1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of music education, and more particularly to a method of teaching piano, though it may be used for teaching any instrument with slight modifications. More specifically, the invention employs an innovative sequence of skill acquisition which allows students to learn how to play their instrument before they are confronted with the challenge of learning to read musical notation.
There are many methods of teaching music, but the two most common methods are the traditional methods having music notation as the focus of study (hereinafter “reading focused methods”) and the Suzuki method.
In reading focused methods, students are taught how to read musical notation as a means of acquiring all other musical skills. They learn how to look at a musical score and respond to the instructions in the score by placing their fingers on the correct notes and playing them in the correct sequence, with all attendant instructions such as rhythm, volume of notes played, and musical expression, encoded into the language of musical notation presented in the score. In order to play music, the student must first learn to read this coded language of musical symbols. This presents a barrier to learning for many students, and the acquisition of musical skills is often dependent on the student's ability to understand highly abstract information.
The Suzuki method is based on direct copying of the teacher, without the use of a musical score, and is used to teach a variety of musical instruments, including keyboard/piano. The student listens to and watches the teacher perform sections of musical songs and compositions, as well as warmup exercises, notes, scales, chords, and arpeggios, and then copies the teacher directly. Everything is learned by mimicking the teacher, in the same way that a child learns to speak their native language by mimicking their parents. Eventually, Suzuki students may learn to read musical notation, but only after they have spent years learning to play songs by ear. This can cause problems for many students who do not progress to the point of learning to read music, and then transfer to other teachers using reading focused methods. Music games, charts with shapes and patterns, and free improvisation are not a part of the Suzuki method, though Suzuki teachers may choose to employ them as supplements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Other prior art systems are focused specifically on using games involving customized game boards, game pieces, and customized card decks and dice, as a means of learning to read musical notation. The Magic Music Method card games do not utilize special decks of cards, or “flash cards”, which are a common tool to teach musical notation. Rather than using special card decks, this method uses normal playing cards in combination with special charts and diagrams that represent visual maps of the instrument, such as piano. Rather than focusing on musical notation, the Magic Music Method uses specific charts and diagrams which teach the student how to move their hands and fingers into the correct shapes and patterns to build a musical vocabulary. This can be applied to non-keyboard instruments with similarly constructed visual maps that correspond note locations with the charts and diagrams in
There are existing card decks and card games consisting of special playing cards used to teach the reading of musical notes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,180 (DiGiulio), U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,756 (Hughes)). Each card has specific musical instructions printed on it, and each of these examples differs significantly from the use of cards and card games in the Magic Music Method due to the fact that these patents involve special cards, printed with specific instructions on each card. The Magic Music Method is unique in this respect because the card games can be played with any standard deck of playing cards and only requires the use of special charts and diagrams which give the cards different meanings depending on the game being played and the instrument in question.
There are also existing musical dice and musical dice games utilizing special dice manufactured with images of musical notes, rhythms, chords, and instructions on them (U.S. Pat. No. 20050109193 A1 (Wolfe), U.S. Pat. No. 20110031692 A1 (Siegel)). These differ significantly from the Magic Music Method dice games due to the fact that they require the purchase of specially manufactured dice, which have musical ideas and instructions printed on the faces of the dice. In contrast, the Magic Music Method uses any standard 6-sided dice, the numbers of which are made to correspond to specific instructions given on the charts and diagrams. Thus, the Magic Music Method dice games are distinctly different from other dice games due to the fact that they do not require special dice, and they do require the use of special charts and diagrams which give the dice different meanings depending on the game being played.
Even in the case of prior art potentially found to be using standard cards and dice, the distinction remains in the diagrams used in connection with said cards and dice. Thus, the Magic Music Method stands out as unique due to the special nature of it's charts and diagrams, described below in the “Brief Description of the Drawings”.
Other patented methods of teaching music differ significantly from the Magic Music Method due to the fact that they are focused on the acquisition of reading skills as a means of instruction (U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,947 (Moberg), U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,182 (Bermúdez)). Other game based systems of music instruction have highly specific instructions which differ significantly from the Magic Music Method's four step sequence (described in “Summary of the Invention”), and typically involve special game boards, special game pieces, and/or custom manufactured cards and/or dice (U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,805 (Ritchie, Ragner), U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,282 (Dillon), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,374 (Bowles)).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,132 (Hale) uses symbols to teach musical notation. U.S. Pat. No. 702,298 (Frederickson) uses a special deck of musical cards to teach the reading of musical notation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,282 (Dillon) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,374 (Bowles) use board games for musical education. U.S. Pat. No. 8,835,737 B2 (King) describes a system of piano tablature that vertically orients the score and uses special symbols to indicate note value and rhythmic duration, which is very different from the Magic Music Method's vertical charting system for chords shown in
U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,153 (Della Rossa) comprises a mechanical clock that has musical symbols placed around it, and plays music on the hour as the clock hands point to different musical concepts. Unlike this mechanical clock, the “Clock Of Fifths” diagram utilized in the Magic Music Method is an educational chart integrating representations of the circle of fifths in the form of “Magic Music Blocks”, placed around a clock-like image. In this image, the hours signifying time on the clock have been replaced by playing cards in a specific and unique visual array. The time “12 O'Clock” is replaced by the “Queen” playing card, the time “1 O'Clock” is replaced by the “Ace” playing card, and the times “2 O'Clock” through “10 O'Clock” are replaced by playing cards having the numbers 2-10 respectively. The time “11 O'Clock” is replaced with the “Jack” playing card. This enables the diagram to be used as an educational tool with a pack of common playing cards, allowing a randomly selected card to indicate the note which appears next to in instance of that card in any suit on the diagram. Thus, a randomly selected “3” card of any suit is paired up with the time “3 O'Clock”, and signifies the note indicated next to “3 O'Clock”, which is the note “A”. This diagram is used to randomly select notes for the student to find on the piano, and they can proceed to play the note selected, or play chords, scales, and finger positions built upon that note, or play any number of other requested musical patterns based on the note selected. Non-keyboard instruments may use the diagram to instantly see which notes on the circle of fifths are sharp and flat, and can visualize scale patterns based on the map of their instrument using the card and dice games described below by simply adapting the concept of black and white piano keys to natural, sharp, and flat notes on their respective instruments.
The Magic Music Method teaches music with a highly specific, four-step process integrating new card and dice games with a set of unique charts and diagrams that teach the student all of the fundamental patterns of music using “Magic Music Blocks”. In the example of keyboard study, these Magic Music Bocks are combined in different ways to create a visual library of all of the basic patterns of music including but no limited to: 24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns. This has the effect of allowing students to learn piano through directly copying their teacher, in combination with a pre-reading curriculum composed of Magic Music Blocks, making it much easier to learn to read music as soon as the student is ready.
This is accomplished in four stages:
1. Direct demonstration of each concept (24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns) by the teacher either in person or through video recordings, allowing the student to see how each musical pattern is formed by the hands, hear the sounds it makes, and directly copy the teacher.
2. Musical card and dice games teaching the core skills (24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns) using special charts including but not limited to the “Clock of Fifths” chart, the “24 Basic Chords” chart, the “Scale Degrees and Dice” chart, the “Piano Map” chart, the “Five Finger Patterns” chart, the “Scale Patterns” charts, and any other chart using “Magic Music Blocks” arranged in such a way as to visually demonstrate exact note names in an array which may be copied by placing fingers on the indicated notes on the piano and pressing the notes down.
3. The learning of songs which utilize the core patterns previously learned (24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns).
4. The transition to reading standard musical notation, which is now much easier due to the fact that 24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns, have been previously learned and memorized, and represent the basic vocabulary of the musical language.
Furthermore, all of these patterns may be adapted to the way notes are physically mapped across any other instrument, and similarly structured charts may be generated using Magic Music Blocks.
These patterns can be thought of as the core musical vocabulary, which is required for the student to be capable of playing songs and compositions. Learning this core musical vocabulary before learning to read musical notation is like learning how to speak a language, such as English, before being expected to read and write the language. This is often called “playing by ear” in music education. Unlike other methods which utilize playing-by-ear instruction, the Magic Music Method categorizes all of the fundamental skills and core patterns required to play music into a set of visually engaging and easy to read charts and diagrams, and utilizes new, innovative card and dice games, using a standard deck of playing cards and normal dice, to drill and memorize these concepts in an organized sequence.
The present invention is of such a scope as to include card and dice games that teach notes, chords, scales, chord inversions, chord progressions, improvisation, composition, and all levels of music theory. Teachers using the method may introduce musical notation as soon as the student is ready for it, and the Magic Music Method may be used as a supplement to other teaching methods, especially in the case of students who struggle with reading musical notation, need extra help, or have a learning disability.
It is an advantage that the card and dice games may be played with any standard deck of cards and any standard dice, and that the charts and diagrams use intuitive, visual presentations of musical ideas which may be memorized through playing the games.
It is a further advantage that the acquisition of the keyboard skills of playing 24 basic chords, 72 chord inversions, 24 basic Five-Finger hand positions, all the basic major and minor scales, and vertically oriented charts demonstrating chord patterns, directly leads to the ability of a student to quickly learn to play their favorite songs before being expected to read music.
It is a further advantage that the pre-reading notation system created by “Magic Music Blocks” makes the acquisition of the skill of reading musical notation easier, thus separating the present invention from other ear based methods such as Suzuki which do not focus as much on pre-reading shapes and patterns.
It is a further advantage that diagrams utilizing “Magic Music Blocks” may be placed into standard musical scores, creating a visual connection between the patterns as learned in the Magic Music Method and the patterns as indicated in standard musical notation.
It is another advantage that any music teacher of ordinary skill in the art can easily learn the method, interpret and understand the diagrams, play the card and dice games, and demonstrate and teach the skills and techniques of the Magic Music Method to their students.
Yet another advantage is that the learning sequence is clearly divided into four stages, which allow students and teachers to know exactly where they are in the sequence.
A still further advantage is that the present invention allows for a certain degree of creativity and innovation on the part of the teacher and the student, who can integrate it with other methods of choice and create their own games for skill acquisition using creativity and improvisation.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. For example, this method may be applied to keyboard instruments as well as any other instrument, including but not limited to stringed instruments, wind instruments, horns, pitched percussion instruments, voice, synthesizer, or any combination thereof. In other words, the preferred embodiments described below are not described in a way to unnecessarily limit the breadth and scope of the claimed invention.
The description now turns to the figures. The one or more embodiments of the invention may be understood by reference to the figures. The following description is intended only by way of example and simply illustrates one or more embodiments of the invention as claimed herein.
The Magic Music Method Learning Sequence (
Magic Music Blocks (
The most commonly encountered note names are shown in
When placed next to the Clock of Fifths diagram (
In
“C” 38 is associated with any “Queen” card 26.
“G” 39 is associated with any “Ace” card 27.
“D” 40 is associated with any “2” card 28.
“A” 41 is associated with any “3” card 29.
“E” 42 is associated with any “4” card 30.
“B” 43 is associated with any “5” card 31.
“F#/Gb” 44 is associated with any “6” card 32.
“Db” 45 is associated with any “7” card 33.
“Ab” 46 is associated with any “8” card 34.
“Eb” 47 is associated with any “9” card 35.
“Bb” 48 is associated with any “10” card 36.
“F” 49 is associated with any “Jack” card 37.
Once the note names have been learned, the student is directed to
Similar to
Musical scales are taught in the same way, with Magic Music Blocks as the building blocks of charts that show visual representations of the notes of the scales grouped by fingering category.
Thus it can be seen that the card game described above, which utilizes
By rolling a handful of dice, students can generate a random melody in a key that has been selected by a random playing card. Alternately, the teacher may select the starting key and roll the dice for the student, or the student may select the melody and then pick a card to randomly select a new key to play the melody in. There are many, many applications for this game in the field of applied music theory, wherein concepts such as notes, chords, and scales, and even modes, are applied to a given instrument for purposes of performance, composition, improvisation, or general study. This can be applied to every instrument, and so the application of this method, while currently focused on piano, is not limited to the piano.
When the student is ready to start learning songs, they encounter diagrams such as
Because of the nature of the information being studied, the card and dice games are returned to constantly and the teacher is constantly putting the student through each stage of the learning sequence for each new concept the student encounters. Thus, it is a spiral curriculum, as defined by educational theorist Jerome Bruner. Using the same tools, concepts and skills are repeated and then returned to at higher and higher levels of proficiency.