GB2228136A

GB2228136A - Aid to learning music

Info

Publication number: GB2228136A
Application number: GB8900484A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Leonard Wilson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-01-10
Filing date: 1989-01-10
Publication date: 1990-08-15
Also published as: GB8900484D0

Abstract

A sleeve 1 contains a slide 2. The front wall 4 of the sleeve has a region 12 in which the staff is printed, and a series of apertures 15 punctuate the staff in positions representing notes. Below the staff there is a second region 17 on which is printed a section of a keyboard, and a second series of apertures 19 each punctuate a respective key 18. The front wall 4 also contains first and second windows 21 and 22. When the slide 2 is moved to various positions the name of a chord, which is printed on the slide, is visible through window 21, and the appropriate keys 18 are visually distinguished by a coloured or patterned area displayed in the corresponding apertures 19'. At the same time, the appropriate apertures 15 of the staff 12 display a back region or an appropriate symbol to represent the notes of the respective chord. Window 22 displays the corresponding counter bass note. <IMAGE>

Description

MUSIC AID The present invention proposes an aid to learning music comprising: - an opaque sleeve having closely opposed front and rear walls, the sleeve including a first region whi.ch depicts a seri.es of parallel horizontal lines of musical notation, and a second region which depicts a number of adjacent keys of a keyboard from a musical instrument, and the sleeve further including a first series of apertures disposed within the first region in positions corresponding to the positions of musical notes, and a second series of apertures each of which coincides with a respective key of the second region, and - a slide portion movable to a plurality of reference positions wi.thin the sleeve, and which carries a pattern visible through the said apertures such that in each of the said positions certain apertures of the second seri.es are visually disti,ngui,shed to indicate the keys corresponding to a particular musical chord on the keyboard, and cetain apertures of the first series are distingui.shed to indicate the notes in musical notation that correspond with that same chord.

Preferably the sleeve includes a window through which the names of chords carried on tie slide portion are displayed, the displayed name corresponding to the chord indicated in the first and second series of apertures.

The sleeve may include a second window through which the counter bass note for the corresponding chord is displayed.

The invention will now be exemplified in the following description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a music aid of the invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are detailed front views of the aid showing examples of two different chords.

Referri.ng fi.rstly to Figure 1, the aid comprises an opaque sleeve 1 of card, plasti.cs or other durable and printable material, and a slide portion 2 of similar material. For the purpose of illustration, both the front face of the sleeve 1 and the front and rear surfaces of the slide portions 2 will be considered as having a white background.

The sleeve 1 includes two superimposed front and rear rectangular walls 4 and 5 which are joi.ned only along their longer side edges 7 and 8. An extension strip 10 extends along one of these edges 7 for gripping purposes.

The slide portion 2 is a rectangular sheet which i.s slightly narrower than the distance between side edges 7 and 8 of the sleeve, but is signficantly longer than the sleeve. Thus, the slide portion 2 can be slid to various positions in and out of the sleeve in direction A.

As shown i.n Fig.s 2 and 3, the front wall 4 of the sleeve has an upper region 12 on which are printed ten parallel lines 14 representing musical notation, i.e.

the staff. The two middle lines are double spaced, the upper five representing the treble clef and the lower five the base clef. A series of apertures 15 punctuate the staffl2 in positions representing the notes E to G.

Below the staff there i.s a second region 17 on whi.ch i.s printed a representation of a section from the keyboard of an organ, piano or other keyboard instrument, comprising a number of individual keys 18. A second series of apertures 19 is arranged such that each aperture punctuates a respective key 18.

Slightly above the keyboard region 17 and to the left there i.s a first wi.ndow 21 in the front wall 4. A short distance below thi.s first window there is a second window 22. The second window is approximately half the width of the fi.rst window and is aligned below the left half of the first wi.ndow for reasons which will be explained below.

The front face of the slide portion 2 has material printed upon it such that in any particular position of the slide portion within the sleeve 1 the name of a chord printed on the slide will be visible through the window 21 (e.g. C Major as in Fig. 2 or D Major as in FIg. 3). At the same time certain of the keys 18 are visually di,stingui.shed from the other keys by the display of a coloured or patterned area of the slide portion in the corresponding apertures 19'. The remai.ning apertures display a white or black area to visually blend in with the appropriate key. In addition to being distinctively coloured or patterned the keys corresponding to the displayed chord also display a number from one to five to indicate the finger which is conventionally used with the corresponding key when playing the chord.A diagram of a hand may be printed on the sleeve 1 with the fingers numbered accordingly. Letters or other codes could be used to indicate the appropriate fingers if desired.

For each chord which is i.ndicated i.n the window 21 certain of the apertures 15 of the staff 12 are visually distinguished from other of the apertures by the display of a black region of the slide portion 2 or by the display of an appropriate symbol. The remaining apertures 15 display a whi.te regi.on of the card to blend in with the background of the sleeve. The distinguished apertures represent the notes of the respective chord in the conventi.onal posi.ti.ons on the staff.

Window 22 displays the counter bass note for each chord displayed in window 21.

By moving the slide portion 2 to various positions within the sleeve 1, different chords can be displayed in the window 21. The corresponding keys will simultaneously be i.ndi.cated in region 17, and the corresponding notes will be indicated on the staff 12.

Window 22 will display the appropriate counter bass note. Although two separate series of notes could be printed on the slide portion 2, one for each window 21, 22, the windows are arranged such that only one series of notes is required. Window 22 is posi.tioned such that for any particular note di.splayed in the first window 21 the note printed in the fifth slide position below it on the slide portion 2 will appear in the secomnd wi.ndow 22. The "M" for major i.s not di.splayed in the second window.

The slide porti.on 2 can have different chords printed on both sides so that the range of chords can be extended by reversing the slide portion. The rear wall 5 of the sleeve 1 could also be provided with similar keyboard, staff and wi.ndows to the front wall 4 so that the slide portion need not be removed from the sleeve to enable the additional chords to be read. A number of different slide portions can be provi.ded for use with a single sleeve enabling the range of chords to be extended still further.

The chart thus enables someone who is learning music to easily relate the chord named in the wi.ndow 21 both to the positions of the corresponding keys on the keyboard and to the relative positi.ons of the notes on the treble and bass clef.

Claims

1. An aid to learning music comprising: - an opaque sleeve having closely opposed front and rear walls, the sleeve including a first region which depicts a series of parallel horizontal lines of musical notation, and a second region which depicts a number of adjacent keys of a keyboard from a musical instrument, and the sleeve further including a first series of apertures disposed within the first region in positions corresponding to the positions of musical notes, and a second series of apertures each of which coincides with a respective key of the second region, and - a slide portion movable to a plurality of reference positions within the sleeve, and which carries a pattern visible through the said apertures such that in each of the said positions certain apertures of the second series are visually distinguished to indicate the keys corresponding to a particular musical chord on the keyboard, and certain apertures of the first series are distinguished to indicate the notes in musical notation that correspond with that same chord.

2. An aid in accordance with Claim 1, in which the sleeve includes a window through which the names of chords carried on the slide portion are displayed, the displayed name corresponding to the chord indicated in the first and second series of apertures.

3. An aid in accordance with Claim 2, in which the sleeve includes a second window through which the counter bass note for the corresponding chord is displayed.

4. An aid in accordance with Claim 3, in which the second window is aligned with the first window in the direction of movement of the slide portion, and a single series of notes carried on the slide portion is displayed in both widows.

5. An aid in accordance with any preceding claim, in which the second series of apertures display insignia, carried on the slide portion, indicating the fingers to be used to play the respective keys.

6. An aid in accordance with any preceding claim, in which the sleeve has a laterally projecting gripping portion extending along one of its edges.

7. An aid to learning music, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.