NOTE TEACHING AID IN THE FORM OF A GAME

Abstract: A teaching aid for musical notes consists of a game board or plate (1) similar to a keyboard, where a section of each white key (2) is stamped out to form a number of game pieces (4), one piece (4) for each white key (2). Said pieces (4) are equipped with symbols for the musical stave (5), the position of the note, a colour code and on the rear side of the piece, the letter designation (7) of the note, as well as the colour code (7'). The recesses (8) in the board (1), wherein said pieces (4) fit in a reversible manner, are also provided with the colour symbol (10) and in addition a marking (9) of line or interval in the musical stave.

Description: NOTE TEACHING AID IN THE FORM OF A- GAME The present invention concerns a note teaching aid in the form of a board game. Said teaching aid is particularly well suited for instruction of beginners in connection with keyboard playing, but is not limited thereto, since it is also well suited for giving any novice in musical note studies good possibilities for drilling in the locations of notes in the musical scale as well as the ability to recognise these locations. A number of methods exist for teaching musical notes. A pupil may learn notes one by one in connection with the pieces he/she plays from music school books which introduce new notes and tones gradually. The pupil may also learn to play by ear, and the note symbols are subsequently drilled in when the pupil has achieved a certain playing ability. Illustration charts of the note system show the location of the notes in the stave line system, and may possibly be placed upon the piano behind! the keys. The pupil may also be trained by holding up a note card, and the pupil is then supposed to state the name of the tone. Board writing of notes, as well as home lessons with notes below which the pupil writes names, are also ordinary training methods. A person who has taught using such systems for a number of ye ' ars, will feel that there exists an instructio problem here which might be solved in an easier and especially in a more enjoyable manner. A music teaching aid is previously known from British patent application 2 081 960, which teaching aid is based upon the use of loose cards, where each card corresponds to a tone and the location of that tone in the stave system, said location being displayed on each card. Only one single musical stave with five stave lines is depicted on each card. Two sets of cards are used, narrow cards for "black notes" in a keyboard,, and wide cards for the "white notes". Said cards are also equipped with colour markings, i.e. two different colours in each card, where "the difference" between the two colours in a card is stated to represent a "difference" in pitch of a note depicted on the card, depending on the musical clef under consideration. This previously known card system is quite clearly addressed to pupils who have finished their beginner education, and is used e.g. in composing melodies, or possibly as an aid in explaining complicated music theory subjects like transposition, inversion and "cantus firmus". Said card syste is not well suited for beginner education for small children. In order to use these cards, the " student must already know the location of the notes in keyboard. In contrast thereto, the object of the present invention is just to make the elementary instruction in music reading easy and entertaining for small children, and the teaching aid provided in accordance with the invention has the form of a board game with loose pieces to be laid on a board with recesses for the pieces. The note teaching aid in accordance with the invention is defined precisely in the enclosed patent claims. The inventio shall now be explained in more detail, referring to the enclosed drawings, where Fig. 1 shows a top view of the game board in accordance with the invention, with all pieces in their places except one as well as both sides of the one loose piece, Fig. 2 shows a top view of the game board in the same manner as in fig. 1, however with the laid-on pieces in an inverted position, Fig. 3 shows the board with all pieces removed, Fig. 4 shows the rear side of the board in accordance wit a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 5 shows the design of a "wheel of fortune" which may be used in a game when utilizing the invention, and Fig. 6 shows another type of a "wheel of fortune" . As appears from fig. 1, the note teaching aid in accordan with the present invention has the form of a rectangular, doub board or plate of plastics, cardboard or similar material, wit dimensions corresponding to a normal keyboard of three or four octaves, i.e. authentical size. Upon the plate 1 is traced a keyboard with white 2 and black 3 keys. On each white key 2 i traced a short part 5 of a double musical stave (i.e. 2 x 5 lines) and with the musical clef in question, and the note symbolizing the key in question is also drawn in, so that all notes from the lowest line in the bass system to the highest line in the treble system is included when read from left to right along the keyboard. The notes will form a diagonal from the lowest to the highest note, and when traced upon the keys 2 in this manner, they will give a general view of the note system. The just mentioned sections of the musical stave, one section for every white key, are located near the outer end of each key, i.e. the end which is closest to the pupil. On this end there is also provided a colour mark 6 on each white key, said colour mark 6 symbolizing each tone in the musical scale. There are seven different tones in the scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and suitably seven colours are then used in accordance with the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These colours are repeated in every octave. However, the feature which forms the keyboard plate 1 into a game, is that each keyboard part closest to the pupil, including the traced musical stave section 5 and colour mark 6, is stamped out in the upper part of the double plate 1, so that all these parts 4 may be taken out from the board or plate 1 to constitute the pieces 4 of the game. These pieces 4 are consequently removable .from the game board or plate 1. It is further an essential feature of the teaching aid/game that each piece 4 is also designed to be put back in its place in the game board in an upside down position. On the rear side of each piece 4 there is also provided some information, that is to say the name of each tone/note/key, i.e. C, D, E etc., and the colour symbol, in the drawing reference numeral 7', is also provided on this side. Possibly the letter itself may be written with the colour in question. In fig. 1, far right, is shown that piece which belongs in the right end of the keyboard 8. Both sides of the piece are depicted. In the place far to the right in the keyboard 8, i.e. where a piece has been removed, the remaining recess 8 appears. The recess 8 has a bottom constituted by the top side of the bottom plate in board 1. In the key position concerned the colour symbol in question is also provided in the bottom o the recess, which colour symbol is referred to with reference numeral 10, and an additional marking 9 is also provided in th same key position, in the shown case a short line which has fo its object to indicate whether the note in question lies on a line in the musical stave or in an interval between lines. Th alternative symbol 9, i.e. a symbol indicating that the note lies in an interval, may suitably be a small circle. In fig. 2 is displayed the same game board as in fig. 1, and with all pieces 4 in their places, except the piece on the far right, however in fig. 2 all the other pieces have been turned upside down. In order to make it quite clear that a colour code is included, the colour mark has been applied to the rear side of the pieces, but this rear side works equally well if the letters thereon quite simply are coloured. Also i fig. 2, the removed piece on the far right is shown in two positions on the right side of the keyboard. Fig. 3 shows the board without pieces 4. The recesses 8 appear over the full width of the keyboard. In the inner end of each recess the symbol 9 is indicated, which symbol states the location of the note on a line or in an interval between lines in the musical stave, and further out in the recess the colour symbol or colour mark in question is indicated for each key. Said colour symbol may also be placed in other positions on the key, e.g. on the end farthest away from the pupil. It is favourable if the upper plate in the double game board 1 is a few millimeter larger than the bottom plate, so t the pieces 4 can be removed easily at the front edge. General the plates constituting game board 1 are joined together. The recesses may quite well have full key width, so that the whole outer part of each key constitutes a game piece, which piece i then closely adjacent to the neighbouring piece or pieces. Fig. 4 shows the rear side of the game board 1 in an embodiment of the invention where also the possibility of advancing further, i.e. without use of colour codes etc., is desirable. This rear side is also shaped like a keyboard, however without markings or symbols, so that it is possible to turn the whole game upside down and use the backside without help from any code. The note teaching aid in accordance with the invention can be used in a game according to different playing rules not to be described further here. However, it will often concern putting the pieces 4 in their correct positions in the keyboard when all pieces have been removed therefrom. The pupil must then look at three different elements, namely colour, musical clef and whether the note is situated on a line or in an interval in the musical stave. These three features will decide the correct position of the note. In this connection it should be noted that all pieces have the same shape, so that the pupil must think somewhat in order to place the pieces in the correct position. The teaching aid in accordance with the invention will therefore to some extent be similar to a puzzle game, where the piece code indicates where to place the piece. In one game type the backside of the piece may possibly be used, the name of the key then being learnt in accordance with the colour code. Thus, in addition to board and pieces, also a playing rule booklet with suggested game types, a die, movable game pieces and "wheel of fortune" will belong to the complete note teaching aid. In fig. 5 and 6 are shown two alternative forms of "wheels of fortune" which can be used in connection with games in accordance with certain playing rules. The wheel shown in fig. 5 can be used to indicate which particular note to be taken into considereation in a game with special game rules, and may also comprise the colour code in the same manner as the game board. The wheel according to fig. 6 may be used to indicate e.g. ways of moving from note to note in the keyboard. The present note teaching aid thus represents a quite new principle, which however is quite simple, concerning understand¬ ing and learning musical notes. The teaching aid may be used for note teaching independent of a piano. Notes and key names are put down in "the keys". By means of these simple codes, even a small child can find the name of the key and the position of the note. By throwing dice or using wheels of fortune, two children may play a game together and at the same time learn notes, intervals and key names while playing. In addition to the surveyability, such a game will imply that one moves the note/key name piece 4 out and in in accordance with game rules. In this manner the pupils will constantly repeat the positions of the notes in the keyboard model, and develope an ability for thinking in terms of steps and keys. Thus, the pupils learn to look at those elements which are necessary in a musical connection, namly the musical clef (F-clef or G-clef) , the names of the notes and whether the note is located on a line or in an interval.

Claims: P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. Teaching aid for musical notes, particularly suitable for elementary instruction in keyboard playing, where the single notes in a keyboard containing three or four octaves are represented by loose pieces (4) with traced symbols (5, 6, 7, 7'), c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y the fact that it comprises a game board or plate (1) with a traced keyboard, and that the loose pieces (4) are shaped for fitting physically and reversibly into recesses (8) formed in each note key (2) in the keyboard. 2. Teaching aid as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y the fact that each single, loose piece (4) on one side thereof has a traced musical stave (5) and musical clef as well as the note marker of the tone in question, and in addition a colour symbol (6) which represents the concerned one of the seven scale tones. 3. Teaching aid as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y the fact that each piece (4) on the other side thereof has the letter representation (7) of the tone in question traced in the colour in question, or traced together with the same colour symbol (7') as appears on the opposite side. 4. Teaching aid as claimed in claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y the fact that the bottom of each recess (8) in the game board (1) , and possibly some other location in the key in question, is provided with a marking (9) indicating whether the note in the position in question is situated on a line or in an interval in the musical stave, and with the colour symbol (10) in question. 5. Teaching aid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y the fact that the underside of the board (1) also has a correspondingly traced keyboard as the overside, said correspondingly traced keyboard being without any form of coding or recesses.

Inventors: BRANTSAETER BENTE BERGVE, BRANTSAETER, BENTE, BERGVE
Applicants: BRANTSAETER BENTE BERGVE, BRANTSAETER, BENTE, BERGVE
Application year: 1989
Main classification: G09B15
IPC codes: G09B15