Device for transfer of a conventional note system into a system indicating the position of the hand when playing string instruments

Abstract

Abstract The invention relates to a device intended to facilitate play on a musical string instrument by transfer of the notes for a tune to be played from the conventional note sheet onto a note sheet where the tones are indicated so as they are to be found at predetermined places on the individual strings of the instrument by the fingers of the hand acting on the strings. The device consists mainly of a preferably rectangular, flat, elongated slotted slider and a preferably rectangular, flat, elongated slide member housed in the slot so as to allow mutual sliding displacement. The slide member is provided with longitudinally extending parallel rows of conventional tone designations by characters, the number of said rows equalling the number of the strings of the instrument. The tone designating characters are in each row positioned according to their subsequent locations on the string. The slide member is formed with one or several apertures disposed according to a specific pattern so as to be capable of uncovering groups of tone designations belonging to either the same key or the same chord. The opposite side of the slider and slide member device may be formed with tone designations on the slide and apertures in the slider grouped so as in predeterminable setting positions relative one another to lay open the chords and keys belonging to the specific keytone of each of the strings of the instrument. By means of this device a note sheet can be prepared which renders possible immediately to read off the positions of each finger of the hand acting on the individual strings for producing the tune in consideration. This novel note sheet has groups of parallel horizontal lines the number of which equals the number of the strings of the instrument and the notes are marked on the lines only, with an adjacent annotation of the number of the finger to be pressed against the string at the location indicated by the position of the note, the general location of the hand with its four fingers relative the strings of the instrument being determined by a separate illustration beside the groups of lines. The desired tune can be played from the novel note sheet by a player with the normal training for playing the instrument in consideration.

Inventors

• 👤 John O. Andersson

Bibliographic Details