Lesson 005.1

My latest lesson is Lesson 005.1 (source code here), which replaces Lesson 005:


Same crummy state-controlling button-bar at the bottom, for now. I really must fix that.

This lesson defines "scale" and "diatonic scale," and introduces JiMS keyboard -- i.e., the mapping of the Wicki/Thummer note-layout to the computer keyboard.

My lessons are starting to look a lot like PowerPoint presentations, except that their "graphics" are often interactive (e.g., JiMS keyboard).  I've always liked PowerPoint, so the similarity is fine with me.

Although I was very strongly tempted to introduce other scales and even tunings at this point in the lessons. However, there is absolutely no advantage to the student in introducing those concepts now; they would just be a confusing distraction -- and the student's advantage must win all such design trade-offs. Hence, my decision to re-write Lessons 4 and 5, to provide a leaner, cleaner sequence of concepts.

I expect the next lesson (6) to introduce the term "mode," and discuss the modes of the diatonic scale. I think that I've got the components I need for that, but some of them haven't been used in a lesson before, and so will probably need to be tweaked...so don;t hold your breath for the next lesson.  ;-)

Lesson 004.1

My latest lesson is Lesson 004.1 (source code here):


Same crummy state-controlling button-bar at the bottom, for now. I really must fix that.

This lesson introduces a number of new terms. Each is clearly defined, and each definition is followed by a question to help cement understanding of the definition.

I now expect to revise Lesson 5 to focus on defining the term "scale." This may require introducing the notion of "tuning," but I don't want to go there yet, so I'll avoid it if I can.

Once the notion of "scale" is defined, then we can dive right into the Diatonic Scale, including its modes, intervals, chords, etc.

Lesson 001.0

Here's the first lesson in JiMS iGetIt! Music System (source code here):


It's not terribly impressive, of course, but one must start somewhere, both as a student of music and as a student of coursware development.

Well, it doesn't display correctly in IE/Windows, just as my last couple of test projects didn't. Works fine on Safari/Mac. Clearly, I can't continue to ignore this IE/Windows problem.