GB2335071A

GB2335071A - Music notation and display device

Info

Publication number: GB2335071A
Application number: GB9804378A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jane Elizabeth Coles
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-03-03
Filing date: 1998-03-03
Publication date: 1999-09-08
Also published as: GB9804378D0

Abstract

A three dimensional music notation set comprises a raised stave 10 on a folding board 8 on to which are placed pieces of music notation 16, having horizontal grooves 14 in the back to fit securely on to the raised stave 10 and to prevent inaccurate placement. Grooves are positioned to allow, where appropriate, notation to be placed with note heads in a space or on a line, with stems upwards or downwards. The stave and notation are made to scale twelve times larger than their printed equivalents. The notation stands clearly raised from the stave and wherever two lines cross, one line is raised above the other for clarity. A storage system stores notation backwards in shape indentations which when reversed are seen as raised forms in the back of trays which can be used for wall charts. By labelling these forms with braille lettering a key can be used for recognition purposes.

Description

1 2335071 MUSIC NOTATION AND DISPLAY DEVICE This invention relates to a

set of 3-Dimensional music notation.

Printed music notation is an internationally used system for writing down music on paper. However, blind and partially sighted musicians have their own system of braille music which holds few similarities with printed music notation. Many blind musicians would benefit from a knowledge of printed music notation in order to communicate more fluently when discussing the notation with a sighted musician or student. A 3Dimensional set of notation allows a blind person to envision the printed music as it is seen on the stave.

According to the present invention there is provided a set of 3Dimensional music notation comprising of a raised stave, pieces of music notation made to scale, grooves on the back of the notation to allow secure fitting onto the stave and ensuring correct positioning, a storage system which can be reversed for note recognition or use as a wall chart and braille labelling for easy identification of notes. All crossing lines are raised for clarity and all pieces of notation are movable - where appropriate - in that they can be placed on a line or in a space and rotated where possible to appear with stem up or stem down as the rules of written music require.

The set can either be used as a learning device or teaching aid and is of use to blind, partially sighted or sighted teachers and students.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 shows the raised stave on a folding board; Figure 2 shows the folding board laid flat for use; Figure 3 shows a possible arrangement of two folding boards; Figure 4 shows another possible arrangement of two folding boards; Figure 5 illustrates the attachment of music notation to the stave; Figure 6 illustrates positioning of music notation on the raised stave; -2Figure 7 shows the storage system for pieces of notation; Figure 8 shows the storage system in reverse.

Referring to the drawings the 3-Dimensional music notation comprises a raised stave as shown in figure 1 accompanied by a set of music notation. The board 8 on which the raised stave 10 sits is hinged in the middle 12 so that it can be folded away for storage. When laid flat, as seen in figure 2, the stave 10 joins cleanly in the middle 12 leaving none of the five lines disjointed. As figure 3 illustrates, two of these boards 8a and 8b can be placed one above the other to simulate two lines of music. Alternatively, figure 4 shows that they can be placed one after the other in order to lengthen the stave.

As shown in Fig 5 each piece of notation 16 has grooves 14 in the back. The grooves 14 fit onto the raised stave 10. This method of attaching the music notation 16 to the stave 10 ensures correct positioning as exemplified in figure 6. The horizontal lines of the stave 10 prevent the grooved pieces of 3-Dimensional notation 16a and16b from being rotated and so cannot be wrongly positioned as the ungrooved pieces 16c and 16d have. The grooves 14 are positioned in such a way that a piece of music notation 16 can be placed with its notehead in a space 16a or on a line 16b, and that where possible a piece can be rotated so that it's stem points upwards or downwards, according to the rules of music. In the case of non-moving items such as the treble clef, bass clef, bar lines, repeat signs and time signatures it is not necessary for the pieces to be moved from a line to a space, but simply to be attached in their correct position.

The pieces of 3-Dimensional music notation 16 to be fitted onto the stave are made to scale so as to give a precise reproduction of the printed music notation. In order for a blind person to distinguish details on both the stave 10 and the pieces of notation 16 they are twelve times larger than their printed music equivalents. Also the thickness of the notation 16 allows it to stand clearly raised from the stave 10, preventing the stave lines and notation lines from being confused. 3- Dimensional examples of all printed music notation are required. The following items of printed music notation are vital to a basic set of 3Dimensional music notation:

Treble Clef Bass Clef Minim Rest Semibreve Rest -3Quaver Rest Semiquaver Rest Leger line notes Double Sharp Single Bar Line Double Bar Line Repeat p Flat Sign Natural Sign Crotchet Rest Semibreve Sharp Sign Time Signatures Pair of Quavers Crotchet Minim Pair of offset quavers Single Quaver (stem up) Single Semiquaver (stem up) Single Quaver (stem down) Single Semiquaver (stem down) Also important in order for a blind person to distinguish detail on a piece of music notation 16 is that wherever two lines cross, as is the case with a sharp sign or a treble clef, then one line is raised above the other so that the structure can be felt as well as seen.

The storage system 18 shown in figure 7 is made to store each piece of notation 16 back to front in a shaped indentation 20. Figure 8 illustrates how when the tray 18 is reversed as 18b the pieces of notation 16 that it will hold can be seen as raised forms 20b in the back of the tray. These forms 20b are labelled with braille letters 22 to correspond to a key for recognition purposes. These reversed trays 18b can also be used as wall charts.

4 4

Claims

1. A music notation and display system comprises a board having plural substantially parallel spaced apart lines projecting from a surface to define a stave, and plural pieces representing music notation, each piece having substantially parallel grooves formed in a rear surface thereof, the grooves being spaced to engage, in use, with the lines.

2. A music notation and display system according to claim 1, wherein the stave comprises five substantially parallel spaced lines.

3. A music notation and display system according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the board is hinged in the middle so that it can be folded away for storage.

4. A music notation display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein two or more boards are provided.

5. A music notation and display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pieces are made to scale to give an exact reproduction of printed music notation.

6. A music notation and display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness of the pieces is such that they project away from the stave.

7. A music notation and display system according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprises a reversible storage system for retaining the pieces representing music notation.

8. A music notation and display systein according to claim 7, wherein the storage system further comprises braille labelling to aid recognition of the pieces.

9. A music notation and display system, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.