Method for encoding music information, corresponding computer program, and music information display device

Abstract

A method for encoding musical information includes accessing a database storing musical information for a song in the form of a string of notes and text. The text is divisible into a string of graphemes, each grapheme corresponding to a note in the string of notes. A reference note is selected from the string of notes. Each note in the string of notes is associated with a degree selected from among 12 degrees in an octave, relative to a reference degree corresponding to the reference note. Twelve different colors are associated with the 12 degrees. The different colors are selected according to a degree-color function linking each degree to a respective color. The notes in the string are divided into different groups corresponding to different musical octaves. One or more specific printing attributes are associated with each musical octave. For each grapheme, data is stored indicating the color associated with the degree of the note corresponding to the grapheme and one or more specific printing attributes associated with the musical octave to which the note corresponding to the grapheme belongs.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (Description) This specification relates to a method and apparatus for encoding and optionally displaying musical information according to a new musical notation system, where the encoded musical information includes song text (e.g., lyrics) and corresponding note degrees and octaves for singing. [Background technology]

[0002] Musical notation may be defined as the visual recording of musical notes or a set of visual instructions for musical performance. Another definition of musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played on an instrument or sung by the human voice using written, printed, or otherwise created symbols, possibly including notation for silent durations such as rests.

[0003] Currently, the most common means of displaying musical information for a song (e.g., the lyrics and melody of a song) is to display the melody in the form of a series of notes (and rests) on a staff, with lyric text displayed below the staff in positions corresponding to each note. This means of displaying musical information is also called "classical Western notation" or "staff notation."

[0004] However, such traditional music notation has several drawbacks, including: the singer needs to be able to read the melody on the staff; the singer needs to simultaneously read information from two lines at different heights (i.e., the melody line on the staff and the lyric line below it), resulting in many saccades (i.e., binocular movements) during which the singer cannot obtain visual information; the singer needs to read symbols of varying degrees of difficulty; and the singer needs to be able to read different key signatures or key signature changes on the staff. All of these requirements can be complicated, especially for beginners and / or during sight-singing. Additionally, traditional music notation can be cumbersome for editors and designers, who must lay out the music text and staff on a page or fix, scroll, or animate them on a screen, sometimes with transposition.

[0005] Musical notation systems other than staff notation are known for example from documents US9406241B2, US6831219B1, US10013961B1, US6639139B2, CN106205569A, US8697974B1, US9196171B2 and US10083622B1.

[0006] Another method of musical notation is known from document KR2005 / 0108831A, which discloses a method for displaying musical information of a song during karaoke. Different durations of sounds (each sound corresponds to a grapheme) are indicated by displaying different images above the grapheme, or by displaying the same image in different sizes above the grapheme, or by varying the size of the grapheme. Furthermore, the pitch of a musical note is indicated by displaying the grapheme at different heights (i.e., different vertical positions) along the text line. Pitch is only approximately indicated (e.g., each octave is simply divided into two pitches). Therefore, the musical "sheet music" created in this way is approximate, and the user still needs to read different symbols at different heights simultaneously, resulting in many saccades.

[0007] Another method of musical notation is known from document US2002 / 0050206A1. In this method, the duration of each sound is indicated by several rectangles drawn below each grapheme. The perfect pitch of a note is indicated by using seven colors associated with the seven notes, plus the traditional accidental symbols (sharps and flats) for the remaining notes. Different octaves are indicated using vertical dashes placed before or after the grapheme. Musical scores created in this way therefore contain many more symbols (rectangles, accidentals, dashes) and consequently many more saccades during reading.

[0008] Another musical notation method is known from document KR100381682B1, which discloses a method for displaying musical information of a song on a screen during karaoke. Graphemes are displayed on the screen in time with the music. The perfect pitch of a musical note is indicated not only by using the 12 colors associated with the 12 notes, but also by displaying the graphemes at different heights (i.e., different vertical positions) along the text line. Different octaves are rendered with different brightness levels of the same color. This musical notation method can therefore only be implemented on electronic screens (to reproduce different brightness levels for different octaves), resulting in more saccades during reading, as long as the graphemes are arranged at different heights along the text line.

[0009] Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a method of musical notation that efficiently guides singers' performance while skimming music (e.g., sight-singing), reduces saccades, and allows for improved visual perception and information processing, and subsequent improved skeletal muscle responses (e.g., improved vocal tone and / or intonation).

[0010] Additionally, there is a need in the art to provide a method of musical notation that facilitates the creation of musical scores by editors. Summary of the Invention

[0011] It is an object of one or more embodiments to contribute to providing such a musical notation and related methods and apparatus for encoding musical information.

[0012] According to one or more embodiments, such an object may be achieved with a method for encoding music information having the features set forth in the claims below.

[0013] One or more embodiments may relate to a corresponding computer program product that is loadable into the memory of at least one processing circuit (e.g., a computer) and that includes software code portions for performing the steps of the method when the product is executed on the at least one processing circuit. As used herein, reference to such a computer program product is understood to be equivalent to reference to a computer-readable medium that includes instructions for controlling a processing system to coordinate the implementation of a method according to one or more embodiments. Reference to "at least one processing circuit" is intended to highlight the possibility that one or more embodiments may be implemented in a modular and / or distributed manner.

[0014] One or more embodiments may relate to a corresponding device for displaying music information.

[0015] The claims are an integral part of the technical teachings provided herein with respect to the embodiments.

[0016] According to a first aspect, a method for encoding musical information includes accessing a database that stores song musical information (e.g., including but not limited to, analog or digital audio files, symbolic music representation data files such as XML and MIDI files, digital or printed sheet music / sheet music representations) in the form of a sequence of notes (e.g., a note may be interpreted as a single note of definite pitch produced by a musical instrument or an audio signal processing application or the human voice, or written symbols or codes representing such sounds) and text (e.g., song lyrics). The text is divisible into a sequence of graphemes (e.g., a grapheme may be interpreted as a graphic representation of a sound, phoneme, mora, syllable, morpheme, or generally a phonetic unit or segment, according to a writing system used, such as an alphabetic system, an abjad system, an abugida system, a logographic system, or a syllabic system, and the like). Each grapheme in the sequence of graphemes corresponds to a musical note in the sequence of notes. A reference note (e.g., a focal note, central note, bass note, root note, tonic note, fundamental note, or even an arbitrarily selected note) is selected from the string of notes. Each note in the string of notes is associated with a degree selected from among 12 degrees in an octave relative to a reference degree corresponding to the reference note. Twelve different colors are associated with the 12 degrees. The different colors are selected according to a bijective degree-color function that associates each degree with a respective color. The notes in the string of notes are divided into different groups corresponding to different musical octaves. Each note in the string of notes belongs to a musical octave. One or more specific printing attributes are associated with each different musical octave. For each grapheme, data indicative of the color associated with the degree of the note corresponding to the grapheme and data indicative of one or more specific printing attributes associated with the musical octave to which the note corresponding to the grapheme belongs are stored.

[0017] Thus, one or more embodiments may facilitate encoding musical information in a format that is easy for an editor to create and easy for a singer to read.

[0018] According to another aspect, a computer program product loadable into the memory of at least one processing device includes software code portions configured to cause the at least one processing device to operate according to a method described in one or more embodiments as a result of the product being executed on the at least one processing device.

[0019] According to another aspect, a music information display apparatus includes a display device and a processing device configured to operate according to the method described in one or more embodiments to generate drive signals for the display device and to render on a display support a sequence of graphemes colored with the color associated with the degree of the musical note corresponding to the grapheme and formatted and / or typeset with the one or more particular typographic attributes associated with the octave to which the musical note corresponding to the grapheme belongs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] One or more embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures. [Figure 1] 1 is an example of a possible text encoding of the musical notes in C major according to an embodiment of musical notation. [Figure 2] 1 is an example of a possible text encoding of the notes in D major according to an embodiment of musical notation. [Figure 3] 1 is an example of a possible text encoding of musical notes in the natural minor key of A according to an embodiment of musical notation. [Figure 4] 1 is an example of a possible text encoding of musical notes in the natural minor key of B, according to an embodiment of musical notation. [Figure 5] FIG. 5A is an excerpt from a song displayed according to traditional staff notation, FIG. 5B shows the same excerpt in color coded according to one embodiment of music notation, and FIG. 5C is a grayscale reproduction of FIG. 5B. [Figure 6]FIG. 6A is an excerpt from another song displayed according to traditional staff notation, FIG. 6B shows the same excerpt in color coded according to one embodiment of musical notation, FIG. 6C is a grayscale reproduction of FIG. 6B, FIG. 6D is a reproduction of FIG. 6B including captions, and FIG. 6E is a grayscale reproduction of FIG. 6D. [Figure 7-1] FIG. 7A is an excerpt from another song displayed according to traditional staff notation, FIG. 7B shows the same excerpt in color coded according to an embodiment of music notation, including indication of reference note changes (e.g., modulations), and FIG. 7C is a grayscale reproduction of FIG. 7B. [Figure 7-2] FIG. 7D shows the same excerpt in color coded according to another embodiment of musical notation that does not include indication of reference note changes, and FIG. 7E is a grayscale reproduction of FIG. 7D. [Figure 8A] The full text of the song in Figures 6A-6E is shown in color as encoded according to one embodiment of musical notation. [Figure 8B] Grayscale reproduction of Figure 8A. [Figure 9A] The full song text of Figures 7A-7E is shown in color as encoded according to one embodiment of musical notation, including indications of reference note changes (eg, musical modulations). [Figure 9B] Grayscale reproduction of Figure 9A. [Figure 10A] The full song text of Figures 8A and 8B is shown in color as encoded according to one embodiment of musical notation, including printed symbols and / or marks indicating song structure, meter, and / or rhythm. [Figure 10B] Grayscale reproduction of Figure 10A. [Figure 11A] The full song text of Figures 9A and 9B is shown in color as encoded according to one embodiment of musical notation, including printed symbols and / or marks indicating song structure, meter, and / or rhythm. [Figure 11B] Grayscale reproduction of Figure 11A. [Figure 12]1 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method for encoding music information in accordance with one or more embodiments. [Figure 13] 1 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method for encoding music information in accordance with one or more embodiments. [Figure 14] 1 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method for encoding music information in accordance with one or more embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] In the following description, one or more specific details are presented for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of example embodiments herein. The embodiments may be obtained without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring certain aspects of the embodiments.

[0022] References to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" within the framework of this specification are intended to indicate that a particular configuration, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, phrases such as "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" that may appear in one or more places in this specification do not necessarily refer to one and the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular configurations, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0023] Headings / references used herein are provided for convenience only and, as such, do not define the scope or extent of protection of the embodiments.

[0024] Throughout the figures accompanying this specification, for the sake of simplicity, unless the context dictates otherwise, like parts or elements have been designated with like reference symbols / numbers and corresponding descriptions will not be repeated.

[0025] The primary means by which the average person (e.g., excluding professional singers familiar with reading standard staff notation) acquires musical information is by listening to songs from an audio source (e.g., a radio wave source or other audio streaming source). Accordingly, song text plays an important role in the learning process. Based on this recognition, a new method of music notation is proposed herein that relies on displaying song text formatted according to a set of rules (e.g., encoding), allowing singers to infer information about the song's melody directly from the means by which the text is displayed (e.g., printed on paper or displayed on a display screen such as an electronic screen, smart glasses, virtual / augmented reality headset, foldable display, and the like). For example, by resorting to the use of punctuation symbols or other typographical symbols or marks (e.g., combining characters with diacritics), additional musical information (e.g., regarding the song's structure, meter, and / or rhythm) can be encoded within the text, such that the entire musical information of a song can be encoded within the text by using conventional text formatting tools (e.g., using word processing software running on a personal computer (PC)).

[0026] Therefore, such a novel music notation method is advantageous to end users insofar as it allows singers to simultaneously read the melody and lyrics of a song on the same line of text, reducing saccades and thus increasing the time to acquire information. In particular, the novel music notation method allows a reader (singer) to acquire information about both the pitch and phonetic unit or segment to be sung by simply keeping the central area of ​​their visual field on one graphic symbol, and allows them to maintain the central area of ​​their visual field on a single reading line (e.g., a horizontal line) across the entire column of song graphemes, thereby reducing the number of eye saccades (during which the user cannot acquire visual information) and increasing the time of gaze fixations (which allows the user's visual system to acquire detailed information about what is being viewed). This improves music reading by creating effects that depend on physical parameters based on human physiology, i.e., reducing saccades and increasing fixation times in the user's mind, thereby enabling improved visual perception and information processing, and improving skeletal muscle responses, especially during sight-singing.

[0027] Additionally, the novel musical notation method proposed herein is advantageous for music score creators (e.g., editors) because it allows them to create sheet music in the new notation method from different types of musical sources (e.g., audio or symbolic sources) manually or in an automated process via traditional text formatting tools. The novel musical notation method is also advantageous for designing innovative animated scores to be implemented manually or in an automated process via video editing or dynamic printing tools in several industries (e.g., music videos, mobile apps, augmented or virtual reality, television, and film). The novel musical notation method proposed herein is also advantageous insofar as it facilitates the creation of song sheet music in writing systems that differ from alphabetic (left-to-right) systems, such as abjadic right-to-left writing systems (e.g., Hebrew and Arabic) or logographic top-to-bottom writing systems.

[0028] The musical notation disclosed herein relies on representing the degree of each note of a melody (within an octave) and the octave of each note of a melody, regardless of tuning system or temperament, by formatting and / or typesetting (e.g., coloring or highlighting with color, changing style or font, repeating letters representing vowels) song lyrics according to a set of rules (e.g., encoding) for any musical system that encompasses 12 degrees or pitches per octave (e.g., Western music, Indian classical music (e.g., 12 svaras), Bollywood music, Chinese music (e.g., 12 ru), etc.). Additionally, but not necessarily, the proposed musical notation can represent changes in tonality / key / mode of a melody (e.g., modulations). Additionally, but not necessarily, the proposed musical notation can represent note values ​​(i.e., relative durations of notes), rests, and meter, or generally other rhythmic information.

[0029] Thus, in one or more embodiments of the proposed music notation, the degree of each note of the melody is represented by a color (including not only letter coloring but also other possibilities such as text highlighting), and the octave of each note of the melody is represented by the typographical attributes used to format and / or typeset the corresponding text / lyrics of the song itself (e.g., each grapheme corresponding to a syllable or vowel). That is, the color of the font, or the color for highlighting the font, represents the degree within an octave, and the typographical attributes of the font represent the different octaves.

[0030] Thus, in one or more embodiments, the proposed musical notation relies on a unique association of a sequence of 12 colors with the 12 degrees of a chromatic scale or any 12-tone scale. This system is also called a colored relative scale (CRS). Table I, displayed at the end of this document, is an example of a possible color coding that associates the 12 degrees with 12 colors via a bijective function according to one embodiment, where: The first degree ("degree number 1") is associated with the color gray; it serves as the "base" degree; as an example, this may be associated with the tonic note of a scale in a diatonic system; The second degree ("degree number 2") is associated with the color indigo; it is one semitone ascending from the base degree; for example, this can be associated with the lowered supertonic of a scale in the diatonic system; The third degree ("degree number 3") is associated with the color cherry; it is two semitones above the base degree; for example, this can be associated with the supertonic of a scale in the diatonic system; The fourth degree ("degree number 4") is associated with the color blue-green; it is three semitones above the base degree; for example, it can be associated with the raised supratonic or lowered median of a scale in the diatonic system; The fifth degree ("degree number 5") is associated with the color green; it is four semitones above the base degree; as an example, this can be associated with the middle note of the scale in the diatonic system; The sixth degree ("degree number 6") is associated with the color yellow; it is five semitones above the base degree; for example, this can be associated with the subdominant of a scale in the diatonic system; The seventh degree ("degree number 7") is associated with olive; it is six semitones above the base degree; for example, it can be associated with the raised subdominant or lowered dominant of a scale in the diatonic system; The eighth degree ("degree number 8") is associated with the color red; it is seven semitones above the base degree; for example, this can be associated with the dominant note of the scale in the diatonic system; The ninth degree ("degree number 9") is associated with the color purple; it is eight semitones above the base degree; for example, it can be associated with the raised dominant or lowered lower middle of a scale in the diatonic system; The tenth degree ("degree number 10") is associated with the color black; it is nine semitones above the base degree; for example, this can be associated with the lower middle note of the scale in the diatonic system; The eleventh degree ("degree number 11") is associated with the color orange; it is 10 semitones above the base degree; as an example, this may be associated with the subtonic of a scale in a diatonic system; and The twelfth degree ("degree number 12") is associated with the color pink; it is 11 semitones above the base degree; by way of example, this may be associated with the leading tone of a scale in the diatonic system.

[0031] The same set of colors used to identify the 12 degrees of one octave (e.g., from the tonic to the leading tone) is repeated for the other octaves (lower and upper octaves) as well.

[0032] Table II, which appears at the end of this specification, shows some example diatonic scales represented in colored relative pitch according to one or more embodiments, where degree number 1 (associated with the color gray) corresponds to the tonic note of the scale (which may serve as the "base" note). For example: The natural minor scale of A, where A=gray, B=cherry, C=turquoise, D=yellow, E=red, F=purple, G=orange, and A again=gray; the C major scale, where C = gray, D = cherry, E = green, F = yellow, G = red, A = black, B = pink, and C = gray again; and The C major harmonic minor scale, where C=gray, D=cherry, E♭=turquoise, F=yellow, G=red, A♭=purple, B=pink, and C again=gray.

[0033] It should be noted that the phrase "reference note" as used herein refers to a note (e.g., A) selected to correspond to the "reference degree" of a colored relative scale, regardless of its absolute pitch. For example, the note A at 440 Hz and the note A one octave above it at 880 Hz are interpreted as the same "reference note," because a particular song is encoded in the same way (i.e., according to the same bijective degree-color function) regardless of which note A (e.g., 440 Hz, 880 Hz, or 220 Hz) is selected as the reference note. That is, the phrase "reference note" may refer to a pitch class or chroma.

[0034] In one or more embodiments, the twelve colors to be assigned to the twelve degrees may be selected with consideration for establishing a musical relationship between the selected colors and degrees, and for improving the effectiveness and readability of the visual rendering given the different importance of each degree in the tonal system. For example, the dominant degree (e.g., the ascending perfect fifth interval from the tonic) typically plays a significant role in a song's melody and, as a result, may be assigned the color red, making it easily noticeable in displayed text. Other relevant degrees typically include the middle degree (e.g., the ascending major third interval from the tonic), which may be assigned the color green, and the subdominant degree (e.g., the ascending perfect fourth interval from the tonic), which may be assigned the color yellow. However, it will be appreciated that the particular color coding discussed herein is merely one example of a possible coding, and that in alternative embodiments, any other color coding (i.e., any other selection of twelve different colors to be associated with the twelve degrees of the musical scale) may be used. For example, the twelve colors listed in Tables I and II may be arranged in a different order, or other colors may be envisioned.

[0035] In one or more embodiments, the proposed musical notation relies on the use of different typefaces or other typographic attributes of fonts employed to display song text (e.g., graphemes), in addition to using different colors to display text associated with different degrees within an octave, to represent different octaves of musical notes in a song melody (e.g., relative to a "base" or "reference" octave). That is, graphemes corresponding to notes associated with different octaves may be displayed with text having different graphical appearances. An octave may be defined as the interval between the first and thirteenth notes of a chromatic scale, or as the interval between one musical pitch and another pitch having two frequencies, or as a series of thirteen musical notes (pitches) occupying the interval between (and including) two notes (pitches), one of which has twice or half the vibrational frequency of the other.

[0036] For example, in one or more embodiments, different octaves may be distinguished by using different weights of the same printed font. By way of example, higher octaves may be associated with lighter font weights and lower octaves with heavier font weights; thin (or hairline, ultralight, extralight, light) weights may be associated with higher octaves; book (or normal, regular, plain) weights may be associated with lower octaves; medium (or semibold, demibold, bold) weights may be associated with even lower octaves; and extrabold (or extra, heavy, black) weights may be associated with even lower octaves. Of course, alternatively, the opposite selection may be made, with higher octaves associated with heavier font weights. Additionally or alternatively, different octaves may be distinguished by using other attributes of the font, such as size, style, angle, slant, width, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, different octaves may be distinguished by using different fonts of the same typeface, or by using different typefaces within the same text. For example, the BRADLEY HAND ITC typeface may be associated with a high octave, the COURIER NEW typeface may be associated with a lower octave, the ARIAL NARROW typeface may be associated with an even lower octave, and the BERLIN SANS FB BOLD typeface may be associated with an even lower octave.

[0037] It should be noted that, as contemplated herein, notes associated with the "same octave," and thus represented by the same graphical appearance of a typeface, need not range from degree number 1 to degree number 12 (e.g., from the tonic to the leading note). Any sequence of 12 consecutive degrees may define an octave; for example, in one or more embodiments, the style (or graphical appearance) of a font may vary from degree number 10, which indicates the beginning of a higher octave (i.e., nine semitones or half steps above degree number 1, which may be the tonic), to the subsequent degree number 9, inclusive. Thus, a lower octave may begin (descending) at degree number 9 (i.e., four semitones below degree number 1, which may be the tonic) (inclusive). For example, referring to the diatonic scale, in the key of C major, the first note of the octave may correspond to the note A, which is lower than the tonic (C), and therefore is associated with the color black; in the key of A minor, the first note of the octave may represent the note F♯, which is lower than the tonic (A), and therefore is also associated with the color black. Table III, displayed at the end of this specification, shows examples of possible color encodings of 12 degrees combined with possible typeface encodings of different octaves (i.e., possible bijective functions that assign different typographic attributes to different octaves), each octave including degrees numbered from number 10 to the subsequent number 9. Alternatively, an octave change may be intended to occur at any other degree of the scale (e.g., degree number 1).

[0038] Thus, in one or more embodiments of the proposed music notation, different colors and different printing attributes of the font used to notate each grapheme (e.g., each syllable and / or vowel, even the vowels of a melisma) of song text define the ascending interval of the corresponding note relative to a reference note, measured in half steps, and thus the pitch required to sing that syllable (or vowel). By way of example, encoding a song in the Western musical tradition (e.g., tonal music) according to the proposed music notation can result in the same output regardless of information about the key signature stored in a database (e.g., a lead sheet with the melody written in the key of C, a digital score in the key of A-flat, an audio source of the song sung in the key of E, or one sung in the key of D-flat). For example, Figure 1 is an example of encoding text in the key of C major (the grapheme "LA" is used for illustrative purposes only) according to one embodiment. Figure 2 is an example of encoding text in the key of D major according to one embodiment. Figure 3 is an example of encoding text in the natural minor key of A according to one embodiment. Figure 4 is an example of encoding text in the natural minor key of B according to one embodiment. While Figures 1 to 4 show that gray (degree number 1, which serves as the base degree) is always associated with the tonic of the scale (which serves as the base note), it will be appreciated that this is also not required.

[0039] As a further example, Figure 5A shows an excerpt from the song "Jingle Bells" (written and composed by J. Pierpont) in G major in traditional staff notation, Figure 5B shows the same excerpt in the same key in color according to one embodiment of the musical notation proposed herein, and Figure 5C reproduces Figure 5B in grayscale. The degree number 1, which corresponds to the gray color, is chosen to correspond to the tonic note, i.e., G (although, as noted above, such a correspondence between degree number 1 and the tonic note is not required, as long as one or more embodiments are also suitable for application to atonal music). In accordance with the encoding described above with reference to Table I, the mora and syllable corresponding to degree number 5 (e.g., the median note B, a major third ascending from the tonic) are displayed in green, the mora and syllable corresponding to degree number 8 (e.g., the dominant note D, a perfect fifth ascending from the tonic) are displayed in red, the mora and syllable corresponding to degree number 1 (e.g., the tonic note G, a perfect first interval from the tonic) are displayed in grey, the mora and syllable corresponding to degree number 3 (e.g., the supertonic note A, a major second ascending from the tonic) are displayed in cherry red, and the mora and syllable corresponding to degree number 6 (e.g., the subdominant note C, a perfect fourth ascending from the tonic) are displayed in yellow.

[0040] As a further example, FIG. 6A shows an excerpt from the G major aria "Madamina, il catalogo e questo" (Don Giovanni, Act 1, Scene 5, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, lyrics by Lorenzo da Ponte) in traditional staff notation; FIG. 6B shows the same excerpt in the same key in one embodiment of the proposed musical notation; FIG. 6C reproduces FIG. 6B in grayscale; FIG. 6D reproduces FIG. 6B with a caption indicating the colors used; and FIG. 6E reproduces FIG. 6D in grayscale. The examples in FIGS. 6A-6E also show that in the case of melisma, a single grapheme for the long vowel "A" in the center of the text is repeated for a number of different musical notes, since that single character corresponds to multiple vowels / phonemes. Note that in the accompanying figures, different colors may be rendered in different shades of gray.

[0041] Additionally, one or more embodiments of the proposed musical notation may rely on the use of graphical elements (e.g., symbols) associated with the displayed text to indicate changes in reference notes (e.g., changes in tonic, key, scale, or mode), while maintaining the relative color coding described above.

[0042] For example, a change in reference note (e.g., a modulation to a new key) may be identified with a portion of text highlighted or surrounded by one of the colors of a colored relative scale. The portion of text after the change in reference note may be highlighted, for example, with a colored frame surrounding the relevant grapheme and / or a colored underline, overline, highlight, background, bracket, or any other distinctively colored mark / symbol. The color used to highlight the text represents the degree between the reference note (e.g., tonic) of the later portion of the melody and the reference note (e.g., tonic) of the earlier portion of the melody, according to the encoding used for the earlier portion of the melody. Once the portion of the song using a different reference note has ended (e.g., once the modulation has ended and the song has returned to the original tonality), the highlighting may end to indicate that the notation should again be read according to the previous encoding.

[0043] If the reference note changes multiple times (e.g., when successive key changes occur in a song), a new highlight may be used to indicate the new reference note. There are two possible options for selecting the color to highlight for subsequent parts of a song: The color used to highlight the text in the new key represents the degree between the reference note (e.g., tonic) of the new key and the reference note (e.g., tonic) of the original / initial key; or The color used to highlight the text in the new key represents the number of degrees between the reference note (e.g. tonic) of the new key and the reference note (e.g. tonic) of the previous / final key.

[0044] Additionally or alternatively, one or more embodiments of the proposed musical notation may encode a reference note change (e.g., a musical key modulation) by relying on the use of a transition symbol that appears in the text where the reference note change occurs, specifically immediately preceding the first grapheme after the change. Such a symbol may include two colored portions, a first colored portion colored with the degree color of the phoneme where the change (e.g., the key modulation) occurs according to the previous key encoding, and a second colored portion colored with the degree color of that phoneme according to the new key encoding. By way of example, such a symbol may include two colored circles within parentheses, as illustrated in Figure 7B.

[0045] In particular, Figure 7A shows an excerpt from the song "They Didn't Believe Me" (music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Herbert Reynolds) in traditional staff notation, Figure 7B shows the same excerpt in color according to one embodiment of the musical notation proposed herein, and Figure 7C reproduces Figure 7B in grayscale. The excerpt in this example begins in A-flat major and modulates to C minor before the word "you're." Thus, according to the notation in Figure 7B, degree number 1 in the new key (tonic C) corresponds to degree number 5 in the previous key (middle C), and therefore the latter portion of the text is surrounded by a green box. Additionally, the transition symbol includes a first dot colored green and a second dot colored gray because the degree color of the syllable "you're" (note C) in the previous key (A-flat major) is green (representing degree number 5) and the degree color of that syllable "you're" (note C) in the new key (C major) is gray (representing degree number 1). Note that the second dot may be omitted in the transition symbol because it is, by definition, colored the same color as the subsequent grapheme. Figure 7D shows the same excerpt as Figure 7B in color according to another embodiment of musical notation, encoding the same melody without changing the reference note at which the modulation occurs. Figure 7E reproduces Figure 7D in grayscale. Note that here the predominant color in the last two lines of text is green, which corresponds to what would have been gray if this entire portion of text had been surrounded by a green frame (as shown in Figure 7B), because, given the initial database input source (see Figure 7A) in which the initial key is A-flat, the note C corresponds to degree number 5 when the note A-flat is degree number 1. The result of not surrounding such portions with a frame is the more frequent appearance of colors that do not exist in most familiar Western musical scales (major, natural, and harmonic minor), such as olive green (corresponding to degree number 7).

[0046] As a further example, Figure 8A shows the full text of the aria of Figures 6A-6E in B major in color according to one embodiment of the proposed musical notation. Figure 8B reproduces Figure 8A in grayscale, where different colors are used to indicate different degrees of the scale according to the encoding illustrated in Table I, and different typefaces are used to indicate notes in different octaves according to the encoding illustrated in Table III (e.g., referring to the first line, "NELLAAAA BIOONDA" is formatted in Arial Narrow typeface, "EGLI HA L'U" is formatted in Courier New typeface to indicate a higher octave, and "SAANZA" is again formatted in Arial Narrow typeface to indicate a lower octave). Similarly, Figure 9A shows the full text of the song of Figures 7A-7C in color according to one embodiment of the proposed musical notation. Figure 9B reproduces Figure 9A in grayscale. Here, in addition to different colors and different typefaces, colored graphic symbols are also used to indicate a change in reference note, where the transition symbols may additionally include an up or down arrow (or another suitable graphic indication) before the (two) colored portions of the symbol, indicating whether the movement to the corresponding new color is upward or downward, as exemplified in Figures 9A and 9B before the phrase "...and when I tell them..."

[0047] It should be noted that, in this specification and the appended claims, the terms "coloring text" and "highlighting text" (or similar terms) simply refer to two different ways of associating color with text. "Coloring text" is used herein to mean "associating text with a color that indicates one of the 12 musical degrees," and "highlighting text" is used herein to mean "associating text with a color that indicates a change in reference note." For example, in the embodiment shown in the accompanying figures, text is "colored" by changing the font color and "highlighted" by drawing a surrounding colored frame. In other embodiments, text may be "colored" by resorting to highlighting the otherwise black text, "highlighted" by drawing a colored underline, and so on.

[0048] It should be noted that, in this specification and the appended claims, the phrase "formatting and / or typesetting text" (or similar phrases) simply suggests associating printing attributes with text. As used herein, "formatting and / or typesetting text" means "associating particular printing attributes with different octaves." For example, in the embodiment shown in the accompanying figures, text is "formatted / typeset" by changing the font of the text. In other embodiments, text may be "formatted / typeset" by using different printing attributes, individually or in combination, including, but not limited to, weight, size, slant, width, type case of the same typeface or font, use of different fonts of the same typeface (font family), different baselines, printing features such as overlines and / or underlines, use of diacritics, and the like.

[0049] As expected, the proposed musical notation may optionally include other symbols that represent (e.g., encode) song structure, meter, and / or rhythm, in combination with the previously defined color and typeface encodings that represent degrees and octaves. Advantageously, the symbols used to represent such additional (rhythmic) information may also be identified in the Unicode standard, so that the complete musical score of a song can be reproduced using conventional formatting and / or typesetting tools (e.g., word processing software running on a computer).

[0050] For example, with respect to song structure, the lyrics of a song may be typographically subdivided into groups of several lines of text according to the sections of the song. Optionally, each section may be annotated (e.g., on the left margin or above the section) with the corresponding name of the section, possibly using abbreviations such as CH-Chorus; V-Verse; BR-Bridge; SP-Special; TH-Theme; Riff; IN-Intro; OUT-Outro; STR-Instrumental, and the like.

[0051] In one or more embodiments, to avoid unnecessary repetition of information, if two sections have the same melody (e.g., two different verses), the lyrics of the repeated section may be typed in italics (or other distinctive font or style) without any text coloring, and it is expected that the coloring of the italicized section should be the same as the coloring of the previous corresponding section.

[0052] Additionally, with regard to the meter of the song, an initial time signature may be indicated before the beginning of the text and may be notated "inline" with the text (e.g., using fractions such as 3 / 4 and 12 / 8 instead of the graphic symbol of the corresponding time signature). Similar to classical staff notation, the first number indicates the number of beats in each bar, and the second number (which may follow a slash in the proposed notation) indicates the type of note (i.e., relative duration) corresponding to the single beat. The use of "inline" fractions facilitates rendering the complete musical notation of the song using conventional typesetting tools. Additionally, given the prevalence of 4 / 4 time in contemporary music, the time signature may even be omitted, in which case 4 / 4 time may be assumed.

[0053] Additionally, with regard to song rhythm, particularly section division, lyrics may not follow the meaning and semantic sentence organization of the text, but may be expressed in lines that represent groups of musical measures (bars) within the lyric section in which the melody is organized. Depending on the number of words in the lyrics, combined with the musical meter, each text line typically represents a group of four, two, or one musical measures. For example, for a verse having a length equal to eight measures, the lyrics may be arranged into four lines (each containing a group of two measures) or two lines (each containing a group of four measures).

[0054] Additionally, with regard to song rhythm, particularly bar divisions, in one or more embodiments, the text may be divided into musical bars using a slash or solidus ( / ) or other separator mark, which may be placed before the first word of each bar. If the first beat of a bar is in the middle of a word, such word may be separated with a slash placed before the first grapheme associated with the subsequent bar. The distance between two slashes may be constrained by the typeset text of the song's lyrics. For example, a single slash ( / ) may indicate a bar division. A double slash ( / / ) may indicate the beginning or end of a lyric section (e.g., verse, chorus, etc.). If there is an initial "upbeat" before the first bar of the first song section, a double square bracket ([[) may follow the note located on the line above the lyric line of the first section block. If there is text in the first and last measures of a section or lyric line, the measure slashes may be omitted, and if there are completely silent measures, measure slashes are typed. For example, measures may be separated as follows: -First measure of section is silent: / / - / The last bar of a section is silent: / - / / - Measures within lines of lyrics are silent: / - / . Note that, additionally, with regard to the rhythm of the song, and in particular the durations of notes and rests, the graphical representation of note durations requires further symbols and / or marks to be added to the text, the quantity and quality of which may depend on the desired level of transcription accuracy. As the rhythmic complexity of the melody increases, so does its transcription, regardless of the notation system, including the classical staff notation system. Therefore, at least two different approaches can be envisaged in various embodiments of the proposed music notation system to transcribe the durations of notes and / or rests.

[0055] According to a first approach, text symbols and / or marks may be used to give a rough graphic / visual idea of ​​the duration of notes and rests within the musical bar in which they are contained (e.g., a hyphen or minus "-" associated with a grapheme (e.g., syllable) may indicate a general longer note value, and a period "." or comma "," may indicate a longer or shorter rest, respectively).

[0056] According to a second, more accurate approach, a set of text symbols and / or marks that accurately describe the rhythmic qualities of a melody (e.g., equivalent to the accuracy of a staff notation system) may be employed in conjunction with the colored relative pitch system proposed herein. To indicate rest durations, a series of different symbols may be interposed between graphemes, such as a hyphen or minus sign "-" centered within the measure (e.g., to indicate a whole measure rest regardless of the time signature), a period "." (e.g., value dependent on the type of meter: 1 / 4 for 4 / 4 time, 1 / 8 for 6 / 8 time, etc.), a comma "," (e.g., value dependent on the type of meter: 1 / 8 for 4 / 4 time, 1 / 16 for 6 / 8 time, etc.), a double comma ",," (e.g., 1 / 16 for 4 / 4 time, etc.), a triple comma ",,,", and the like. To indicate syncopation and note duration, graphemes may be associated with a series of different symbols, such as the hyphen or minus "-" (e.g., generally, graphemes representing units such as syllables or mora, when associated with one or more hyphens, also represent values ​​that are multiples of the metrical value: one hyphen added to a grapheme means that the grapheme represents a value of twice the metrical value, and any further hyphen means that the value increases by the value of one beat), the circumflex "^" and the apostrophe "'" (e.g., the circumflex indicates when the syllable is half a beat ahead of the downbeat, or 1 / 8 of a beat in 4 / 4 time; the apostrophe indicates when the syllable is 1 / 4 beat ahead of the downbeat, or 1 / 16 of a beat in 4 / 4 time), as well as combining marks (e.g., diacritics) or underscores associated with graphemes to indicate melodic beats. Other additional symbols may also be used.

[0057] By way of example, Figure 10A shows the full text of the aria of Figure 8A according to one embodiment of the proposed musical notation, and Figure 10B is a grayscale reproduction of Figure 10A. Similarly, Figure 11A shows the full text of the song of Figure 9A according to one embodiment of the proposed musical notation, and Figure 11B is a grayscale reproduction of Figure 11A. In these figures, in addition to different colors, different typefaces, and colored graphic symbols, other text symbols and / or marks are used to indicate song structure, meter, and / or rhythm, as previously described. In particular, separation marks such as slashes indicate divisions between musical measures (bars), underscores indicate beats within each bar, and punctuation marks indicate rests.

[0058] Accordingly, one or more embodiments may relate to a method, possibly computer-implemented, of parsing musical information and encoding musical information according to musical notation as described herein.

[0059] For example, Figure 12 is an exemplary flow diagram of procedure 10 for analyzing musical data and creating (e.g., typesetting and displaying) a song score encoded according to the proposed musical notation system, which essentially corresponds to text (e.g., a string of graphemes) formatted according to certain rules. Procedure 10 begins with start step 100. In subsequent step 102, procedure 10 includes identifying the song's meter and writing it as the first part of the output text, or optionally omitting the meter indication if the song is in 4 / 4 meter. In subsequent step 104, procedure 10 includes identifying the number of bars to be written in a single text line to define the length of the text line. In subsequent step 106, procedure 10 includes identifying a reference note (e.g., a tonic) of the song's melody, or identifying the first reference note of the melody if more reference notes are present (e.g., in the case of a modulation). In a subsequent step 108, procedure 10 includes identifying the octave of the (first) reference note in order to select the correct font to be used first (e.g., a medium font for the main octave, a bolder font for the lower octave, and a lighter font for the higher octave). In a subsequent step 110, procedure 10 includes checking whether there are any measures to be processed. If the result of step 110 is positive (Y), procedure 10 proceeds to a minutiae step 112, which includes analyzing the musical data of the measure and outputting corresponding formatted text. If the result of step 110 is negative (N), procedure 10 ends with a stop step 114.

[0060] 13 is an exemplary flow diagram of a subdivision procedure 112 for analyzing the musical data of the current measure and outputting corresponding formatted text. The subdivision procedure 112 begins with a start step 200. In a subsequent step 202, the subdivision procedure 112 includes checking whether the current measure contains lyrics to be written. If the result of step 202 is affirmative (Y), the subdivision procedure 112 proceeds to another subdivision procedure 204, which includes outputting the measure containing the formatted text. If the result of step 202 is negative (N), the subdivision procedure 112 proceeds to step 206, which includes checking whether the current measure is the first measure of the current section. If the result of step 206 is affirmative (Y), the subdivision procedure 112 proceeds to step 208, which includes outputting a string of characters indicating the first measure of the section (e.g., outputting " / / - / " in bold). If the result of step 206 is negative (N), the sub-item procedures 112 proceed to step 210, which includes checking whether the current measure is the last measure of the current section. If the result of step 210 is positive (Y), the sub-item procedures 112 proceed to step 212, which includes outputting a string of characters indicating the last measure of the section (e.g., outputting " / - / / " in bold). If the result of step 210 is negative (N), the sub-item procedures 112 proceed to step 214, which includes checking whether the current measure is the last measure of a lyric line. If the result of step 214 is positive (Y), the sub-item procedures 112 proceed to step 216, which includes outputting a string of characters indicating the last measure of a lyric line (e.g., outputting "- / " in bold). If the result of step 214 is negative (N), then the minutiae procedure 112 proceeds to step 218, which involves outputting a string of characters indicating the measure in the lyric line (e.g., outputting " / -" in bold). After any of steps 204, 208, 212, 216, and 218, the minutiae procedure 112 ends at stop step 220.

[0061] FIG. 14 is an exemplary flow diagram of a minutiae procedure 204 for outputting a measure containing formatted text. The minutiae procedure 204 begins with a start step 300. In a subsequent step 302, the minutiae procedure 204 includes selecting the next word of the song's lyrics, starting with the first word of the measure. If the word is split between the current measure and the next measure, step 302 includes selecting the portion of the word that belongs to the current measure and retaining the remaining portion as the next word. In the case of a word separated by a hyphen ("-"), step 302 includes taking only the portion of the word up to the hyphen and retaining the remaining portion as the next word. Once a (possibly partial) word is selected, step 302 includes identifying all notes belonging to it. In a subsequent step 304, the minutiae procedure 204 optionally includes repeating the glyphs of characters in the selected word to match the number of notes, if the number of notes in the word does not match the number of syllables in the word. In a subsequent step 306, the minutiae procedure 204 includes checking whether the first note of the selected word is on the same reference note as the previous note. If the result of step 306 is negative (N), the minutiae procedure 204 proceeds to step 308, which includes outputting a colored indicator indicating a change in reference note. For example, if the melody returns to the main / first reference note, an indicator closing the section using a different reference note is output (e.g., a closed colored frame). If the melody instead moves to a different reference note, an indicator opening the section using a new reference note is output (e.g., a colored frame of a different color); this new indicator should indicate the degree between the new reference note and the main / first reference note. Optionally, all notes on this new reference note may be marked with a colored border using an appropriate color based on the distance between the two reference notes measured in half-steps. If the outcome of step 306 is affirmative (Y), or following step 308, the minutiae procedure 204 proceeds to step 310, which involves outputting each grapheme (syllable / vowel / letter) of the song lyrics using a font and color corresponding to the octave and degree (intended interval relative to the selected reference note).For example, a bolder font can be used for lower octaves and a lighter font for higher octaves. The color of each grapheme specifies one of the 12 degrees of the musical scale. In a following step 312, the minutiae procedure 204 includes checking whether the current measure has been completely processed. If the result of step 312 is negative (N), the procedure returns to step 302. If the result of step 312 is positive (Y), the procedure proceeds to step 314, which includes checking whether the current measure is the last measure of the current text line. If the result of step 314 is positive (Y), the procedure proceeds to step 316, which includes outputting a new line. If the result of step 314 is negative (N), or following step 316, the minutiae procedure 204 ends in a stop step 318.

[0062] In summary, the operation of a method (kernel) according to one or more embodiments may be summarized by a first step that involves building a mapping of musical notes and corresponding text (single characters, syllables, complete words, or any text to be sung while uttering that note), i.e., graphemes that generally represent mora-like or syllable-like units. The same mapping may be built in reverse, i.e., starting with the text (grapheme) and looking for the corresponding musical note. As a result, a single musical note is always mapped to the portion of the text that corresponds to the grapheme. The second step involves looping through the mapping, i.e., for each note, outputting the corresponding text using a font and color that identifies the degree and octave of that note relative to the pitch of a selected reference note. The font and color are selected according to the rules described above.

[0063] In one or more embodiments, the method may include storing the encoded musical information (e.g., data indicating the colored and formatted and / or typeset string of graphemes) in a memory of a processing unit (e.g., in a cloud server) for subsequent use, which may include, for example, printing the string of graphemes on a printable sheet and / or transmitting the stored data to a display device for visualizing the string of graphemes on a display screen.

[0064] In one or more embodiments, instrumental-only melody portions may be represented within the lyric text, for example, by using dedicated graphemes that are interpreted by the singer as instrumental-only notes.

[0065] Without prejudice to the underlying principles, details and embodiments may differ, or more appropriately, differ significantly, from those described merely by way of example, without departing from the scope of protection.

[0066] The scope of protection is determined by the appended claims.

[0067] [Table 1] [Table 2] [Table 3]

Claims

1. accessing a database storing musical information for a song in the form of a string of notes and text, said text being divisible into a string of graphemes, each grapheme of said string of graphemes corresponding to a note of said string of notes; selecting a reference note from said sequence of notes; associating each note of the sequence of notes with a degree selected from among 12 degrees within an octave relative to a reference degree corresponding to the reference note; associating twelve distinct colors with the twelve degrees, the distinct colors being selected according to a bijective degree-color function that associates each degree with a respective color; dividing the notes of the string of notes into different groups corresponding to different musical octaves, whereby each note of the string of notes belongs to a musical octave; associating one or more particular printing attributes with each of the different musical octaves; and storing, for each of said graphemes, data indicative of said color associated with said degree of said musical note corresponding to said grapheme, and data indicative of said one or more particular printing attributes associated with said musical octave to which said musical note corresponding to said grapheme belongs.

1. A method for encoding music information, comprising:

2. outputting the string of graphemes, wherein the outputting step comprises: coloring the text for each grapheme with the color associated with the degree of the note corresponding to the grapheme; formatting and / or typesetting the text for each grapheme with the one or more specific typographic attributes associated with the musical octave to which the note corresponding to the grapheme belongs; and rendering said string of graphemes on a display support, said text for each grapheme being coloured and formatted and / or typeset, wherein preferably the display support comprises a printable sheet, the method comprising printing the string of graphemes onto the printable sheet; and / or the display support includes a display screen, and the method comprises displaying the string of graphemes on the display screen. having The method of claim 1 , comprising:

3. associating said reference note with a first degree of said 12 degrees; Each other note in said string of notes, the second degree of said 12 degrees when said other note is one ascending semitone away from said base degree; the third degree of said 12 degrees when said other note is two ascending semitones away from said base degree; the fourth degree of said 12 degrees when said other note is three ascending semitones away from said base degree; the fifth degree of said 12 degrees when said other note is four ascending semitones from said base degree; the sixth degree of said twelve degrees when said other note is five ascending semitones away from said base degree; the seventh degree of said twelve degrees when said other note is six ascending semitones away from said base degree; the eighth degree of said twelve degrees when said other note is seven ascending semitones away from said reference degree; the ninth degree of said twelve degrees when said other note is eight ascending semitones from said reference degree; the tenth degree of said twelve degrees when said other note is nine ascending semitones away from said base degree; the eleventh degree of the twelve degrees when the other note is ten ascending semitones from the reference degree; and If the other note is 11 ascending semitones away from the reference degree, the 12th degree of the 12 degrees associating the associating the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth degrees with the colors gray, indigo, cherry, cyan, green, yellow, olive, red, purple, black, orange, and pink, respectively. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

4. detecting the tonality of the song in response to the music information; and selecting the tonic of the detected tonality as the reference note; The method of claim 1 , comprising:

5. The one or more particular printing attributes associated with each of the different musical octaves are: A set of different font weights; A set of different font sizes; A set of different font styles; Set of different font angles; A set of different font slants; A set of different font widths; and A set of different typefaces The method of claim 1 , comprising at least one of:

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the different groups corresponding to a different musical octave includes a sequence of consecutive degrees beginning with a degree four semitones below the base degree and ending with a degree nine semitones above the base degree.

7. dividing the sequence of notes into at least a first subsequence of notes and a second subsequence of notes; selecting a first reference note from the first subsequence of notes and a second reference note from the second subsequence of notes, the second reference note being different from the first reference note; associating each note of the first subsequence of notes with a degree selected from among 12 degrees within an octave relative to a reference degree corresponding to the first reference note; associating each note of said second subsequence of notes with a degree selected from among 12 degrees within an octave relative to a reference degree corresponding to said second reference note; associating the same twelve different colors with the twelve degrees in the first subsequence of notes and the second subsequence of notes, the different colors being selected according to the same bijective degree-color function that associates each degree with a respective color; and storing, for the subsequence of second notes, data indicative of the color corresponding to the degree of the second reference note relative to the first reference note according to the same bijective degree-color function. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

8. 8. The method of claim 7, comprising: outputting the string of graphemes, wherein the outputting comprises highlighting the text of the graphemes of the subsequence of second notes in the color corresponding to the degree of the second reference note relative to the first reference note according to the same bijective degree-color function.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphemes consist of one or more characters and / or graphic signs defined in the Unicode standard.

10. arranging the graphemes into groups of graphemes, each group of graphemes corresponding to a different section of the song; and / or arranging said graphemes into rows of graphemes, each row corresponding to a musical measure of said song, preferably a group of four, two or one musical measures; and / or Inserting separators between graphemes belonging to different musical bars of the song; and / or inserting one or more stuffing characters corresponding to musical bars of the song that do not contain any graphemes; and / or inserting beat-indicating letters and / or marks associated with said graphemes in accordance with the beats within each measure; and / or inserting letters and / or marks indicating durations alternated with said graphemes according to the durations of the notes and / or rests associated with said graphemes; The method of claim 1 , comprising:

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is computer-implemented.

12. A computer program product for causing at least one processing device to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 10.

13. display device; 11. A processing device operating in accordance with the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 and configured to generate drive signals for the display device to render on a display support a sequence of graphemes coloured in the colour associated with the degree of the musical note corresponding to said grapheme and formatted and / or typeset with the one or more particular typographic attributes associated with the musical octave to which the musical note corresponding to said grapheme belongs. A music information display device comprising:

14. the display device comprises a color printer driven by the processing device to print colored inks onto a sheet; or the display device has a display screen driven by the processing device; The music information display device according to claim 13.

Images