System and method for teaching music
First Claim
1. A system for teaching musical rhythm, said system comprising:
- at least one master block, each of the at least one master block visually conveying to an observer a time signature, one of the at least one master block comprising a control reference feature having a benchmark dimension, and each of the remaining at least one master block, if any, comprising a control reference feature having a dimension relative to said benchmark dimension and its visually conveyed time signature; and
a plurality of cadence blocks, each of the plurality of cadence blocks visually conveying to an observer a duration value, and each of the plurality of cadence blocks comprising a reference feature relative in dimension to its duration value and the benchmark dimension;
wherein the musical rhythm in a given musical measure can be correctly determined by either (1) visually reading one of the at least one master block and one or more of the cadence blocks;
or (2) tactilely comparing the dimension of the control reference feature of one of the at least one master block to the dimension of the reference feature of one or more of the plurality of cadence blocks to see if they are equal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for teaching music both visually and tactilely. In one embodiment, the invention comprises blocks shaped to resemble musical symbols used to compose music, including time signatures, notes, rests, and dots. Each of the blocks are relative in thickness such that for a given time signature, the correct rhythm for a given measure can be determined by laying one or more of the notes, rests and dots one over the other to see if their combined thickness is equal to that of a preselected time signature. The thickness of the block shaped to resemble the time signature is such that it only allows the correct number of blocks shaped as notes, rests or dots to be of equal thickness to thereby determine the correct rhythm. In addition, the correct rhythm can be determined by simply reading the shaped blocks as one would read music. The use of the shaped blocks having relative thicknesses allows a student to learn rhythm by trial and error and does not necessarily require that the student understand complex music theory. In addition, the blocks can be used by the student when clapping the correct rhythms. Other musical notation can be represented by blocks as well such as bar lines and slurs.
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Citations
76 Claims
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1. A system for teaching musical rhythm, said system comprising:
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at least one master block, each of the at least one master block visually conveying to an observer a time signature, one of the at least one master block comprising a control reference feature having a benchmark dimension, and each of the remaining at least one master block, if any, comprising a control reference feature having a dimension relative to said benchmark dimension and its visually conveyed time signature; and
a plurality of cadence blocks, each of the plurality of cadence blocks visually conveying to an observer a duration value, and each of the plurality of cadence blocks comprising a reference feature relative in dimension to its duration value and the benchmark dimension;
wherein the musical rhythm in a given musical measure can be correctly determined by either (1) visually reading one of the at least one master block and one or more of the cadence blocks;
or (2) tactilely comparing the dimension of the control reference feature of one of the at least one master block to the dimension of the reference feature of one or more of the plurality of cadence blocks to see if they are equal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for teaching musical rhythm, said system comprising:
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a master block shaped to resemble a time signature, said master block comprising a first side having a thickness, said thickness being a benchmark dimension; and
a plurality of cadence blocks, each of said cadence blocks shaped to resemble a note or a rest, said note or rest each having a duration value relative to said time signature, each of said cadence blocks having a thickness relative to its duration value and the benchmark dimension;
wherein the correct rhythm for the measure of music can be determined by either (1) visually reading the master block and one or more of the cadence blocks;
or (2) comparing the combined thickness of one or more of the cadence blocks to the thickness of the master block to ascertain if they are equal. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A system for teaching musical rhythm, said system comprising:
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a block shaped to resemble a time signature;
a first plurality of blocks, each of said first plurality of blocks shaped to resemble a note or a rest;
a second plurality of blocks, each of the second plurality of blocks shaped to resemble a slur or a bar line;
wherein said block, first plurality of blocks and the second plurality of blocks are comprised of thermoplastic. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A system for teaching musical rhythm for a measure of music, said system comprising:
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at least one master block, each of the at least one master block comprising a first indicator means for visually conveying to an observer a time signature, and each of the at least one master block further comprising a first reference means for tactilely determining the correct rhythm for the measure of music; and
a plurality of cadence blocks, each of the plurality of cadence blocks comprising a second indicator means for visually conveying to an observer a duration value, and each of the plurality of cadence blocks further comprising a second reference means for tactilely determining the correct rhythm for the measure of music;
wherein the musical rhythm for the measure of music can be correctly determined by either (1) sight reading the first indicator means of one of the at least one master block and the second indicator means of one or more of the cadence blocks, or (2) comparing the first reference means of one of the at least one master block to the second reference means of one or more cadence blocks. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for teaching the correct musical rhythm for a measure of music to a student, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing the student with a master block shaped to resemble a four-four time signature, said master block having a reference thickness relative to said four-four time signature;
providing the student with four cadence blocks, each of the four cadence blocks being shaped to resemble a quarter note, each of the four cadence blocks having a thickness of one-quarter of the reference thickness of the master block;
having the student lay the cadence blocks one on top of the other and place them along side the master block thereby allowing the student to observe that the combined thickness of the four cadence blocks equals that of the reference thickness of the master block;
having the student lay out the master block and the four cadence blocks in the measure; and
having the student perform the correct rhythm. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for teaching correct musical rhythm to a student, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing the student with at least one master block, one of the at least one master block comprising a control reference feature having a benchmark dimension, and each of the remaining at least one master block, if any, comprising a control reference feature having a dimension relative to said benchmark dimension and its visually conveyed time signature;
providing the student with a plurality of cadence blocks, each of the plurality of cadence blocks visually conveying to an observer a duration value, and each of the plurality of cadence blocks comprising a reference feature relative in dimension to its duration value and the benchmark dimension;
allowing the student to determine by trial and error the correct musical rhythm of one or more measures by (1) visually reading one of the at least one master block and one or more of the cadence blocks;
or (2) tactilely comparing the dimension of the control reference feature of one of the at least one master block to the dimension of the reference feature of one or more of the plurality of cadence blocks to see if they are equal. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A system for teaching musical rhythm, said system comprising:
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a block shaped to resemble a time signature;
a plurality of blocks shaped to resemble notes; and
a plurality of beat mats;
wherein the plurality of beat mats may be laid out to indicate a correct number of beats in a measure for the time signature. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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Specification