Verna M Leonard

US Patent:

39772934, Aug 31, 1976

Filed:

Jul 10, 1975

Appl. No.:

5/594747

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G09B 1502

US Classification:

84474

Abstract:

The invention is a teaching aid for familiarizing the beginning music student with left-hand chording and particularly the inversions of common chords which fit within the normal range of left hand fingering and comprises a front panel having a display of the chromatic scale including eleven numbered bass scale tones of a diatonic scale terminating in middle C, with the notes corresponding to the 11 scale tones preferably indicated thereabove on a musical staff. Three indicator strips are used alternatively to indicate from these scale tones those which are used in the tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant chords, respectively, of a particular key signature, the inversions of these chords being named on a rotatable dial, and worksheet-type writing paper being optionally provided behind said panel whereon the student can inscribe the scale tone names of any particular chord.

US Patent:

43206905, Mar 23, 1982

Filed:

Feb 21, 1980

Appl. No.:

6/123194

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G09B 1502

US Classification:

84480

Abstract:

The present invention integrates the entire body of musical knowledge relating to key signatures, basic chord structure, the logical progression of chords within a key signature according to the cycle of fourths, identification of the root tone both of scales and of chords, the replication of chord and scale structure over the keys of a piano or the like for each consecutive octave, and the display of the most suitable inversion to use in any particular instance for a particular chord in the selected key signature. All of this information is assembled in an easily usable, flexible form having selectable key signature display panels on the left registering with a central matrix comprised of several rows of scale tones in a particular octave, this matrix being one of seven matrices pertaining to the seven octaves on the piano keyboard, with the 3rd basic element being the plurality of horizontal displays naming the diatonic scale of each pertinent key signature, these displays being selectably registerable with the matrix to correspond with the suitable vertical panel to the left of the matrix.

US Patent:

42546869, Mar 10, 1981

Filed:

Aug 20, 1979

Appl. No.:

6/067944

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G10G 102

US Classification:

84481

Abstract:

The invention is in the field of musical learning and playing devices, and particularly relates to keyboard instruments. A plurality of cards are provided each of which defines a forward pocket and each of which spans an octave on the keyboard. These cards are positioned adjacent to one another across the breadth of the keyboard, and a second group of insert cards are inserted into the pockets defined by the first cards. These second cards may be one of several types, but in any event they display indicia which register with keys on the keyboard, and each of these cards also includes a laterally extended tab which engages the adjacent card by overlapping same so that the entire line of cards is stationary as a unit rather than being completely separate. The indicia on the insert cards may be scale tones identifying a chord, or the notes on a musical staff, but in either case the presence of the fixed octave-spanning cards and the varied insert cards clarifies the superimposition of the structure of written music on the octave structure. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In order to understand written music, it is necessary to analyze the written notes.

US Patent:

40020975, Jan 11, 1977

Filed:

Jul 10, 1975

Appl. No.:

5/594746

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G09B 1502

US Classification:

84471SR

Abstract:

A chord inversion coordination aid comprises a plurality of dials of increasing diameter and each representing a particular chord type and having a peripheral array of the scale tone names of the chord in its root and inverted positions arranged in sectors, whereby upon aligning various sectors of the discs a given chord progression can be arranged according to the most easily played chord inversions. The dial may be centrally pivoted behind a cover sheet having a window therein to expose the dial sectors, and a pad of staff paper may be mounted on the cover sheet.

US Patent:

42954070, Oct 20, 1981

Filed:

Apr 18, 1980

Appl. No.:

6/141577

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G10G 102

US Classification:

84471R

Abstract:

A teaching aid simplifies the understanding and practicing of the inversions of the major triads of the diatonic scale by utilizing a series of insert cards which slide into a simulated keyboard and read up vertically duplicate sets of the scale tones of the triad beginning with the underlying keyboard tone. In contrast with the usual method of inversion indication, wherein sequential indicia point out inversions on the keyboard itself, or on a horizontal scale, by reading up vertically rather than horizontally the student is able to easily see the inversion arrangement without confusing it with the keys that he is playing.

US Patent:

44048866, Sep 20, 1983

Filed:

Aug 17, 1981

Appl. No.:

6/293555

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G09B 1502

US Classification:

84471R

Abstract:

A musical teaching and playing aid has a sheath with a front panel defining spaced octaves of a keyboard instrument keyboard with slits just above the keys for the insertion of insert cards each of which is identified as to the octave above which it will be inserted, with each of these insert cards having a first tier of scale or chord tones which align with and name the keys on the keyboard, and a second tier of notes on a musical staff, which notes fall within the general range of the keys on the keyboard and the octave named on the card and which are visible by raising the card from a first position to a second position, whereby the independence of each octave is stressed by its isolation from adjacent octaves, disrupting the usual continuity of the keys, and the notes which fit within that octave and their names are identified on the removeable card to facilitate identification of note position on the staff with octave position in the range of notes on the keyboard.

US Patent:

39371182, Feb 10, 1976

Filed:

Apr 17, 1975

Appl. No.:

5/568995

Inventors:

Verna M. Leonard - Fresno CA

International Classification:

G09B 1502

US Classification:

84471SR

Abstract:

The invention is a musical aid used to simplify the comprehension of chord inversion structure and enable the composer to more readily visualize the keyboard location and fingering of chords and their inversions used in a composition, the device having a frontal panel display of the scale tones of a particular key signature and a sliding member behind the panel which is provided with numbered, pivotal indicators to select a triad orderd in the root or an inverted position from the Scale tones on the panel, the invention including a rotatable disc on the sliding member having selectively exposeable chords displayed on the periphery thereof naming the triads and their inversions occuring in the key signature of the panel.