The Simplified Scale and Uniform KeyboardTM Now everyone

The Simplified Scale and Uniform KeyboardTM Now everyone can do music

2 What we need to learn Basic Mechanics of Musical Sound Brief History of Music Complexities of the Classical Music System The Uniform Music System How Technology Helps

3 Mechanics of Music OCTAVES The human ear perceives doubled frequencies as the same note. The combination of notes of doubled frequencies is so complete it sounds bland and uninteresting to the ear. In classical music notation notes of doubled frequency are assigned the same letter and the interval is called an octave.

4 Our western musical taste subdivides the octave interval into 12 equal tone divisions called notes. Actually the divisions are exponent multiples of 2x/12 , but we will keep it simple If you line up all of the 12ths in order, it is called the Chromatic Scale. A pictorial representation of the Chromatic Scale is: Mechanics of Music Doubled Frequency (called octave) Low High

5 Mechanics of Music Doubled Frequency (called octave) The preferred musical scale of the western world is call the Major Scale. You will recognize the Major Scale as Do-Re-Mi… If you compare the Chromatic Scale with the Major Scale, you will see that the Major Scale is a subset of the Chromatic Scale. do re do ti la so fa mi

6 Mechanics of Music The western culture also prefers that the majority of note combinations be in the Major Scale as well. The technical term given to these mixes are called Chords. do re do ti la so fa mi Standard Chords(in red)

7 Mechanics of Music The western culture also prefers that the majority of note combinations be in the Major Scale as well. The technical term given to these mixes are called Chords. do re do ti la so fa mi Standard Chords(in red)

8 Mechanics of Music The western culture also prefers that the majority of note combinations be in the Major Scale as well. The technical term given to these mixes are called Chords. do re do ti la so fa mi re Standard Chords(in red)

9 History of Music Brief History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Around the 14th century, the melodies and the chords were exclusively from the Major Scale Chords using notes outside the Major Scale were considered of poor taste and were unacceptable Playing these notes identified by the black dots were considered an accident. Thus the term “accidentals” was coined for black notes.

10 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi The organs from the 14th century only had the white keys correlating to the white dots below The black notes corresponding to the black dots shown below were not played. Playing them was so universally unaccepted, they were not installed in early keyboards.

11 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi However there existed some mixtures(shown below in red) contained within the Major Scale that were also undesirable.

12 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi However there existed some mixtures(shown below in red) contained within the Major Scale that were also undesirable. It was discovered that if the B note(called “ti”) was lowered a half tone,

13 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi However there existed some mixtures(shown below in red) contained within the Major Scale that were also undesirable. It was discovered that if the B note(called “ti”) was lowered a half tone,

14 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi However there existed some mixtures(shown below in red) contained within the Major Scale that were also undesirable. It was discovered that if the B note(called “ti”) was lowered a half tone, a new pleasing sound was realized. This “pushing down” of the B note was called “flattening” it. This gives us the term “flat” that is used in music today.

15 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Adding this new note modified the all white keyboard to look like: Eventually, other mixes of the Major Scale and the accidentals keys (black dots) were introduced until all of the black notes were eventually accepted.

16 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Adding this new note modified the all white keyboard to look like: Eventually, other mixes of the Major Scale and the accidentals keys (black dots) were introduced until all of the black notes were eventually accepted.

17 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Adding this new note modified the all white keyboard to look like: Eventually, other mixes of the Major Scale and the accidentals keys (black dots) were introduced until all of the black notes were eventually accepted.

18 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Adding this new note modified the all white keyboard to look like: Eventually, other mixes of the Major Scale and the accidentals keys (black dots) were introduced until all of the black notes were eventually accepted.

19 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi Adding this new note modified the all white keyboard to look like: Eventually, other mixes of the Major Scale and the accidentals keys (black dots) were introduced until all of the black notes were eventually accepted.

20 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi The end result in the dot chart looked like this: The dot pattern above should look vaguely familiar. Any guesses as to what?

21 History of Music do re do ti la so fa mi The end result in the dot chart looked like this: The dot pattern above should look vaguely familiar. Any guesses as to what?

22 Classical Music System Why is the Classical System Difficult? do re do ti la so fa mi re Most songs’ melodies will stay on a scale as shown below. From this set of notes comes most of the harmonies that go with the song as well Accompaniment instruments will usually take advantage of the standard chords mentioned earlier

23 Classical Music System Today most multi-note instruments such as the piano or guitar use these standard sets of Chords. These 3 note combinations are extensively used in most western music from rock to romantic. Notice the pattern with every other scale note. do re do ti la so fa mi re

24 Classical Music System Today most multi-note instruments such as the piano or guitar use these standard sets of Chords These 3 note combinations are extensively used in most western music from rock to romantic. Notice the pattern with every other scale note. do re do ti la so fa mi re

25 Classical Music System Today most multi-note instruments such as the piano or guitar use these standard sets of Chords These 3 note combinations are extensively used in most western music from rock to romantic. Notice the pattern with every other scale note. do re do ti la so fa mi re

26 Classical Music System Using the C Major scale, the first 3 note combination would be identified with C-E-G. Because the first note in this triad is note C, this chord is called a C chord. This chord is also classified as a “1” chord because the first note of this triad, called the root, is the first note of the scale. C D C B A G F E D 1 1 1

27 Classical Music System Continuing on the C Major scale, the next 3 note combination would be identified with F-A-C. Because the first note in this triad is the note F, this chord is called an F chord. This chord is also classified as a “4” chord because the root(first note) of this triad, is the fourth note of the scale. C D C B A G F E D 4 4 4

28 Classical Music System Also on the C Major scale, the last 3 note combination would be identified with G-B-D. Because the root in this triad is the note G, this chord is called a G chord. This chord is also classified as a “5” chord because the root of this chord is the fifth note of the scale. C D C B A G F E D 5 5 5

29 Classical Music System So, to summarize what we have learned so far for the C Scale: C D C B A G F E D The 3 main chords for the C scale are comprised of:

30 Classical Music System So, to summarize what we have learned so far for the C Scale: C D C B A G F E D The 3 main chords for the C scale are comprised of: The C chord made of CEG. Classified as a 1 chord

31 Classical Music System So, to summarize what we have learned so far for the C Scale: C D C B A G F E D The 3 main chords for the C scale are comprised of: The C chord made of CEG. Classified as a 1 chord The F chord made of FAC. Classified as a 4 chord

32 Classical Music System So, to summarize what we have learned so far for the C Scale: C D C B A G F E D The 3 main chords for the C scale are comprised of: The C chord made of CEG. Classified as a 1 chord The F chord made of FAC. Classified as a 4 chord The G chord made of GBD. Classified as a 5 chord

33 Classical Music System The term that is given to a song that uses the C scale and it’s corresponding cord set is called the “Key of C.” However, only a portion of all music is written in the Key of C. What does another Key look like…for example the Key of D? do re do ti la so fa mi re

34 Classical Music System To understand the Key of D, we have to rearrange the scale. Our scale of C, will not work with the key of D. C D C B A G F E

35 Classical Music System First, we need to have some new notes added on the right of our scale because the key of D will need these new notes. C D C B A G F E

36 Classical Music System C D C B A G F E First, we need to have some new notes added on the right of our scale because the key of D will need these new notes.

37 Classical Music System C D C B A G F E D E Notes from next octave. First, we need to have some new notes added on the right of our scale because the key of D will need these new notes.

38 Classical Music System Remember our old scale of C? C D C B A G F E D E

39 Classical Music System Remember our old scale of C? These red circles are a distinct pattern for the major scale. This pattern must be adhered to for western style music. C D C B A G F E D E

40 Classical Music System To make a scale of D, we have to keep the same note pattern but now we have to shift the pattern so that the major scale starts on D. C D C B A G F E D E

41 Classical Music System C D C B A G F E D E To make a scale of D, we have to keep the same note pattern but now we have to shift the pattern so that the major scale starts on D.

42 Classical Music System C D C B A G F E D E To make a scale of D, we have to keep the same note pattern but now we have to shift the pattern so that the major scale starts on D.

43 Classical Music System C D C B A G F E D E Now we have the scale of D To make a scale of D, we have to keep the same note pattern but now we have to shift the pattern so that the major scale starts on D.

44 Classical Music System Lets look at the differences compared to the C scale C D C B A G F E D E

45 Classical Music System Lets look at the differences compared to the C scale These notes are not used in the D scale C D C B A G F E D E

46 Classical Music System Lets look at the differences compared to the C scale These notes are not used in the D scale. These are new notes in our D scale. C D C B A G F E D E

47 Classical Music System Lets look at the differences compared to the C scale These notes are not used in the D scale. These are new notes in our D scale. These notes are reused in our D scale. C D C B A G F E D E

48 Classical Music System Lets look at the differences compared to the C scale These notes are not used in the D scale. These are new notes in our D scale. These notes are reused in our D scale. The new notes are called F# and C# C D C B A G F E D E F# C#

49 Classical Music System Our old scale of C was the white notes C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. Now our D scale is D,E,F#,G,A,B,C#,D. Now our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D,F#,A…G,B,D…and A,C#,E respectively. These chords have the same scale configurations as the C scale, just shifted to the right. C D C B A G F E D E F# C# 1 chord 4 chord 5 chord Comparison: Key of C/Key of D

50 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys

51 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys

52 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C

53 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C

54 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C,F,

55 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C,F,

56 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C,F, and G

57 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of C, our scale is all of the white keys For the Key of C, our chords are C,F, and G

58 Classical Music System For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys.

59 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. F# C# not used not used

60 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D

61 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D

62 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D,G

63 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D,G

64 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D,G and A

65 Classical Music System How does a Key change affect our playing on the keyboard. For the Key of D, our scale has changed to these keys. Our 1, 4 and 5 chords are D,G and A

66 Classical Music System Now you can start to see the complexity of the classical music system. Here are the basic problems: There are 15 possible keys. We have looked into only 2 of those 15. Each Key requires a different scale and chord set that needs to be memorized. Too much rigor to reach even a novice level of proficiency is required for each key. In fact, each key has its own customized staff that has to be memorized for that key.

67 Classical Music System Here is how the music staff represents the notes of the C scale without sharps or flats. With the Key of D, as we saw earlier, the F and the C are sharped. Although there is no visible difference in the look of the notes, the staff with the sharps has to be memorized differently and played differently. C# D E F# G A B C# B A G F# E D C# C B E F G E D G A D F C # #

68 Classical Music System Here are the total possible G clef configurations

69 Classical Music System

70 Classical Music System WHEW. Imagine having a song with a key change in it…or maybe even two key changes!! All I wanted to do was write some worship songs to God. I said to God “I do not have the time or patience to learn this.” With some prayer and supernatural inspiration, God has made it so that you(and I)…… DO NOT NEED TO LEARN IT

71 Uniform Music System THE UNIFORM MUSIC SYSTEM C D C B A G F E D E Lets rethink the whole system and see if we can engineer an intuitive Uniform Music System First, lets remove the old system nomenclature and temporarily remove the red scale indicator

72 Uniform Music System Lets rethink the whole system and see if we can engineer an intuitive Uniform Music System First, lets remove the old system nomenclature and temporarily remove the red scale indicator

73 Uniform Music System Lets rethink the whole system and see if we can engineer an intuitive Uniform Music System First, lets remove the old system nomenclature and temporarily remove the red scale indicator Now lets reorder the black and white dots to something that is more organized…lets try blacks on top and whites on bottom.

74 Uniform Music System Lets rethink the whole system and see if we can engineer an intuitive Uniform Music System First, lets remove the old system nomenclature and temporarily remove the red scale indicator Now lets reorder the black and white dots to something that is more organized…lets try blacks on top and whites on bottom.

75 Uniform Music System Now that we have organized the blacks and whites, lets plot our red scale stencil now and see how our key patterns have changed.

76 Uniform Music System Now that we have organized the blacks and whites, lets plot our red scale stencil now and see how our key patterns have changed. Our pattern is 3 whites, 4 blacks then repeat. This is symbolized by 3W4B. Doubled Frequency (called octave)

77 Uniform Music System At this point, you may say, “How is this any better than the other system, it looks just as complicated.” Well, lets shift our scale indicator to a new key and see what happens.

78 Uniform Music System At this point, you may say, “How is this any better than the other system, it looks just as complicated.” Well, lets shift our scale indicator to a new key and see what happens.

79 Uniform Music System At this point, you may say, “How is this any better than the other system, it looks just as complicated.” Well, lets shift our scale indicator to a new key and see what happens. ……..hmmm. Same pattern 3W4B. Lets try again.

80 Uniform Music System At this point, you may say, “How is this any better than the other system, it looks just as complicated.” Well, lets shift our scale indicator to a new key and see what happens. ……..hmmm. Same pattern 3W4B. Lets try again.

81 Uniform Music System At this point, you may say, “How is this any better than the other system, it looks just as complicated.” Well, lets shift our scale indicator to a new key and see what happens. ……..hmmm. Same pattern 3W4B. Lets try again…..same!

82 Uniform Music System I think that you can see pretty quickly that no matter where you shift your scale to, the fingering remains the same.

83 Uniform Music System I think that you can see pretty quickly that no matter where you shift your scale to, the fingering remains the same…..same

84 Uniform Music System I think that you can see pretty quickly that no matter where you shift your scale to, the fingering remains the same…..same….and same.

85 Uniform Music System With the Classical system, every shift causes an entirely different group of black and white keys to be required. With the Uniform System, every shift results in the same exact key set.

86 Uniform Music System What affect does this have on the chords?

87 Uniform Music System What affect does this have on the chords? Lets check it out The 1 chord in this key is shown below. WWB

88 Uniform Music System The next key

89 Uniform Music System The next key

90 Uniform Music System The next key has the same configuration for the 1 chord..WWB

91 Uniform Music System The next key has the same configuration for the 1 chord..WWB Guess what the 1 chord configuration is for the next Key?

92 Uniform Music System The next key has the same configuration for the 1 chord..WWB Guess what the 1 chord configuration is for the next Key?

93 Uniform Music System The next key has the same configuration for the 1 chord..WWB Guess what the 1 chord configuration is for the next Key?…….you guessed it….the SAME!!! WWB

94 Uniform Music System You saw earlier that all the scales have the same note pattern in every key. You have just seen that the 1 chord has the same note pattern in every key. I think it easy to convince you that the 4 and 5 chords are also exactly the same in every key as well.

95 Uniform Music System The only variation is playing in a key that starts on a black key. In that case, all of the patterns are inverted. For example, see the scale template below. However, once having learned how to play in a key starting on a black note, you can play in all the keys starting on a black note

96 Uniform Music System The only variation is playing in a key that starts on a black key. In that case, all of the patterns are inverted. For example, see the scale template below. However, once having learned how to play in a key starting on a black note, you can play in all the keys starting on a black note

97 Uniform Music System The only variation is playing in a key that starts on a black key. In that case, all of the patterns are inverted. For example, see the scale template below. However, once having learned how to play in a key starting on a black note, you can play in all the keys starting on a black note

98 Uniform Music System It becomes obvious how our new keyboard arrangement will look.

99 Uniform Music System It becomes obvious how our new keyboard arrangement will look. However, you have to identify a place where your scale starts.

100 Uniform Music System It becomes obvious how our new keyboard arrangement will look. However, you have to identify a place where your scale starts. For now, lets make one key different than the others as a reference.

101 Uniform Music System Now the question is what type of nomenclature to use. The old system will no longer work so lets start over new.

102 Uniform Music System Now the question is what type of nomenclature to use. The old system will no longer work so lets start over new. Lets use dual letter-number system

103 Uniform Music System Instead of starting the letters on C, we will use A because it is the beginning of the alphabet as well as our scale. Our scale is now the set of notes signified by ABC3456.

104 Uniform Music System Instead of starting the letters on C, we will use A because it is the beginning of the alphabet as well as our scale. Our scale is now the set of notes signified by ABC3456. Our 1,4 and 5 chords are AC4

105 Uniform Music System Instead of starting the letters on C, we will use A because it is the beginning of the alphabet as well as our scale. Our scale is now the set of notes signified by ABC3456. Our 1,4 and 5 chords are AC4, 35A

106 Uniform Music System Instead of starting the letters on C, we will use A because it is the beginning of the alphabet as well as our scale. Our scale is now the set of notes signified by ABC3456. Our 1,4 and 5 chords are AC4, 35A and 46B

107 Uniform Music System Instead of starting the letters on C, we will use A because it is the beginning of the alphabet as well as our scale. Our scale is now the set of notes signified by ABC3456. Our 1,4 and 5 chords are AC4, 35A and 46B Remember, the hand positions for these chords are the same in every key!!

108 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “1” chord

109 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “1” chord For the key of B: The “1” chord

110 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “1” chord For the key of B: The “1” chord For the key of C: The “1” chord

111 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “1” chord For the key of B: The “1” chord For the key of C: The “1” chord For the key of D: The “1” chord

112 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “4” chord

113 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “4” chord For the key of B: The “4” chord

114 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “4” chord For the key of B: The “4” chord For the key of C: The “4” chord

115 Uniform Music System For the key of A: The “4” chord For the key of B: The “4” chord For the key of C: The “4” chord For the key of D: The “4” chord

116 Uniform Music System The classical staff no longer applies because sharps and flats are no longer used. Again, lets start from scratch. Lets use something that makes more sense. The staff is made of black lines and white spaces. Our keyboard is black keys and white keys. Can we use that to our advantage?

117 Uniform Music System You bet we can. We have 6 black keys and 6 white keys per octave. How about 6 black lines and 6 white spaces per octave on the staff?

118 Uniform Music System What does our Scale now look like for the first octave? What you see is what you play.

119 Uniform Music System White spaces are white keys.

120 Uniform Music System White spaces are white keys. Black lines are black keys.

121 Uniform Music System Suppose you change to the key of B?

122 Uniform Music System Suppose you change to the key of B?

123 Uniform Music System Suppose you change to the key of B?

124 Uniform Music System Suppose you change to the key of B? NO PROBLEM

125 Uniform Music System Lets summarize the advantages: No sharps or flats What you see is what you play Everyone can inherently change keys All chord structures are the same in all keys Learning keys starting on black notes come naturally because they are inverted to the white keys.

126 Uniform Music System Now there is one more problem with the classical music system as it applies to pianos. All scale fingerings and chord fingerings are inverted when the left hand is compared to the right. If our fingers are numbered 1 through 5 from thumb to pinkie, the A chord of AC4 would be a fingering of 1,3,5 on the right hand. However, the left hand fingering would be 5,3,1. Learning different fingerings of left vs. right for the piano is a major obstacle to overcome because humans are biologically symmetrical

127 Uniform Music System We have already changed the face of the piano to accommodate a more accurate sight/sound relationship, what could be changed on the piano to accommodate the human’s biological symmetry?

128 Uniform Music System Seeing that our left hand is symmetrically inverted to our right hand, what on the piano could be physically inverted so that our left hand does not have to play inverted?

129 Uniform Music System Seeing that our left hand is symmetrically inverted to our right hand, what on the piano could be physically inverted so that our left hand does not have to be? HOW ABOUT THE KEYBOARD ITSELF!!!

130 Uniform Music System A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F

131 Uniform Music System A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F How does this affect our fingerings? Fingering for the A scale on the right hand is 12312345 Fingering for the A scale on the left hand is 12312345 Again, the same.

132 Uniform Music System What about chords? Here is the 1 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5

133 Uniform Music System What about chords? Here is the 1 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. Here is the 4 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5

134 Uniform Music System What about chords? Here is the 1 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. Here is the 4 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. Here is the 5 chord. Fingering 1,3 and 5 for both hands. Notice the same configurations for 3 chords!!! A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5

135 Uniform Music System I believe that you can see that for you to become an expert at the traditional keyboard you have to learn the scale and chord fingerings for 15 different keys on both the left and right hand. With the Uniform System the Treble and Bass clefs are exactly the same…no more “cows eating grass” or “good boys doing fine” to learn the staff. The Uniform Music System only requires you to learn 2 scale and chord fingerings. One configuration for the white keys and one configuration for the blacks… THAT’S IT!!!!! A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5

136 How Technology Helps Now, one question is “How can I learn this because no music for the Uniform Staff exists.” Another question is “Where will I get a piano that has a Uniform Keyboard? The answer lies with technology. No concert pianos with the Uniform Keyboard yet exist. However, a prototype electronic Uniform Keyboard already exists. These keyboards could be available for less than $100. Software would also exist to easily convert classical staff to Uniform staff. A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F Technological Advantages and Answers 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5

137 Summary Clearly this is a paradigm shift in the music world. This will enable large numbers of people to write and play music who otherwise did not have the time or ability to learn the classical system.