This contribution explores the connections between gameful elements, bodily interactions, and musical features in the context of three case studies of music learning applications, demonstrating the role of these components in accomplishing the application's task. The critical essential element common to the three case studies is engagement due to gameful elements and other design characteristics such as the choice of music materials and the link between their structural elements and full body/gestural interaction. Assessment and experimental results demonstrate that these characteristics deeply influence users' involvement, memory, and learning.