Kinnor Software's "Trope Trainer" computer application was initially published in 2001. In 2011, this author had the latest update, Version 6, installed on her computer. (It should be noted that as of 2019 the application is no longer available for sale, due to the developer's passing.) It provides many features for the user to learn how to chant any part of the Hebrew Bible. Built into the program is a facility to electronically chant the text for the user in any musical key, in any one of six voice styles, in any one of six pronunciation traditions and in any one of over two dozen chanting traditions. A tutorial is included that takes the user step-by-step through the process of learning to chant, with lots of exercises for practicing and mastering each stage of the learning process. It cautions the user both at the beginning of the tutorial and at the end of the tutorial that one should not rely on the program alone to ensure successful mastery of chanting Hebrew text and the customs surrounding this sacred task.
"Many students will want to learn with the aid of an instructor. It is recommended that every student's work be periodically reviewed by someone who knows how to chant these texts. This feedback can be very important for judging the progress you are making and for avoiding mistakes that you can't hear yourself making." ("Trope Trainer", Tutorial page: "Outline of Lessons")
"Kinnor Software recommends that you consult your Rabbi before reading from the Torah. Your Rabbi or someone appointed by your Rabbi can check that you are doing everything correctly and explain to you any special local customs that the congregation expects you to follow." (Trope Trainer, Tutorial page: "Final Notes on Torah Reading")
The text is displayed in a font that is consistent and clear. Verse numbers are written with a point size that is smaller than the text making it easy to find and easy to distinguish from the text itself. Kamatz katan and sheva na' are distinguished from kamatz gadol and sheva nach respectively.
Torah text is displayed in only one size of the font, but it is large enough both on the computer display and in printouts. The Haftarah text size is adjustable. The user can view the text with colored te'amim, colored te'amim phrases in any customizable coloring scheme, colored phrases and te'amim, or unadorned (see Figure 11, Figure 12 and Figure 13 below). This kind of flexibility is helpful in training the user from a higher level of visual assistance to one that makes the user more independent and ready to move on to more compact printed sources for learning Torah and Haftarah readings.
The te'amim are written slightly higher and slightly lower than standard Hebrew sources. When the user selects the option to view colored te'amim by pressing the Tropes button, the colors connote a bit of the grammatical structure.
"Trope symbols have several levels of force, indicating the strength of breaks between parts of a verse, just like a comma is weaker than a period or a semicolon. To display tropes in colors that distinguish green - connector tropes, orange - weak separator tropes and red - strong separator tropes, click the Tropes button." (Trope Trainer help file).
When the user selects the Groups button, the te'amim phrases are colored, as shown in Figure 13. One sees the background color in each phrase colored uniformly. The only shortcoming is that the spaces between words remain uncolored. If two phrases in the same ta'am family occur adjacent to each other, such as the two zakef‑katon ( ֔ ) phrases that begin Leviticus 9:1 in Figure 13, one cannot distinguish where the first zakef‑katon ( ֔ ) phrase ends, unless one knows what zakef‑katon ( ֔ ) looks like, or unless one turns on ta'am coloring with the Tropes button. Even in this situation, unless one knows how to interpret the color code of the te'amim, one does not immediately see that there are two zakef‑katon ( ֔ ) phrases in a row.
This software is a relatively inexpensive way of generating both a helpful text and an associated recording. It is used by lay individuals who cannot chant the texts independently, clergy and B'nei Mitzvah instructors who may not have the singing skills to create an accurate recording of the text and/or who like the ability to provide the colored printouts for their students.