While it is unlikely, and most people would say undesirable, that computers can ever take the place of teachers, they are becoming an indispensable support tool in many subjects and this may soon also be the case with music.
As with most computer-aided teaching, the key to developing a musical tuition system is developing superior software able to hear and react to music being played and make judgements as to whether it is being played correctly.
This is what a consortium with partners from six European countries has been trying to do for the past three years in the EU-funded Vemus project – and if initial results are anything to go by they have succeeded.
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=90465
