US6201174B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and system for improved tablature notation in digital music scores
Assignee: SUNHAWK Corp
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Filing: 1998-12-11
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Granted: 2001-03-13
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Expires: 2018-12-11
Abstract
Abstract A computerized tablature composer automatically updates a tablature notation following edits of a corresponding staff notation. The computerized tablature composer conversely links edits to a tablature notation with corresponding updates in a staff notation for a corresponding musical score. The computerized tablature composer ensures vertical alignment between corresponding notes in a staff notation and a tablature notation. The computerized tablature composer ensures that the actual played notes in both musical representations are aligned so that the musician knows which note in the staff notation corresponds to which note in the tablature notation. The computerized tablature composer further allows the coupling between tablature and conventional staff notation to be de-coupled upon request. The computerized tablature composer provides a musician with alternate fret locations for the notes in a musical work when the musician indicates an alternate string for a given note. The computerized tablature composer provides a virtual tuning peg that allows a musician to use non-standard tunings by changing the fret numbers in the tablature notation to reflect new tuning data for one or more strings represented by the tablature notation.
Inventors
- 👤 Marlin Eller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 11:28
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09B; G09B15/00; G09B15/02; G09B15/023; G09B15/001; G09B15/002; G09B15/003
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 55
Claim 1
Independent Claim
77 words
A method in a computer system for editing a musical score expressed in both a first notation and a second notation, comprising: receiving an indication of a change in the first notation expression of the musical score; changing the first notation expression of the musical score in accordance with the received indication; and automatically changing the second notation expression of the musical score to correspond to the change in the first notation expression of the musical score.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
77 words
A method in a computer system for editing a musical score expressed in both a first notation and a second notation, comprising: receiving an indication of a change in the first notation expression of the musical score; changing the first notation expression of the musical score in accordance with the received indication; and automatically changing the second notation expression of the musical score to correspond to the change in the first notation expression of the musical score.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the first notation is conventional staff notation and the second notation is a tablature notation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the first notation is a tablature notation and the second notation is conventional staff notation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: presenting the first notation on a display medium; and presenting the second notation on the display medium at a location having an orientation of one of above or below the first notation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the first notation has musical notes corresponding to musical notes in the second notation, further comprising: aligning vertically on the display medium at least some of the musical notes of the first notation with corresponding musical notes in the second notation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the display medium is an electronic tablet.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the display medium is a display screen.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a request to disengage changing automatically the second notation to correspond to the change in the first notation.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the change in the first notation is a change from a first musical note to a second musical note.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the change in the first notation is a change from a first musical symbol to a second musical symbol.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
120 words
A method in a computer system for adjusting a musical score expressed in a tablature notation, comprising: receiving a selection of a current effective length of a string that represents a note of the tablature notation; receiving a selection of another string of the tablature notation; and in response to receiving the selection of the current effective length of the string and the selection of the other string, identifying an effective length of the other string that represents the same note of the tablature notation as the note represented by the current effective length of the string; and generating a tablature notation wherein the note of the tablature notation is represented by the identified effective length of the other string.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
120 words
A method in a computer system for adjusting a musical score expressed in a tablature notation, comprising: receiving a selection of a current effective length of a string that represents a note of the tablature notation; receiving a selection of another string of the tablature notation; and in response to receiving the selection of the current effective length of the string and the selection of the other string, identifying an effective length of the other string that represents the same note of the tablature notation as the note represented by the current effective length of the string; and generating a tablature notation wherein the note of the tablature notation is represented by the identified effective length of the other string.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 11 , further comprising: displaying the selection of the current effective length of a string on a display medium; and displaying the selection of the other string on a display medium.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the display medium is a display screen.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 11 , further comprising: displaying the identified effective length of a string on a display medium.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 11 wherein the musical score has a conventional staff notation containing a plurality of musical notes, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of a change in the staff notation; automatically changing the tablature notation to correspond to the change in the conventional staff notation.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 15 , further comprising: presenting the conventional staff notation on a display medium; and presenting the tablature notation on the display medium at a location having an orientation of one of above or below the conventional staff notation.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the tablature notation has musical notes corresponding to musical notes in the conventional staff notation, further comprising: aligning vertically on the display medium at least some of the musical notes of the tablature notation with corresponding musical notes in the conventional staff notation.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the display medium is an electronic tablet.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the display medium is a display screen.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
65 words
A method in a computer system for generating a musical score expressed in tablature notation, comprising: providing a current tuning note representing a current tuning for a line of a tablature notation; receiving a new tuning note representing a new tuning for the line of the tablature notation; and generating a tablature notation for the musical score to reflect the new tuning of the line.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
65 words
A method in a computer system for generating a musical score expressed in tablature notation, comprising: providing a current tuning note representing a current tuning for a line of a tablature notation; receiving a new tuning note representing a new tuning for the line of the tablature notation; and generating a tablature notation for the musical score to reflect the new tuning of the line.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 20 , further comprising: receiving a new tuning indication for the line; and displaying a list of possible tunings for the line on a display medium after receiving the new tuning indication.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 20 , further comprising: displaying the new tuning for the line on a display medium.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 20 , further comprising: displaying the new tablature notation on a display medium.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 23 wherein the display medium is a display screen.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 20 wherein the tablature notation comprises a set of lines, further comprising: receiving a new tuning for each line in the set of lines of the tablature notation; and generating the tablature notation to reflect the new tuning for the set of lines.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 25 , further comprising: receiving a new tuning indication for the set of lines; and displaying a list of possible tunings for the set of lines on a display medium after receiving the new tuning indication.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 20 wherein each line in the set of lines corresponds to a string of a stringed instrument, further comprising: receiving ease-of-playing data for the stringed instrument, wherein the generation of the tablature notation to reflect the new tuning for the set of lines utilizes the received ease-of-playing data.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 20 wherein the musical score has a conventional staff notation containing a plurality of musical notes, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of a change in the staff notation; automatically changing the tablature notation to correspond to the change in the conventional staff notation.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
100 words
In a computing system, a computer-readable medium having a data structure for a musical work containing musical notes, comprising: a tablature notation data field containing musical note representations for the musical notes of the musical work in tablature notation, wherein the tablature notation data field provides a first set of effective lengths of strings for the musical notes of the musical work; and a tablature translation key field that provides a translation of the first set of effective lengths of strings into at least a second set of effective lengths of strings for the musical notes of the musical work.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
100 words
In a computing system, a computer-readable medium having a data structure for a musical work containing musical notes, comprising: a tablature notation data field containing musical note representations for the musical notes of the musical work in tablature notation, wherein the tablature notation data field provides a first set of effective lengths of strings for the musical notes of the musical work; and a tablature translation key field that provides a translation of the first set of effective lengths of strings into at least a second set of effective lengths of strings for the musical notes of the musical work.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
57 words
The data structure of claim 29 , further comprising: a conventional staff notation data field containing musical note representations for the musical work in conventional staff notation; and an alignment field containing data for aligning the musical note representations of the tablature notation data field with the musical note representations of the conventional staff notation data field.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
81 words
A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to edit a musical score expressed in both a first notation and a second notation, by: receiving an indication of a change in the first notation expression of the musical score; changing the first notation expression of the musical score in accordance with the received indication; and automatically changing the second notation expression of the musical score to correspond to the change in the first notation expression of the musical score.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
81 words
A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to edit a musical score expressed in both a first notation and a second notation, by: receiving an indication of a change in the first notation expression of the musical score; changing the first notation expression of the musical score in accordance with the received indication; and automatically changing the second notation expression of the musical score to correspond to the change in the first notation expression of the musical score.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the first notation is conventional staff notation and the second notation is a tablature notation.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the first notation is a tablature notation and the second notation is conventional staff notation.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
41 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 , further including: presenting the first notation on a display medium; and presenting the second notation on the display medium at a location having an orientation of one of above or below the first notation.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
48 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the first notation has musical notes corresponding to musical notes in the second notation, further comprising: aligning vertically on the display medium at least some of the musical notes of the first notation with corresponding musical notes in the second notation.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
14 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the display medium is an electronic tablet.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
14 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the display medium is a display screen.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
28 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 , further including: receiving a request to disengage changing automatically the second notation to correspond to the change in the first notation.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
26 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the change in the first notation is a change from a first musical note to a second musical note.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
26 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the change in the first notation is a change from a first musical symbol to a second musical symbol.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
25 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the received indication of a change is an indication to transpose the musical score to a different pitch.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
36 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein when the received indication is to change a musical note in conventional staff notation, the automatically changing indicates a new effective length of a string in a tabulative notation.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
29 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein when the received indication is to change a musical note in conventional staff notation, the automatically changing indicates to retune a string.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
35 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein when the received indication is to retune a string represented by tabulative notation, the automatically changing indicates a new location of a musical note in conventional staff notation.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
39 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein when the received indication is to change the effective length of a string represented by tabulative notation, the automatically changing indicates a new location of a musical note in conventional staff notation.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
17 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 31 wherein the automatically changing occurs after multiple indications have been received.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
17 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the automatically changing occurs in response to a user indication.
Claim 53
Independent Claim
72 words
A method in a computer system for generating a musical score, the method comprising: displaying an indication for each of a plurality of strings; receiving a selection of one of the displayed indications of a string; receiving an indication of a pitch for the string corresponding to the selected indication; and generating a musical notation for the musical score to reflect the indicated pitch for the string corresponding to the selected indication.
Claim 54
Independent Claim
72 words
A method in a computer system for generating a musical score, the method comprising: displaying an indication for each of a plurality of strings; receiving a selection of one of the displayed indications of a string; receiving an indication of a pitch for the string corresponding to the selected indication; and generating a musical notation for the musical score to reflect the indicated pitch for the string corresponding to the selected indication.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 48 including displaying a tuning icon along with each displayed indication of a string and wherein the selection of one of the displayed indications is based on selection of a tuning icon.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-03-12 | 2004-09-11 | 2005-03-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-03-12 | 2008-09-11 | 2009-03-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-03-12 | 2012-09-11 | 2013-03-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |