Patent Application
20140260905
This invention relates generally to a system and method for teaching the playing of one or more percussive instruments wherein the system signals a student as to the proper time to strike the instrument.
Conventionally, a student wishing to learn how to play a musical instrument, for example the drums, must hire a teacher. Students pursuing self-instruction can only learn by watching videos or reading books. But unlike having a teacher, videos and books provide little real-time guidance and, more importantly, provide no feedback on the student's progress. Though the prior art contains some games aimed at teaching rhythm, these games are unassociated with the instrument itself and do not teach a student to play on the actual instrument. This presents a large learning curve for students wishing to take the leap from a simple rhythmic game to actual mastery of an instrument.
The invention is a system and method for teaching the playing of a musical instrument, for example, one or more percussive instruments in coordination with music or a beat. One aspect includes teaching a student how to recognize a beat and when to strike a drum, cymbal, or other percussive instrument to properly play the music. Although the invention is described with respect to a percussion instrument, for example one or more drums, it may also be used with other instruments such as, for example, a piano, a guitar, and so on.
An aspect of the invention relates to a system facilitating playing of an instrument, including a signaling unit configured to indicate timing for applying an input to the instrument, a control configured to operate the signaling unit to indicate such timing according to a beat, the signaling unit comprising an indicator operable in response to the control to provide indications of both time to apply the input and a warning preceding time to apply the input.
According to another aspect the input includes striking a percussion instrument.
According to another aspect the system includes a plurality of signaling units.
According to another aspect, the control includes a display for displaying music and instructive videos, and for allowing user interactivity with the control, a plurality of selectors facilitating user interactivity, a sensing or recording device, a memory, and an input/output.
According to another aspect, the signaling unit includes a plurality of indicators.
According to another aspect, the signaling unit further includes a trigger, sensor, or other input for sensing a percussive strike.
According to another aspect, a flexible material for bending around the rim of drum and ‘C’-shaped bottom member facilitates a secure fit to a drumhead.
According to another aspect, the control is connected to a general purpose computer.
According to another aspect, the plurality of signaling units are connected to the control through a wireless connection.
Another aspect relates to a method for teaching the playing of a musical instrument including the steps of:
generating a first output to a signaling unit representing the tempo of a beat or music,
generating a second output to said signaling unit warning the student that the time to apply an input to the instrument is approaching,
generating a third output to the signaling unit conveying the precise time to apply an input to the instrument.
According to another aspect, the includes striking a percussion instrument
According to another aspect, the signaling unit:
According to another aspect, the first, second, and third outputs are sent to a plurality of signalizing units.
According to another aspect, each of the plurality of signaling units:
According to another aspect, the second output further notifying the student of the preferred hand with which to strike.
These and other aspects and features may be carried out using the system and method including one or more signaling units and a control that indicate to the student a beat, a warning when the time to apply an input to the instrument is near, and a warning when it is time to apply the input. For example, one type of input to play an instrument is striking a drum. Another example is pressing a piano key. Still another example is finger placement and strumming on a guitar, and so on. The system and method may further include features such as a display, interactive controls, sensors and recording devices, memory, and other input/output mechanisms. For drums, the system's signaling units may include a flexible material for easy fitting to a drumhead. The system may also include a general-purpose computer and wireless connections.
This and other features of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and attached drawings. In the description and drawings, particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail as being indicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limited correspondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the spirit and terms of the claims appended hereto.
Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.
It should be emphasized that the term “comprise/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Likewise, elements and features depicted in one drawing may be combined with elements and features depicted in additional drawings. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Referring to the drawings,
In operation, the LED lights of signaling unit 20 illuminate and warn the student of the proper time to strike an instrument. In one exemplary embodiment, all of the LED lights of a signaling unit 20 are the same color. The outermost lights 22 in a strip 21 blink the tempo of the beat. The inner lights 23 illuminate sequentially from the outermost lights inward to provide the student a warning to prepare to strike (hit) the instrument. Finally, the centermost light 24 illuminates, conveying to the student the appropriate time to strike the instrument. In this exemplary embodiment, each strip conveys the striking time for a different beat, with the topmost strip 21a conveying the first beat to strike on the instrument, the next-lower strip 21b conveying the second beat, strips 21c and 21d conveying the third and fourth beats respectively, and then returning to the topmost strip 21a for the fifth beat in the sequence. In a second exemplary embodiment, three different color LED lights, such as red, yellow, and green, are used for each lighting strip 21. In this embodiment the outermost lights 22 in strip 21 are red and denote tempo. The inner lights 23 are yellow to denote a warning of the approaching time to strike. Finally, the centermost light 24 is green to denote time to strike.
The exemplary signaling units 20 and 30 may be such that the initial light in the strip is illuminated, and while that light remains illuminated the next light is illuminated and so on. Alternatively, the displays may be arranged such that all lights are illuminated and the lights are sequentially turned off until all lights of the strip are turned off and the strike signaling light then is illuminated to indicate that the drum should be struck. Further, the lights may illuminate a different color depending on which hand (right or left) is the preferred hand for striking the drum. Signaling can also be accomplished through sound, touch, or any other perceivable signal or information to prepare a user to strike and to inform the user when it is time to strike.
The control 43 further has the capacity to record what is being played on connected instruments, and convert this data into musical notes. The control 43 may also contain a sensor device, such as a microphone, as well as decoding circuitry that may be used to sense music played in real time and determine the notes to express it in a sequence in real time. Further, the music may have an embedded electronic code or signal or an audible sound or signal that can be sensed by a sensor device associated with a signaling unit 45 or independently such as by a microphone. The embedded electronic code or an audible sound or signal can be decoded by decoding circuitry or software within the control 43 to trigger operation of the signaling unit 45. In another exemplary embodiment, a sensor device contained within the signaling unit 45 acts as input 41 and recorded sound is transmitted to the control module 43 for decoding. It is also within the terms of the present invention for control module 43 to be sold with common popular songs, so that the student can play under the computerized signaling sequence while their favorite music is playing. In this embodiment, decoding circuitry or software within the control 43 may recognize beats to trigger the respective signaling unit 45.
The control module 60 can be controlled by a computer to which it is attached via an interface 70 such as USB or the like. It is also within the terms of the invention for the control module 60 to be self-contained. The control module 60 may be programmed with beats. It is also designed to allow the user to program original beats.
Computer program elements of the invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). The invention may take the form of a computer program product, which can be embodied by a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program instructions, “code” or a “computer program” embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium such as the Internet. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner. The computer program product and any software and hardware described herein form the various means for carrying out the functions of the invention in the example embodiments.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described elements (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specified function of the described element (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
