An Improved Device for Indicating Musical Notes and Chords.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1898-Accepted, 17th Sept., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Device for Indicating Musical Notes and Chords.
I, ENOCH GERARD 'WICKERSHAM, Musician, of Grover Hill, Ohio, United States
of America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:
My invention relates to a certain new and useful device designed to enable
a person to illustrate and readily comprehend the round note system in music;
also showing the relation of the instrument, such as piano or violin, to the written
notes of the scale in all their variations.
I attain these objects by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawing,
in which,
Figure 1 Most simple form, indicating names of notes only;
Figure 2; The device adapted to the violin;
Figure 3: For organ or piano;
Figure 4: Slide and gage k;
Figure 5: Slide i of organ or piano chart.
This invention consists of cardboard or other material in sheet form, having a
face card h, with the musical staff ruled thereon representing one or both clefs.
Upon this staff and diagonally across it, notes representing the musical scale are
made by means of a belt-punch or chisel, making perforations m, through the
face card h. Each line and space should be thus represented by perforated
notes m; near these the lettering of the staff should be marked.
Another card is so arranged as to slide to the right or left beneath the face
card h. Upon the left end of the slide i a part of the staff is ruled, being, when
in position, a continuation of the staff on the face card, making it either shorter
or longer by shifting the slide. At the head of this staff is the sign of the clef,
and to the right a group of flats or sharps is located in the proper order, the
flats on one side and the sharps on the other, which necessitates the reversing
of the slide when a change is made from flats to sharps or vice versa.
If the slide is moved to the right, all the sharps or flats recede from view
and only the sign of the clef remains, it is in position to represent the key of C.
Through the perforations m and on the slide i, figures or characters to indicate
the names of the different notes of the scale, or instead of or in connection with,
may be marked. the chords or the fingering of the instrument. By moving the
slide to the left, one flat or sharp is brought to view and the scale is again
marked as before. In this manner all the signatures with the respective scales
are indicated.
This invention is applied to the reading of notes on the violin, guitar, or other
stringed instrument of this class as follows:
There is diagramed at the upper left hand corner of the face card ha repre-
sentation of the fingerboard with its half steps indicated by perforations m, through
the card h, and marks to represent the strings, which are continued from the
diagram, curved and run directly to the perforated note on the staff which the
DQ17
Figure 1: Most simple form, indicating names of notes only;
Figure 2; The device adapted to the violin;
Figure 3: For organ or piano;
Figure 4: Slide and gage k;
Figure 5: Slide i of organ or piano chart.
This invention consists of cardboard or other material in sheet form, having a
face card h, with the musical staff ruled thereon representing one or both clefs.
Upon this staff and diagonally across it, notes representing the musical scale are
made by means of a belt-punch or chisel, making perforations m, through the
face card h. Each line and space should be thus represented by perforated
notes m; near these the lettering of the staff should be marked.
Another card is so arranged as to slide to the right or left beneath the face
card h. Upon the left end of the slide i a part of the staff is ruled, being, when
in position, a continuation of the staff on the face card, making it either shorter
or longer by shifting the slide. At the head of this staff is the sign of the clef,
and to the right a group of flats or sharps is located in the proper order, the
flats on one side and the sharps on the other, which necessitates the reversing
of the slide when a change is made from flats to sharps or vice versa.
If the slide is moved to the right, all the sharps or flats recede from view.
and only the sign of the clef remains, it is in position to represent the key of C.
Through the perforations m and on the slide i, figures or characters to indicate
the names of the different notes of the scale, or instead of or in connection with,
may be marked. the chords or the fingering of the instrument. By moving the
slide to the left, one flat or sharp is brought to view and the scale is again
marked as before. In this manner all the signatures with the respective scales
are indicated.
This invention is applied to the reading of notes on the violin, guitar, or other
stringed instrument of this class as follows:
There is diagramed at the upper left hand corner of the face card ha repre-
sentation of the fingerboard with its half steps indicated by perforations m, through
the card h, and marks to represent the strings, which are continued from the
diagram, curved and run directly to the perforated note on the staff which the
DQ37

page_text: string represents, said note to be indicated on the slide with an o to show that
it is played with open string, the intermediate notes being marked to indicate
the fingering as before described. Letters on the slide show through the per-
forations m in the diagram and show the location of the letters on the instrument
and their relation to the letters on the staff. By the continuation of the signa-
tures from the fingerboard diagram to their corresponding notes on the staff
their relation is made apparent at a glance.
By shifting the slide all changes of the notes on the staff, as well as of the
instrument, are indicated in all their variations, showing the signatures, letters,
fingering and chords, yet showing but one signature etc. at a time.
As adapted to the reading of notes with the organ or piano, the staff is drawn
above, and beneath this a representation of the black and white keys of the
instrument. Each perforated note m on the staff is connected by a mark to the
corresponding key of the instrument diagram. Each black and white key repre-
sented has one or more perforations m through the face card h, and a corresponding
perforation through the slide i. Through its perforations m, n, written on a
card beneath, the lettering of the instrument is shown.
is a slot in the card h, through which may be seen an indicator ; on the
slide i, which may be set to the letter or key desired. Shifting the slide opens
or closes the letters on the keyboard diagram as influenced by the signature.
The lettering of black keys is changed from flats to sharps by a second slide
upon which the letters are written. This slide is riveted to and operated by
the gage at the top. In connection with this change the slide is reversed.
The arrangement of the perforations in this chart are identical with the keys
of an organ or piano, and are shown in Figs. 3 and 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination with a musical chart having perforated notes in a musical
staff through which notes may be read, of a slide or card beneath provided
with characters indicating the names of notes, fingering, or chords, substantially
as set forth.
2. The combination in a musical chart of the slide having the different
signatures in sharps and flats and their corresponding scales and lettering of
the instrument movable with the face card h having-scales, with perforated notes
through which the various scales may be viewed, substantially as described and
for the purpose specified.
Dated this 21st date of May. 1900
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.