Allegro Multimedia, a leading provider of music gaming software and music education tools, announces a strategic partnership with Mattel for the debut of Mattel's I Can Play(TM) Guitar, a break-through video game that teaches people of all ages to play guitar. Allegro Multimedia and Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT) , signed a strategic licensing agreement that harmonizes Allegro's innovative Guitar Wizard method with Mattel's ongoing commitment to music education. The agreement allows Mattel to introduce Allegro's technology into the toy market as part of the "I Can Play(TM) Guitar system that features the Guitar Wizard Method.
Guitar Wizard is a revolutionary teaching platform that will change the way kids are taught guitar. "Our strategic partnership and licensing agreement with Mattel ensures that future generations of children will use the Guitar Wizard method as training wheels in discovering a life-long, love of the guitar, ultimately helping to create many more musicians," says Chris Salter, CEO of Allegro Multimedia.
The Guitar Wizard Method is inherently different from other music-teaching approaches, introducing the actual playing of music through an amazingly simple interactive video game. This innovative technology allows virtually anyone to play songs within minutes and transforms the tedious and traditional methods of guitar practice into an exciting video game. The Guitar Wizard method can make a child's first musical experience fun and successful instead of painful.
"Enjoying music has always been universal but understanding how to read and interpret musical notation has been unnecessarily difficult. We believe the Guitar Wizard method makes music literacy as easy as one, two, three," says Chris Salter, Allegro Multimedia's CEO. "Our company's philosophy is that music literacy is imperative in childhood development and instrumental to later success in life. I Can Play(TM) Guitar allows children as young as six years old to start learning about, understanding and developing essential thinking and interpretation skills while having fun."
Prior to the Guitar Wizard, Allegro Multimedia developed the Piano Wizard line of products, which was the first to implement the unique and highly successful patented 4-step methodology. As a result of the success of Piano Wizard, Allegro Multimedia partnered with Fisher Price to create the "I Can Play TM Piano" which was nominated by the Toy Industry Association for the 2006 Educational Toy of the Year.
Following I Can Play (TM) Piano, Allegro created the first version of Piano Wizard specifically tailored for the education market. In conjunction with Yourhomework.com , Allegro launched the Yourhomework Music Wizard Academy version of Piano Wizard which includes DVD video lessons with special instruction from renowned SIU Professor Don Beattie, lesson books, lesson plans and sheet music. Allegro intends on releasing additional education versions of their music teaching tools as part of the Music Wizard Academy series.
"Given the success of Fisher Price's I Can Play (TM) Piano and our expertise in the creation of unique learning platforms, we recognized the Guitar Wizard method as the perfect basis for Mattel's new generation of learn-to-play musical instruments," says David Allmark, General Manager of the Mattel Company responsible for the I Can Play (TM) line. "Mattel together with Allegro's Guitar Wizard method will further instill a lifelong love of music in children worldwide."
The I Can Play(TM) Guitar, which features the Allegro Multimedia Guitar Wizard Method, includes a cartridge featuring six popular songs for the guitar. I Can Play(TM) Guitar will be released in August 2007 and available at major retailers nationwide with a suggested retail price of $99.99. Additional I Can Play (TM) Guitar song and game cartridges will be sold separately with a suggested retail price of $14.99 each. For more information about Guitar Wizard, visit http://www.pianowizard.com/i-can-play-guitar/ . For more information about I Can Play (TM) Guitar visit, http://www.icanplayguitar.net/ .
