1. Field of the Invention
Of the various broad classes of musical instruments, stringed fingerboard instruments, such as guitars and violins, are perhaps the most difficult to learn to play by reading printed music. Learning to read printed music written in conventional notation, wherein the note symbols are shown arranged on the treble or base staff as applicable, can in itself be a formidable challenge apart from acquiring the dexterity needed to play the instrument. The difficulty in reading music for these instruments relates to an ambiguity in selecting the strings and fingerboard locations for playing groups of notes. This ambiguity distinguishes stringed fingerboard instruments from other classes of instruments.
Notes played on the popular members of the broad class of horn instruments have a one-to-one relationship to the written note symbols. That is, to play any given note there is a unique combination of valves or a slide position for brass type instruments, or covered holes for reed or flute type instruments. There is no ambiguity involved with interpreting how a note should be played on these instruments. Also, only one note is played at a time which is a further simplification.
The piano is probably most representative of the keyboard class of instruments. Several notes at a time are commonly played on the piano, in contrast to the one note at a time characteristic of horns. However, for the piano, each written note symbol is played with a single unique key on the keyboard, which simplifies reading the music. So even though several notes may be played at once, each note is uniquely defined on the keyboard and there is no ambiguity.
In contrast to the aformentioned classes of instruments, most stringed fingerboard instruments are constructed so that many individual note pitches can be played on more than one string at different fingerboard locations. When several notes are played simultaneously, a combination of the available string and fingerboard locations must be found that are located in the same general proximity in order for the player to press down all the strings at once using just one hand. For example, there are combinations of three note pitches that could be played with more than two dozen distinct combinations of string and fingerboard locations, but most of them could not be played because the fingerboard locations are too far apart. The ambiguity caused by having optional locations for playing the notes is in sharp contrast to the other classes of instruments previously described and it causes extra difficulty in learning to read printed music.
The process of reading printed music requires more than a knowledge of the relationship between the conventional note symbols and the corresponding string and fingerboard locations. The student must also understand key changes and how to account for their sharps and flats. Occasionally music written for special stringed fingerboard instruments like the guitar will require a string to be tuned to a pitch different from its normal pitch and the student should be familiar with this. He should also understand how to adjust for the situation where the music is written for using a capo installed on the fingerboard if he wants to use a capo. It is common to find sharp, flat and natural accidentals in printed music so the student should know how to adjust to account for them also. Furthermore, because of the ambiguities previously described, the student may need to determine several string and fingerboard locations in order to know which option is best. To further complicate matters it is not always apparent which fingers should be used to play the strings, whether there is a combination among the options that allows a bar to be used to simplify the fingering, or if there happens to be a particular higher position on the fingerboard that affords an easier arrangement to finger. With all the above factors to consider, reading printed music can be a challenge for a musical student.
If is thus an object of the present invention to provide a note translation device to translate printed music to string and fingerboard locations for playing the music on a stringed fingerboard instrument. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a note translation device that indicates the fingers to use for pressing down the strings. A still further object is to provide a note translation device that is adaptable to a wide variety of musical needs whereby it can be set to adjust for music written for key signatures other than the key of C, for a capo installed on the instrument fingerboard or for an instrument with a string off-tuned to a different pitch. Moreoever, an additional object of the present invention is to provide a visual display to show the finger numbers and string and fingerboard locations on a simulated segment of a guitar fingerboard, with controls to change the display so it shows various options for playing the notes. Another object of the present invention if to provide a note translation device which can be operated by a beginning student by merely imitating the written musical note symbols via representative keyboard note switches.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Assorted devices have been conceived to aid in teaching various aspects of playing stringed fingerboard instruments. However, note of them provide the capability to translate printed music to fingering information as is done by the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,074 STRINGED INSTRUMENT TEACHING DEVICE describes a slide rule type of device for showing the fingering to use for a limited number of scales at various fingerboard positions. Scales, which are used for learning exercises, are played as predetermined sequences of notes played one at a time either continuously increasing or decreasing in pitch. Scales have existed for hundreds of years and they are defined in a large number of exercise books that are readily available. The referenced device, in effect, combines several pages of well known scales and condenses them into a more compact arrangement. It is probably useful for its intended but very limited purpose, but it has no application to the far more complex and generalized problem of translating printed music to fingering information, as is solved by the note translation device of this disclosure.
Another teaching device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,756 GUITAR INSTRUCTION SYSTEM. It includes special printed music written backwards, and note identifying labels that are placed on the guitar fingerboard, which are also written backwards. These items are all viewed through a mirror so they appear to be written forward, with the purpose being that the student can therefore see all instructional material as well as the guitar fingerboard while looking at the mirror to avoid looking back and forth between the music and the fingerboard. The labels placed on the guitar fingerboard and the special music are correlated with notations and colors so the student can determine where to press down the strings. The special music has to be prepared for each musical compositon to be taught. The student is thus dependent on a limited source for this special music. This is in contrast to the present note translation device wherewith the student can translate any conventional printed music he chooses and therefore has access to a vast body of music that is readily available.
Another device that has application to teaching music for stringed fingerboard instruments is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,867 ELECTRONIC DISPLAY SYSTEM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. A magnetic tape is prepared that has codes for the string and fingerboard locations to use for playing selected musical compositions. The tape is played to show where the notes are located on the fingerboard of the instrument so the student can duplicate them (the fingers to be used aren't identified). A special tape has to be prepared for each musical composition to be taught. The student is thus dependent on a limited source for these tapes. This is in contrast to the present note translation device wherewith the student can translate any conventional printed music he chooses and therefore has access to a vast body of music that is readily available. The string and fingerboard location information contained in the tape used with the reference device is prepared by someone who is able to read printed music; the reference device does not have the capability of the present invention to translate note information to string and fingerboard location information or to assign finger numbers to use for playing the notes.