A Real-time Pitch Training System for Violin Learners

[[abstract]]對小提琴的初學者而言，音高的準確度是重要的一個訓練。當小提琴初學者獨自練習的時候，往往無法得知自己所演奏的音準的正確性。而這樣的一個情形，學習者可能不斷地練習著錯誤的音準，而導致老師在教學上更加的困難。獨自練習的時候後，學習者也可能因為沒有老師的糾正和回饋，而對練習的過程感到無聊。事實上，小提琴學習者獨自練習的時間遠多於老師上課的時間，這也導致老師們無法監督到學習者的學習過程和進度。 我們的系統致力於訓練小提琴初學者的音準，透過音高偵測(pitch detection)的方法來偵測學習者所演奏出的音高。並且使用音量(volume threshold)和合法區域偵測(valid region detection)的方法來降低運算量，讓我們可以即時告知小提琴學習者他所演奏的音正確與否。而我們的系統提供了不同大調的音階和琶音的譜來作為教材，並讓學習者可以依據自己的程度來選擇演奏的節奏(tempo)。我們的系統也提供了方便的介面，讓小提琴學習者可以即時的知道自己演奏的音準錯誤程度(pitch variance)，而學習者就可以更準確的去修正自己的音準。我們的系統紀錄了學習者的使用過程，並且分析了學生容易發生的錯誤。這功能讓老師可以更了解學習者的學習狀況，並且可以針對學生常犯的錯誤進行指正。[[abstract]]For a novice violinist, pitch accuracy is a purpose fundamental skill. When violin learners practice individually, they are unable to know if the pitch played is correct or not. Therefore, the learners most probably will practice the wrong pitch again and again, which consequently makes violin teachers spend even more time to change the learner’s bad habits. Learners may quickly get bored because there are no teacher’s indications and feedback when they practice individually. In fact, the time of practicing individually is more than the time practicing with violin teachers, so violin teachers cannot monitor the learner’s progress. Our thesis specifically targets violin learners who are working on their pitch accuracy. We employ pitch tracking algorithm to extract the pitch played. To realize real time processing, volume threshold and valid region detection are used to reduce the execution cost. Then, our system can tell violin learners in real time whether the pitch they played is correct or not. Our system provides the major scale and arpeggio score as teaching materials, and violin learners can choose different tempos to practice, depending on their level. The user-friendly system interface allows violin learners to easily understand the pitch variance between the pitch of target note and the pitch they played. Therefore, violin learners can adjust their playing precisely. System feedback records the practicing progress, and analyzes the error patterns. Therefore, violin teachers can understand violin learners’ learning situations more, and they can correct these error patterns with violin learners easily.[[note]]碩