under a single controlled Web browser environment. Learn2Play considerably improves a musicians learning and playing experience through uniquely available interactive assessment and courseflow decision functionality enhancing the simulation environment over other learning methods.

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Produced for Mars Music

CONTACT:
Tracy Tilson/Michael Gannet
Tilson Communications
(561) 417-7907

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Contact Information:
Mars Music
Joseph Nchor
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