Apparatus for rapid reference to musical scales

Disclosed are various embodiments of a musical reference apparatus for use by musicians to rapidly and easily transpose or modulate music. The invention is preferably formed of two or three disc-shaped members which are rotatable relative to one another about a single axis. These disc-shaped members have musical indicia marked on upper surfaces thereof near their peripheries. The outer of the disc-shaped members has symbols thereon which represent musical tones, as does the inner of the disc-shaped members. An intermediate member which has symbols representing musical indexes can also be provided. Alternatively, the inner member can have two sets of symbols marked thereof, one representing musical tones, and the other representing musical indexes. Any of the various embodiments of the musical reference apparatus can be mounted on a reference card or on a wristwatch type device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention is directed to apparatus for rapidly referencing various 
musical tones when transposing or modulating music. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
It is common for musicians to transpose or modulate music during 
performances. Transposition, for example, involves changing the root or 
keynote of a chord, scale or musical sequence, and correspondingly 
changing the remainder of the tones or notes in the chord, scale or 
musical sequence. Although experts can readily adapt their performance for 
such transposition, beginners, amateurs and musicians performing on 
musical instruments to which they are unaccustomed, generally incur 
difficulty in adapting to the changes. 
For example, in traditionally western musical scales, major scales have 
intervals of whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half tones, and upon 
change of the root or keynote, the positions of the tones and semitones 
tend to vary. Such variance makes it quite difficult for amateurs to 
perform properly (i.e. to transpose the music). Additionally, some musical 
instruments can be switched to transpose or modulate the music, but are 
often found to be less than perfect, thus resulting in tones which are out 
of tune or pitch. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus to 
aid in the transposition or modulation of music by providing quick and 
easy reference to tones of a modulated or transposed scale, chord or 
musical sequence which properly correspond to the tones of the scale, 
chord or musical sequence prior to the modulation or transposition. 
Accordingly, the present invention is embodied as an apparatus which 
comprises a first member having twelve spaced apart indicia thereon 
corresponding respectively to twelve musical sounds, and a second member 
having twelve spaced apart indicia thereon corresponding respectively to 
twelve musical sounds, wherein the second member is coaxially rotatably 
mounted relative to the first member such that the indicia on the second 
member can be aligned with the indicia on the first member in various 
positions corresponding to various relationships between the indicia on 
the first and second members. It is contemplated that the indicia on the 
first member be equally spaced apart, the indicia on the second member be 
equally spaced apart, and the angular spacing between the indicia on the 
first member be equal to the angular spacing of the indicia on the second 
member. Additionally, the first and second members are preferably circular 
in shape, with the second member being smaller in diameter than the first 
member and mounted on top of the first member for coaxial rotation 
relative thereto. 
The present invention also contemplates a second embodiment, wherein an 
apparatus comprises a first member having twelve spaced apart indicia 
thereon corresponding respectively to twelve musical sounds, a second 
member having twelve spaced apart indicia thereon corresponding 
respectively to twelve musical sounds, and a third member having spaced 
apart indicia thereon corresponding respectively to a predetermined number 
of musical indexes. The first, second and third members are mounted for 
movement relative to one another such that the indicia on the first 
member, the second member and the third member can be aligned with each 
other in various positions corresponding to relationships between the 
indicia on the first, second and third members. It is further contemplated 
that the indicia on the first member be equally spaced apart, the indicia 
on the second member be equally spaced apart, and the indicia on the third 
member be equally spaced apart. Additionally, it is contemplated that the 
indicia on the first member be angularly spaced apart equally with respect 
to the indicia on the second and third members. Furthermore, the first, 
second and third members are preferably circular in shape and mounted 
together for coaxial rotation relative to one another. The third member is 
preferably smaller in diameter than the first member and mounted on top of 
the first member, and the second member is preferably smaller in diameter 
than the third member and mounted on top of the third member. 
It is further contemplated that the members of either of the above-noted 
alternative arrangements can be mounted on a flat substrate so as to form 
a musical reference card. Alternatively, the members of either of the 
above-noted arrangements can be mounted on a wristband so as to form a 
wrist watch type musical reference apparatus. 
With either of these arrangements, information can be rapidly obtained by 
reference to the reference apparatus in order to properly modulate or 
transpose a scale, chord or musical sequence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
A first embodiment of a musical reference apparatus for use in transposing 
and modulating music, according to the present invention, is shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2. In essential part the reference apparatus 10 comprises a 
first or outer member 12 which is preferably circular or disc-shaped, and 
a second or inner member 11 which is also preferably circular or 
disc-shaped. The disc-shaped members 11 and 12 are mounted one on the 
other such that they are rotatable with respect to one another about a 
common central axis O. It is contemplated that the inner member 11 will be 
smaller in diameter than the outer member 12 such that, when the inner 
member 11 is mounted atop the outer member 12, indicia on the upper 
surface of the outer member 12 near the outer periphery thereof are 
visible and are positioned outwardly of the inner member 11. Although the 
inner member 11 can be mounted to the outer member 12 in any suitable 
manner wherein the two disc-shaped members 11, 12 are coaxially rotatable 
relative to one another about the axis 0, the inner member 11 is 
preferably mounted in "snapped" relation with the outer member 12, such 
that the two members are mounted in coaxially rotatable relation. As will 
be discussed later, the two disc-shaped members 11, 12 may be mounted on 
various types of bases. When the two members 11, 12 are so mounted on a 
base, it is preferred that the outer member 12 be mounted immovably to the 
base, with the inner member 11 being rotatably mounted on the outer member 
12. 
As previously mentioned, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, indicia are 
provided on the upper surface of the outer member 12 near an outer 
periphery thereof, such that the indicia are visible outwardly of the 
inner member 11. These indicia are defined by twelve symbols which 
correspond to twelve musical sounds. For example, the symbols can be 
represented in chromatic form as C, C.sup.# (D.sup.b), D, D.sup.# 
(E.sup.b), E, F, F.sup.# (G.sup.b), G, G.sup.# (A.sup.b), A, B.sup.b 
(A.sup.#) and B. These symbols are preferably equally spaced about the 
periphery of the outer member 12. With the use of twelve indicia on a 
circular disc-shaped member such as outer member 12, this corresponds to 
an angular spacing of 30.degree. between each symbol. In a similar manner, 
indicia are provided on the inner member 11 and are preferably 
substantially identical to the indicia on the outer member 12. Like the 
symbols on the outer member 12, the symbols on the inner member 11 are 
equally spaced about the periphery of the inner member 11, such that they 
are equally spaced apart at 30.degree. intervals. In this manner, as the 
angular spacing between the symbols on the inner member 11 and the outer 
member 12 is equal, the symbols on the inner member 11 can be aligned with 
the symbols on the outer member 12 in various rotational positions of the 
inner member 11 with respect to the outer member 12. 
Of course, as will be readily understood by persons of ordinary skill in 
the art, the symbols shown in FIG. 1 are merely representations of 
specific musical notes and can be equally represented by symbols different 
than those shown in the draw-ing figures. For example, in a major tune 
having its root or keynote represented by C, a Japanese scale may be 
represented by the sequence "DO", "RE", "MI", "FA", "SO", "LA", "TI", and 
"DO". These musical representations correspond to the designations C, D, 
E, F, G, A, B and C, respectively. As an example of the operation of the 
musical reference apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of FIG. 1, FIG. 
2 shows one use of the musical reference apparatus 10 in transposing or 
modulating a scale, chord or musical sequence. More specifically, FIG. 2 
shows the musical reference apparatus having the inner member 11 rotated 
relative to the outer member 12 by 30.degree. from the position shown in 
FIG. 1. In this position, the apparatus 10 is useful in transposing or 
modulating a scale, chord or musical sequence in which the root or keynote 
of C is to be changed to a root or keynote of B. Thus, the symbol C of the 
inner member 11 is aligned with the symbol B of the outer member 12. With 
the apparatus 10 positioned in this manner, a musician desiring to 
transpose or modulate a scale, chord or musical sequence from one with a 
root or keynote of C to one having a root or keynote of B can quickly and 
easily refer to the apparatus 10 to determine the properly corresponding 
musical note (as read from the outer member 12) to be substituted for the 
original musical note (as read from the inner member 11). Properly 
corresponding notes of this example are shown in table 1 below. 
TABLE 1 
______________________________________ 
keynote 
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
______________________________________ 
C D E F G A B C 
B C.sup..music-sharp. 
D.sup..music-sharp. 
E F.sup..music-sharp. 
G.sup..music-sharp. 
B.sup..music-flat. 
B 
(D.sup..music-flat.) 
(E.sup..music-flat.) 
(G.sup..music-flat.) 
(A.sup..music-flat.) 
(A.sup..music-sharp.) 
______________________________________ 
Thus, it is apparent that the present invention provides rapid and easy 
reference for transposing or modulating a musical scale, chord or musical 
sequence. As shown in FIG. 1, a marking M can be provided at the position 
of the C symbol on the inner member 11 so as to facilitate the setting of 
the musical reference apparatus 10. 
FIG. 3A shows a second embodiment of the musical reference apparatus of the 
present invention. In this embodiment, a musical reference apparatus 20 
comprises a first or outer member 22, a second or inner member 21, and a 
third or intermediate member 23. Each of these members is preferably 
circular or disc-shaped with the inner member 21 being smaller in diameter 
than the intermediate member 23, and the intermediate member 23 being 
smaller in diameter than the outer member 22. 
The outer and inner members of this embodiment are similar to the outer and 
inner members, respectively, of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 
2. That is, the outer member has a predetermined number of spaced apart 
indicia on an upper surface about its periphery which correspond to a 
predetermined a number of musical sounds, and the inner member also has a 
predetermined number of spaced apart indicia on an upper surface thereof 
about its periphery which correspond respectively to a predetermine number 
of musical sounds. For example, and like the first embodiment shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2, there are twelve indicia on each of the inner 21 and outer 
22 members. More specifically, each of the inner 21 and outer 22 members 
may have musical indicia corresponding to the musical notes C, C.sup.#, D, 
D.sup.#, E, F, F.sup.#, G, G.sup.#, A, B.sup.b, and B. The intermediate 
member 23 also has a predetermined number of spaced apart indicia on an 
upper surface thereof about its periphery which correspond to a 
predetermined number of musical indexes. The indicia on the intermediate 
member 23 may, for example correspond to the musical indexes of "Root", 
"Minor Second", "Major Second", "Minor Third", "Major Third", "Perfect 
Fourth", "Augmented Fourth" (Diminished Fifth), "Perfect Fifth", 
"Augmented Fifth" (Diminished Sixth), "Major Sixth", "Minor Seventh", and 
"Major Seventh". These indexes are respectively denoted as shown in FIG. 3 
with "Root" being denoted by R, and the remaining indexes just mentioned 
being denoted successively by the symbols about the intermediate disc 23 
as read clockwise from R. FIG. 3B shows a musical reference apparatus 20' 
identical to that shown in FIG. 3A except that its intermediate member 23' 
has indicia thereon denoting musical indexes by way of symbols which 
differ from those in FIG. 3A. The indicia on the intermediate disc 23' 
include only symbols of selected ones of the musical indexes previously 
mentioned in connection with FIG. 3A. Again it is noted that the indicia 
shown in the drawing figures are merely examples and can be replaced with 
any indicia which suitably represents musical tones or indexes. 
The inner member 21 and outer member 22 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A 
and 3B, can be aligned with one another in various positions in the same 
manner as described above for the inner member 11 and outer member 12 of 
the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the additional provision 
of the intermediate member 23 allows the musician to utilize the musical 
reference apparatus for additional purposes. That is, the musical 
reference apparatus can be used by a musician to determine the notes in a 
chord. Table 2 (below) shows the various symbols of the intermediate 
member 23 (and 23') which are to be used as reference points for specific 
cords. The symbol on the outer member 22 which corresponds to the root or 
keynote of a chord is aligned with the symbol R on the intermediate member 
23, and then the symbols (representing notes) on the outer member 22 which 
are aligned with the proper symbols (as determined from table 2) on the 
intermediate member 23 are read off of the outer member 22 and indicate 
the notes of the desired chord. 
TABLE 2 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
chronic No. 
12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 
11 
interval 
R1 m2 
M2 m3 
M3 P4 aug4 
P5 
aug5 
M6 m7 
M7 
indication 
R b9 
9 m3 
M3 11 #11 
5 b13 
6 m7 
M7 
tension oct 
b9 
.eta.9 
#9 .eta.11 
#11 b13 
.eta.13 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
major .largecircle. 
.largecircle. 
tension 
minor .largecircle. 
.largecircle. 
tension 
dominant 7th 
tension 
minor 7th 
tension 
diminish 
tension 
augment 
.largecircle. 
.largecircle. 
tension * * 
sus 4 
tension 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
: chords, useful as they are or combinable with tensions 
: fundamentals 
.largecircle.: additions 
: variations 
*useful only when fourth tone is m7 
tones below 7th: useful as they are 
tones above 7th: additive to seventh tone 
chromatic tones: not useful simultaneously except for an interval beyond 
octave 
For example, if the chord whose notes are to be determined is A Minor 
Seventh (Am7), the root or keynote A of the chord (denoted by the symbol A 
on the outer member 22) is aligned with the "Root" symbol R on the 
intermediate member 23. Then, the symbols on the outer member 22 which 
align with the symbols R, m3, 5, and m7 on the intermediate member 23 
indicate the notes of the chord A Minor Seventh. Additionally, the symbols 
on the outer member 22 which align with the symbols 9, 11, and 6 (see 
Table 2 at the line labelled "tension" beneath the label "Minor Seventh") 
indicate notes one octave above the notes of the chord, which are often 
used as tension notes. 
The symbol "sus" on the outer member 22 indicates that the note denoted by 
the symbol on the outer member 22 which aligns with the symbol M3 on the 
intermediate member 23 is to be played as a sharp in the Suspended Four 
chord. Similarly, the symbol "aug" on the outer member 22 indicates that 
the symbol on the outer member 22 which aligns with the symbol M3 on the 
intermediate member 23 is to be played as a sharp in the augment chord. 
Table 2 discussed above shows the tonal intervals (intervals between 
various tones) of a chord. Reference to this table can be had by musicians 
lacking knowledge of the various tonal intervals for each chord. 
As previously mentioned in connection with the inner and outer members, the 
symbols on the intermediate member 23 can be varied in accordance with 
various musical notations. For example, the Japanese major chord "DO", 
"MI", and "SO" can be positioned at R, M3, and 5. Then, of course, when 
the root or keynote is C, these positions align with the notes C, E and G 
on the outer member 22. 
FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention wherein a musical 
reference apparatus 40 is modified relative to the musical reference 
apparatus 20 (as shown in FIG. 3A) in that the musical reference apparatus 
40 of FIG. 4 includes only an inner member 41 and an outer member 42. 
However, unlike the first embodiment (shown in FIG. 1), the inner member 
41 of this embodiment has indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on 
both of the inner member 21 and intermediate member 23 of the musical 
reference apparatus 20 of FIG. 3A. The musical reference apparatus 40 of 
this embodiment can be utilized for the same functions as discussed above 
in connection with the musical reference apparatus 20 of the second 
embodiment. 
The musical reference apparatus 40 of this embodiment also preferably 
includes a triangular shaped "hand" H, as shown in FIG. 4. The musical 
reference apparatus 40 of this embodiment can be used for tonal settings 
during transposition or modulation, between and among musical instruments 
of different pitches. That is, the tonal setting of a first pitch can be 
indicated by the symbols on the outer ring 42, while the tonal setting of 
a second pitch can be denoted by the symbols on the inner ring 41. For 
example, to transpose or modulate a musical sequence in a key of C to a 
musical sequence in the key of F, the symbol C on the inner member 41 
should be aligned with the symbol F on the outer member 42. The symbols on 
the inner member 41 corresponding to tones in the musical sequence set in 
the key of C are then aligned properly with the symbols on the outer 
member 42. The symbols on the outer member 42 which align with those 
symbols on the inner member 41 represent the tones of the musical sequence 
or chord transposed into the key of F. In a similar manner, music for an 
instrument which is set in one key can be transposed or modulated to music 
for a second instrument set in a different key. For example, in order to 
transpose music for a piano (key of C) to music for a trumpet (key of 
B.sup.b), C on the inner member 41 should be aligned with B.sup.b 
(A.sup.#) on the outer member 42. With this alignment, the piano music is 
represented by the symbols of the inner member 41, while the corresponding 
trumpet music is represented by the symbols on the outer member 42. 
In order to determine major chord settings with the embodiment shown in 
FIG. 4, the root symbol R on the inner member 41 is aligned with the 
symbol on the outer member 42 which represent the desired keynote. The 
three major cords of such keynote can then be determined by reading the 
symbols on the outer member 42 which align with the three corners of the 
triangular hand H. For example, the three major cords (C, F, and G7) of 
the keynote C can be determined by aligning the root symbol R on the inner 
member 41 with the symbol C on the outer member, and reading the symbols 
on the outer member which align with the three corners of the triangular 
hand H. Similarly, the three major cords of the key tone A Minor (Am, Dm, 
and E7) can be determined by aligning the root symbol R on the inner 
member 41 with the symbol A on the outer member 42, and then reading the 
symbols from the outer member which are aligned with the corners of the 
triangular hand H. 
FIG. 5A shows a musical reference apparatus 30, identical to the musical 
reference apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 3A, mounted on a flat substrate or 
reference card 31. As shown in FIG. 4, the musical reference apparatus 30 
is preferably mounted to one side of the card 31, so that a region 32 of 
the card 31 remains available for other purposes, such as for the mounting 
of a sticker describing how to use the musical reference apparatus 30, for 
the mounting of an electronic calculator, or for placing advertising or 
other product information. The mounting of the musical reference apparatus 
30 on the reference card 31 provides for convenience in handling of the 
device. 
FIG. 5B shows a musical reference apparatus 50 similar to the musical 
reference apparatus 10 (FIG. 1) mounted on a wrist band in the form of a 
wristwatch. In fact, the musical reference apparatus of FIG. 5B is 
incorporated into a wristwatch by having the indicia of the inner member 
marked on the face 51 of the watch, and the indicia of the outer member 
marked on the bezel ring 52 of the watch, wherein the bezel ring can be 
rotated relative to the face of the watch. 
FIG. 5C shows a musical reference apparatus identical to the musical 
reference apparatus 40 of the third embodiment (FIG. 4) mounted on a 
reference card 61. It is contemplated than any of the modified versions of 
the musical reference apparatus of the present invention can be mounted on 
such a reference card. 
FIGS. 6A-6C show three structural variations of the musical reference 
apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5B. More specifically, the structure 
schematically shown in FIG. 6A includes a flat inner member 51a, and a 
rotatable outer member 52a which is rotatable relative to the inner member 
51a. The rotatable outer member 52a has an upwardly and inwardly facing 
sloped portion 53a and an outwardly and upwardly facing sloped portion 
54a. In this variation, it is preferable that a first set of symbols be 
marked on the inner member 51a, a second set of symbols be marked on the 
sloped portion 53a of the outer member 52a, and that a third set of 
symbols be marked on the sloped portion 54a of the outer member 52a. 
The structure shown schematically in FIG. 6B includes an inner member which 
has a flat portion 51b which preferably has a first set of symbols marked 
thereon, and a sloping portion 53b which preferably has a second set of 
symbols marked thereon. The structure of FIG. 6B further includes a 
rotatable outer member 52B which preferably has a third set of symbols 
marked thereon. 
A third structural variation is shown schematically in FIG. 6C. This 
structure includes an inner member 51c which has a set of symbols marked 
thereon, an outer member 52c which has another set of symbols marked 
thereon, and an intermediate member 53c which has a third set of symbols 
marked thereon. These three members are rotatable relative to one another, 
and a stem 54c is provided to aid in rotation of the different members. 
Although specific embodiments have been described, the scope of the 
invention is not to be limited by such description, but is rather only to 
be limited in accordance with the appended claims.