Jet lag has given me time to explore this program/software/app more and watch some of
@jbtsax 's hard work. (Please don't ever remove your teaching hat completely). I am beginning to see why he is enthusiastic about it.
I decided to use it to try to learn something new, "In Dreams" from The Fellowship of the Ring, it is in the Easy Popular movie instrumental solos. This is a slow piece but my reading is even slower, however the ability to slow the tempo down and mark a section and have it play repeatedly meant that it did not take me too long to get the hang of the first half dozen bars, and the cursor helps with the timing. ( I had set it to stop on every note, it also stops on rests)
I think the problem I had when I last looked at it about 8 months ago is that I simply did not have even the most basic skills to make use of it. At that time I was looking at the dots thinking is it A or B, how do I finger that. Now at least with dots on the stave I am not going through that process, I look at it and play it without thinking.
I also had a look at Sao Paulo nights and although I did not attempt to play any of this, I can see how using SmartMusic with ensemble pieces can teach how to play a part and keep time with others. I will have to have a go at this piece sometime.
One thing I have not got sorted is why with some pieces it insists on playing my part on the piano when I have set the instrument in the settings to alto sax. Maybe some one can help me with this and save me searching the instructions and help files.
I did discover that you can load your own backing tracks into it but so far I have not explored adding the dots though from what
@ellinas said it is possible, he is probably the best person to describe in detail how to do that.
If like me you have a slow internet connection it is better to download and save the music in advance.
As far as I can see you cannot down load a trial version which is a shame. There is a free iPad app which I have not tried. I will ask my wife to put it on her iPad and give it a try. ( I have windows and android) Laptop speakers are not good enough for it, I use some external ones, but yesterday I used the mic built into my laptop. I suspect it will work with any mic. I have a cheap mic on a clothes peg, I will try it sometime.
Overall I think it is very useful and as jbt's videos show it can do much more than I have explored so far. I shall continue using it