GB2035664A - Music teaching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic aid for teaching musical notation. A display has at least one set of parallel lines (1, 2) representing musical staves and light sources (5, 6) disposed with respect to these lines to represent musical notes of different pitch. In the case where two sets of parallel lines (1, 2) are provided, the top set may be provided with a treble clef (3) and the bottom set may be provided with a bass clef (4) and further light sources 9 may be provided within sharps (7) and flats (8) for indicating the key. A keyboard has a plurality of switches each labelled with a letter denoting the pitch of a different note. In use actuation of one of these switches will cause at least one light source representing the appropriate note on the display to illuminate. Preferably, a random note selector illuminates one of the light sources on the display at random and the student is then given a time limit to actuate the appropriate switch corresponding to the note illuminated. Such a teaching aid provides a particularly efficient means of teaching musical notation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An electronic aid for teaching musical notation This invention relates to an electronic aid for teaching musical notation.

According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic aid for teaching musical notation, which aid comprises a display including at least one set of parallel lines representing musical staves and light sources disposed with respect to these lines to represent musical notes of different pitch, and a plurality of switches each labelled with the letter denoting the pitch of a different note.

Such an electronic aid may be used for teaching a student of music the letter, i.e. C, D, E, F, G, A or B, denoting the pitch of the basic notes on a set of staves.

Many books for teaching the playing of a musical instrument to beginners at present put numbers relating to finger positions over the notes to be played. In this system only five notes are used at the beginning of the course and the student depends heavily on the fact that the number relates to the note to be played and does not relate to the note as symbolized on a set of musical staves to the note on a piano, for example. At the point in the course when the numbers differ from the actual note to be played, the student often becomes confused and finally gives up the course.

In order that the present invention may be more fully understood, an embodiment of an electronic aid according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a display forming part of this embodiment; Figure 2 shows a keyboard forming a further part of this embodiment; Figure 3 shows a teacher's control panel forming a still further part of this embodiment; Figures 4A and 4B shows a front view and a back view respectively of the embodiment; and Figure 5, 6 and 7 are block diagrams of this embodiment.

Referring first to Figure 1,the display comprises two sets of parallel lines 1, 2 representing musical staves. The upper set 1 is provided with a treble clef 3 at the left hand side and the lower set 2 is provided with a bass clef 4 at the left hand side. A plurality of light sources 5, 6, for example light bulbs, are disposed with respect to the two sets of parallel lines to represent musical notes of different pitch. Thus, in accordance with conventional musical notation, the five light sources overlapping the five lines of the set 1 (beginning atthe bottom) denote the notes referred to by the letters E, G, B, D, F respectively and the light sources between these lines (again beginning at the bottom) denote the notes referred to by the letters F, A, C, E respectively.This is the conventional musical notation when a treble clef is used. The notes denoted by the light sources 6 on the set 2 follow the conventional notation when a bass clef is used (which differs from that used in the case of a treble clef). The scale of notes is continued on both sets 1,2, both above and below the parallel lines, by five light sources and two short lines.

Furthermore the display includes 4 sharps and 4 flats between the clef 3,4 and the light sources 5, 6 on each set of staves. Each sharp or flat has a respective light source 9 in its centre, so that the key may be represented by illuminating the appropriate light sources 9. Thus the key of C Major may be represented on the set 1 by illuminating none of the light sources 9, whereas the key of E Major may be represented on the same set by illuminating the light sources 9 within each of the four sharps 7 and the key of A flat Major may be represented on the same set by illuminating the light sources 9 within each of the flats 8.

Referring now to Figure 2, the keyboard comprises a series of push-button operated switches 10, each of which is labelled with a respective letter, C, D, E, F, G, A or B, denoting a note in the musical scale. Each of these switches 10, when depressed, may be used to illuminate one of the light sources 5, 6 representing the appropriate note on the staves. The keyboard also includes further push-button operated switches 11, 12 labelled by means of a sharp and a flat respectively, the function of which will become clear from the following description. A respective indicating light 13 may be associated with each of the switches 10, 11, 12 so as to indicate when that switch has been depressed.Furthermore a start button 14 and a seven-segment, two digit LED numerical indicator 15 are provided, again for functions which will become clear from the following description.

The embodiment may be operated in either of two states, that is: 1) a first state in which the student is taughtthe position of each note on the staves: and 2) a second state in which the knowledge of the student derived from this teaching is tested.

In the first state (teaching state), which may be selected by an appropriate selector 16 on the teacher's control panel (see Figure 3), the student may press any of the switches 10 which he wishes and this will illuminate at least one of the light sources 5, 6 representing the appropriate note on the display corresponding to the letter against the switch 10 depressed. Either the light sources 5 on the set of staves 1 and/or the light sources 6 on the set of staves 2 may be selected by means of a selector 17 on the teacher's control panel (see Figure 3), so that the student may be taught the position of the notes on the treble clef or base clef either separately or together.

In order to appreciate the operation of this embodiment in the second state (test state), which again may be selected by means of the selector 16 on the teacher's control panel, it is necessary to refer to the block diagram of Figure 5. From this figure, it will be seen that the embodiment further comprises a random note selector 30 for illuminating one of the light sources 5,6 at random. There are 38 light sources 5, 6 and therefore this selector 30 has 38 outputs to the display. Again, according to the student's ability, the selected note may be chosen to be on the treble clef or on the base clef or on either, according to the position of the selector 17.Once one of the light sources 5,6 has been illuminated by the random note selector 30, the student has time to respond to this selection by pressing the appropriate switch 10 corresponding to the note which has been illuminated on the display. If he presses the correct switch, a 1 is added to the score on the numerical indicator 15 on the keyboard, and the random note selector 30 selects another note. The student is given a time limit, for example 10 seconds, within which he must select a note before a new note is selected by the random note selector 30. However, if having already selected a note by means of one of the switches 10 the student comes to the conclusion that he has selected the wrong switch 10 and he presses another switch 10 before the expiration of the time limit, the second note elected by the student will cancel out the first note.This is due to the fact that it is only at the end of this time limit that the note selected on the keyboard is compared to the note selected by the random note selector 30 in a comparator 31 and the result of this comparison supplied to a score indicator 32 comprising a counter and the numerical indicator 15.

The speed at which notes are randomly selected by the selector 30, and therefore the time limit for the student to answer, is determined by a timing clock 33. The timing can be varied by means of a speed selector 18 (see Figure 3) according to the ability of the student. Furthermore the timing clock 33 determines the number of notes selected by the selector 30 in a testing cycle and this "target number" may be selected by means of a target selector 19 (see Figure 3). The timing clock 33 may be started to initiate testing by means of the start button 14 on the keyboard or stopped to terminate testing by means of a stop button 20 on the teacher's control panel (see Figure 3).

The embodiment also tests the use of sharps and flats. The key in which the student is to be tested may be selected by means of a key selector 21 on the teacher's control panel (see Figure 3) and this will provide a visual indication of the key selected by illuminating the appropriate light sources 9 (if any) on the display. The key selector will also inform the comparator 31 of which notes in that key will have a sharp orflat, so thatthe comparator 31 will not indicate a correct answer unless the student has also depressed the correct switch 11 or 12 together with the appropriate switch 10 when the note selected by the selector 30 has a sharp or a flat. The keys can be selected in stages, ranging from C to E or A flat, according to the student's ability.

Referring to Figure 3, the teacher's control panel also includes a reset button 21 for resetting the timing clock 33 and a power switch 22 for switching the power on and off.

The complete embodiment is shown in Figure 4 in front view (Figure 4A) and in back view (Figure 4B) from which it will be seen that the display is mounted on a vertical portion 40 of the embodiment immediately in front of the student and the keyboard is mounted on an inclined portion 41 of the embodiment before the student, whereas the teacher's control panel is mounted on the back 42 of the embodiment away from the student.

However, this embodiment may be varied to suit various applications. The embodiment particularly described with reference to the drawings is of a size suitable for testing a single student. However, it is also possible to design a classroom system in which each student has a keyboard and a large display is provided in the front of the class, similar to the arrangement provided in an English language laboratory. It would also be possible to design an embodiment for a school corridor for voluntary use by students to show off their prowess to other students. It is also envisaged that a version of similar size to a pocket calculator could be made, if a suitable microcircuit were utilised.

Instead of, or as well as, providing a numerical indicator, such as 15, to provide a cumulative total of the number of correct answers within a testing cycle, it would be possible to provide a visual indication of a correct answer by means of a further light source.

FurthermoPe, as well as providing a visual indication of the notes selected by the random note selector 30 or one of the switches 10, it is possible to provide means for reproducing the sound aurally.

Preferably the comparator is arranged to actuate the indicating means a sufficient time after the light source denoting the randomly selected note has been illuminated so as to allow at least two notes to be selected consecutively by means of the switches.

The embodiment described with reference to the drawings is advantageous since it enables the musical ability of students to be tested at various levels, according to the clef, key and speed/length of testing selected. Also the embodiment enables students to compete against one another by comparison of the score recorded by each student over a particular testing cycle, whilst treating the learning of musical notation as a game. Furthermore the embodiment may be constructed from known electronic building blocks.

In an alternative embodiment, the notes selected in the test state are not randomly selected but are selected according to a set pattern embodied in the note selection process.

In order that the manner in which the circuit illustrated in Figure 5 is constructed may be appreciated more fully, reference will now be made to Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings. Referring first to Figure 6, which shows the random note selector 30, this selector 30 consists of a high frequency unstable oscillator 50, the output pulses of which are counted by a counter 51. At the termination of the time limit within which the student must select a note corresponding to a note which has already been selected by the random note selector, a time period signal from the timing clock 33 causes the output from the counter 51 to be fed into a display register 53 which actuated the appropriate light on the display according to the new selection made by the counter 51.

Between the oscillator 50 and the counter 51, there is a gate 52 which is blocked by a response signal from the student (on the depression of one of the switches), thereby adding to the randomness of the selection made.

Referring now to Figure 7 which shows the comparator 31, this comparator 31 comprises seven of the circuits shown to the left of the dotted line in Figure 7, one for each of the notes C,D,E,F,G,A,B.

According to the notes selected by the random note selector 30, an input will be supplied to an OR gate 61 of one of these circuits. Thus, if the note selected is an "A", a signal will be supplied to one of the inputs of the "A" OR gate 61. The output from this gate 61 is supplied to an AND gate 62. An output signal will only be present at the output of this gate 62 if the student presses the correct switch 10 corresponding to the note selected. The output of this gate 62 is coupled to a circuit which routes the signal along one of three paths according to the key selected by the key selector control. This circuit comprises three AND gates 63.If, in the key selected, the note corresponding to that circuit is a sharp, the signal will be routed to the upper path, whereas, if that note is a flat, the signal will be routed to the lower path, and, if the note is neither a sharp nor a flat, the signal will be routed to the middle path. To the right of the dotted line in Figure 7, the seven circuits shown to the left of this line merge into a single circuit. Each of the lines corresponding to a middle path is routed directly to an OR gate 66, the output of which is supplied to the score indicator 32.

Each of the upper paths is routed to an OR gate 64, the output of which is supplied to a sharp AND gate 65. Similarly each of the lower paths is routed to an OR gate 67, the output of which is supplied to a flat AND gate 68. If an input signal is supplied to the AND gate 65 or 68 from the OR gate 64 or 67, an output signal will appear at the output of the AND gate 65 or 68 only if the sharp or flat switch 11 or 12 (as the case may be) has been depressed by the student. The outputs from both of the AND gates 65, 68 are supplied to the OR gate 66.

Further gates (not shown) are also provided to determine which signals to supply to the AND gates 63 when a particular key is selected by the key selector control.

Claims (13)

1. An electronic aid for teaching musical notation, which aid comprises a display including at least one set of parallel lines representing musical staves and light sources disposed with respect to these lines to represent musical notes of different pitch, and a plurality of switches each labelled with the letter denoting the pitch of a different note.

2. An electronic aid according to claim 1,wherein each switch is arranged to illuminate at least one light source representing the appropriate note when actuated, at least in a first state of the aid.

3. An electronic aid according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a random note selector for illuminating one of the light sources at random and indicating means for providing a visual indication when the switch corresponding to the randomly selected note is actuated.

4. An electronic aid according to claim 3, wherein a comparator is provided for comparing the randomly selected note to a note selected by one of the switches and for actuating the indicating means when the notes correspond.

5. An electronic aid according to any preceding claim, wherein means are provided for enabling a note selected by one of the switches to be replaced by another note selected by another of the switches.

6. An electronic aid according to claim 5 when appended to claim 4, wherein the comparator is arranged to actuate the indicating means a sufficient time after the light source denoting the randomly selected note has been illuminated so as to allow at least two notes to be selected consecutively by means of the switches.

7. An electronic aid according to claim 3, 4 or 6, wherein timing means are provided for causing the random note selector to select a new note at regular intervals.

8. An electronic aid according to claim 7, wherein the indicating means comprises a counter and a numerical indicator for indicating the number of correct notes selected by the switches.

9. An electronic aid according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the indicating means comprises a further light source for providing a visual indication each time a correct note is indicated by the switches.

10. An electronic aid according to claim 3 or 4 or 6 to 9, further comprising a key selector for selecting the key of the note selected by the random note selector and two further switches, the arrangement being such that a respective one of these further switches must be actuated in addition to one of the first mentioned switches to select the correct note if the randomly selected note is either a sharp or a flat.

11. An electronic aid according to claim 10, wherein the display also includes a number of sharps and/or flats associated with the staves and a respective light source associated with each sharp or flat, for providing a visual indication of the key selected by the key selector.

12. An electronic aid according to any preceding claim, wherein the display includes two sets of staves, a treble clef being associated with one set and a base clef being associated with the other set.

13. An electronic aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and/or as illustrated in,the accompanying drawings.