Singing Blocks

Harmony and Chord progressions are the foundational architecture of a number of genres of Western music, from Classical, to Jazz, to popular music. For any musician, mastering the rules can be an important step in learning the skills of composition. The rules are difficult to learn, however. There have been efforts to create innovative educational software displays but to date Virtual Reality (VR) systems have not been investigated. The innately physical nature of VR creates an immersive experience that is impossible with other approaches. This work explains our concept of a VR educational game for young adult learners upwards of certain Western music genres. It draws subtle analogies to the architecture of harmony by presenting a number of levels in which the user builds chords and progressions. The aim is that they journey towards interacting creatively with the harmonics representation. Suggestions are also given as to how an effective evaluation procedure may be carried out in the future.