as noted_tags
Method and apparatus for teaching musical notation to young children2010-03-12 00:00:00the child, on the basis of both color and taste.
Accordingly, a first symbolization level, as represented at 10 in FIG. 1A, involves associating the notes of the scale with individual, easily distinguished colors. The child is thus presented with the series of notes 12 located in the conventional positions on a simplified musical staff 14. The notes are preferably printed as simple "whole" notes (i.e., as simple open circles, sometimes shaded or "greyed") so as to provide an area which can be colored in by the child, although the coloring can be performed on a conventionally printed score having black and white notes.
In the embodiment which is illustrated, the colors which are associated with the notes of the scale are as follows: "C"--red, "D"--brown, "E"--yellow, "F"--purple, "G"--green, "A"--orange, "B"--blue. It will be understood that any series of easily distinguished colors can be used in addition to or in place of the foregoing, however the colors provided in this example have the very real advantage of corresponding to the colors which are provided in a child's basic crayon set.
The second symbolization level is indicated by the numeral 20 in FIG. 1A, which involves associating a distinctive edible object 22 with each of the notes of the scale, on the basis of the natural color of the object and also the first letter of its name. For example, the note middle "C", which was previously colored red, is associated with the image of a crab apple 22c; the child actually associates apples with the color red, and crab apples in particular with a biting, sour taste, the latter being useful for subsequently establishing the personality of the associated cartoon character. Continuing up the scale, the note "D" which was colored brown, is associated with a brown donut 22d, the note "E" is associated with a yellow Easter egg 22e, the note "E" with a purple fruit 22f, the note "G" with green grapes 22g (see FIG. 1B), the note "A" with orange-colored apricots 22a, the note "B" with blue blueberries 22b and, finally, upper "C" with a red cherry 22c', the sweet taste of the latter naturally contrasting with the sour of crab apples to distinguish this from middle "C". Thus, the noun name for each of the symbols 22c-22c' begins with the same letter in the alphabet as the letter designation given to the associated musical note; moreover, the association is strengthened by that fact that the child will generally know at a very early stage that the colors of these objects will naturally correspond to those which were used in the color code for the notes.
As w
as noted above, the exemplary symbols 22 which are employed for the second symbolization level 20 in the illustrated embodiment are all edible and have distinctive flavors. Hence, these bring the child's sense of taste into play, in addition to the sense of sight which was previously engaged by the color associations. In fact, it may be preferred in some embodiments to have the child taste a sample of each of the edible objects as the association is made, therefore reinforcing the recognition of the distinctive character of each object in the set. Other series of symbols may be associated with the musical notes at this stage, in addition to or in place of the edible objects shown, but it is generally preferable that whatever set is selected, it bring the new sense into play, in addition to sight and sound (i.e., phonetics). It should also be noted that it is preferable to employ objects which have the advantage of being shaped so as to be easily drawn by the child, as is the case with the examples 22c-22c' shown in FIGS. 1A-1B.
The final level of symbolization, as indicated by numeral 30 in FIGS. 1A-1B, involves establishing the connection between the object representing each musical note and the corresponding cartoon character. For example, FIG. 1A shows the cartoon character "Crabby Crab apple" 32c associated with the crab apple 22c which in turn represents the note middle "C". This link is established by the common color of the character, the object and note (e.g., the color red), and this may be achieved by having the child color the character with the appropriate crayon.
In addition to the use of a common color, the link between the cartoon character 32 and its associated inanimate object 22 is established by using the shape of the latter to form a significant portion of the body or other characteristic of the cartoon character. For example, it will be observed that the head of the character Crabby Crab apple 32c is formed in the shape of a crab apple 34c which corresponds in shape to the crab apple 22c. Similarly, the ...
Method for operating a musical instrument2010-03-08 00:00:00octave can be recorded. The bottom staff in FIG. 5 shows such an embodiment of the new staff of the present invention. It should be recognized, however, that any combination of alternating groups of two and groups of three lines, or portions of groups of two and groups of three lines, can be used to indicate as many octaves, or parts of octaves, as desired. In one embodiment, the staff can comprise as few as two lines, so long as at least one line is highlighted in some fashion to orient the musician.
To avoid the complexities and confusions that result from the use of too many lines, however, in one embodiment octave marks are placed on the new staff of the present invention to indicate the octave in which the pitches are to be realized. Octave marks are any graphic symbols that can be used to specify the octave in which pitches are recorded. As a need exists to move from one octave to another for the recorded music, a new octave mark can be shown where the octave change is to take place, thereby continuously orienting the musician to the appropriate octave.
Referring to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, octave marks are shown as placed across the group of three lines and enclosed in boxes for easy identification. The octave marks as shown are arabic numerals, however other symbols, such as Roman numerals, geometric designs, or other graphic symbols could also be used. FIG. 5 shows a conventional staff at the top and one embodiment of the new staff of the present invention at the bottom. By using octave marks, the musical notation system of the present invention avoids the use of clefs, which are shown on the conventional staff.
The use of the new staff of the present invention, combined with octave marks of the present invention, substantially simplifies the visual recording and reading of music. For example, FIG. 5 shows the placement of a note representing the highest pitch on a standard keyboard. Depicting that highest note would require the use of a treble clef and nine ledger lines above the conventional staff in conventional notation. However, the same note can be conveniently located on the new staff by indicating that the octave ending with the group of three lines is the seventh complete octave, thereby facilitating easy placement of the highest note at the position just above the end of the seventh octave group. Such a depiction is logically connected to actual placement of keys on a keyboard instrument, as previously discussed. FIG. 5 also shows, for example, the placement a note representing the lowest pitch on a standard keyboard. On the conventional staff, a base clef is required and six ledger lines below the staff. On the new staff of the present invention, however, the same note can be conveniently shown by indicating that the first complete octave of the keyboard ends with the group of three lines, with the lowest note recorded in its proper position in the octave just below that first complete octave group. The use of a single line, corresponding to a ledger line in conventional notation, has been used to conveniently depict the lowest note. However, that same note could have been located by drawing in the entire line, or an entire group of three lines in which that note is located.
As a further example of the utility of the staff of the present invention, a tone cluster is shown in FIG. 5 consisting of six individual pitches, five of which are flats or naturals, on the conventional staff as opposed to the new staff of the present invention. Also, to assist in ease of identifying the individual pitches, pitches recorded in spaces are shown using different notehead designs than those pitches visually recorded on lines. The tone cluster as shown, is played in the fourth octave of a keyboard,
as noted by the octave mark on the new staff of the present invention. In addition to simplifying the recording and reading of music, the use of octave marks also further distinguishes the new staff from the conventional notation system, which uses clefs. Therefore, a musician is less likely to confuse the new staff with the conventional staff. FIG. 5 also shows the use of conventional rhythmic notation with the new staff of the present invention even though different pitch notation is used.
In another embodiment of the present invention, graphic symbols are placed along the new staff to indicate divisions between measures, or bars, of music. These symbols serve the same function as barlines in the conventional system. Preferably, according to the present invention, however, different symbols are used than the barlines used on a conventional staff, thereby assisting the musician to distinguish between the new staff of the present invention and the conventional staff. FIG. 6 shows the first four measures of the violin part of "Oh Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion" from Handel's "Messiah" recorded in both the conventional system and the new system of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows symbols dividing measures of music as vertical lines, perpendicular to the lines of the new staff, that extend beyond the vertical extent of all lines of the new staff in each direction. Other nonconventional graphic symbols for identifying the division between measures could also be used.
FIG. 6 also...
Device for and method of detecting and supplying chord and solo sounding instructions in an electronic musical instrument2009-11-07 00:00:00data is compared with each "on" key on the keyboard 1, to determine the chord type and chord root. This determination is carried out as follows. The result of a scanning of the accompaniment keyboard (i.e., lower keyboard) of the keyboard 1 or the entirety thereof, i.e., the key on/off data train, is exclusively ORed for each octave, and the exclusively ORed data is compared with the chord bit pattern data. If the compared data are not identical, one of the data is ring shifted by one bit, and another comparison is made. If the compared data are identical, the chord type and the chord root are determined, from the number of times that the ring is shifted. This routine is disclosed in the specification of U.S. patent Ser. No. 07/706,010.
The chord sequence memory 12 stores chord play pattern data for a plurality of measures, and data corresponding to the determined chord noted above is repeatedly read out. The chord play pattern data is for, for example, a C major chord and includes key number data KN, step time data ST, and gate time data GT. The key number data KN is key number data of each tone constituting a chord, the step time data ST represents a time from the start of a piece of music or a measure to the timing of a sounding of the musical tone, and the gate time data GT represents a time or duration of a sounding of the tone. For playing a chord with other chord roots, each key number data KN is shifted according to the chord root difference. In this case also the key number data is partly modified. It is possible to also store chord play pattern data of other chord types, in the chord sequence memory 12.
Each key number data KN
as noted above is written to the assignment memory 13, as described later, in the tone generator 8, for sounding the musical tone of the chord. The timing of the start of the sounding is the instant at which the count of a time counter (not shown) becomes identical to the step time data ST. The timing of the end of a sounding is the instant at which the count of the time counter becomes identical to the gate time data GT. The chord determining and playing
as noted above also may be executed by other methods. As shown above, when a chord operation is executed at the keyboard 1, the chord tone is continually sounded after a subsequent "key-off" operation. Conversely, the sounding of a solo tone is continued only during the chord operation, and is ended by a "key-off" operation.
3. Assignment Memory 13
FIG. 4 shows the assignment mem...
