Estimation of tempo, timing, and melody for piano practice support systems

Abstract

In piano learning as voluntary practice, it is difficult especially for beginners to judge whether their musical performances are appropriate in terms of timing and melody. Therefore, we have studied piano learning support systems for beginners. In this study, we introduce a method for the system, to estimate tempo, timing and melody of performances, and to visualize the data for piano learners and instructors. In our method, a tempo for each musical bar is firstly estimated by measuring first notes in current and incoming bars. Subsequently, a timing of each musical note in the bar is obtained based on the estimated tempo. A chroma vector is then computed for each note, in order to compare it with the vector obtained from a corresponding instructor's performance, and finally to detect misplayed keys. In order to confirm effectiveness of our method, we conducted experiments. We collected musical performances (No.12 Bayer) from seven subjects. Assuming voluntary practice, the subjects were asked to listen to music and watch corresponding movies in which an instructor played piano with musical scores and instructions, before they made performances. We analyzed the performance data and conducted questionnaire to the subjects, to confirm the effectiveness.