Music – Accessories – Teaching devices
Patent
1991-08-14
1995-05-16
Gellner, Michael L.
Music
Accessories
Teaching devices
84485SR, G09B 1502, G09B 1500
Patent
active
054150710
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method of and means for producing musical note relationships, and in particular to such relationships which consist of groups of musical notes forming musical intervals, scales, chords, etc in different musical keys.
To become a competent musician, it is necessary to learn and remember all musical note relationships, whose interactions together form the rudiments of musical theory. Such note relationships are conventionally taught in an audible manner, with scant visual information to aid understanding. For those students who are naturally musically orientated, such learning may be relatively easy. However, for those students who are not so fortunate, it can prove to be extremely difficult to remember individual note relationships and understand how they are interconnected.
Furthermore, while all the note relationships are being learnt, it is necessary to learn how these are applied in the playing of a particular musical instrument. For example, it is necessary to learn all the finger positions on a keyboard of the piano or a fingerboard of a guitar, which must be used to make the instrument play the required note relationships in all musical keys. Not only are such finger positions generally different for different types of instrument, but they also vary from one key to another on any one instrument, so that the playing of each key has to be mastered separately.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and means for producing musical note relationships which enables such relationships to be understood and learnt more easily than has been possible hitherto and which may also be used to simplify the playing of many musical instruments.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing musical note relationships comprising the steps of:
arranging a plurality of symbols each representing a musical note into an array, wherein groups of said symbols, which represent the same musical note relationship in different musical keys, form the same visual configuration at respective locations within the array, said array consisting of rows of said symbols, any given row being arranged relative to an adjacent row such that successive symbols of said given row each lies substantially between two successive symbols of said adjacent row, said successive symbols of each row representing the musical notes of a chromatic scale,
and identifying the respective configurations thus formed for the musical note relationships,
characterized in that, for each symbol of said given row which lies substantially between two successive symbols of said adjacent row, the two successive symbols represent notes which form musical intervals with the note represented by said symbol of a major third and minor third respectively.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a device for producing musical note relationships, the device comprising means bearing an array of symbols, each symbol representing a musical note and the symbols being arranged such that groups of said symbols, which represent the same musical note relationship in different musical keys, form the same visual configuration at respective locations within the array, said array consisting of rows of said symbols, any given row being arranged relative to an adjacent row such that successive symbols of said given row each lies substantially between two successive symbols of said adjacent row, said successive symbols of each row representing the musical notes of a chromatic scale, characterized in that, for each symbol of said given row which lies substantially between two successive symbols of said adjacent row, the two successive symbols represent notes which form musical intervals with the note represented by said symbol of a major third and minor third respectively.
The rows may be arranged in horizontal rows with the symbols arranged such that each semi-tone of a row is positioned between the fourth and fifth se
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patent: 4069737 (1978-01-01), Andersson
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Gellner Michael L.
Lee Eddie C.
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