Learning to Play an Instrument – The Fraunhofer Software "Songs2See" at the Musikmesse 2012

In a jiffy, beginners play chart tunes, oldies or classical music on guitar, keyboards or saxophone. The clou is: Any title can be used for practicing. Just in time for the Musikmesse 2012, the software is now also available for consumers.

Good drivers have to start young… children and adolescents start learning to play an instrument at primary school age. But it often takes years to really master the instrument. With Songs2See, beginners practice the trumpet, piano or bass with their own favorite songs, having a lot of fun while practicing. This motivates in the long run, training motor activity and musical knowledge at the same time.

Songs2See is based on the concepts of music-based video games, but uses real instruments for playing along to rock or pop songs. Any song from one's own music collection can be translated into notation and fingerings, and only a few clicks in the software are necessary to generate individual practicing material for the user. The learner just repeats the displayed tunes on his or her instrument. Songs2See recognizes and visualizes the melody and gives the learner a direct feedback. For all correct tunes, the user gets a score. This boosts motivation and further learning.

“Our learning software is not only suitable for children and adolescents. Also adults, who have learnt an instrument but haven't played it for years, can refresh their skills using Songs2See. Very easily, everyone can use Songs2See to practice as preferred and improve one's fingering techniques. In learning mode, beginners can, for example, learn to play their favorite tune note by note. Advanced learners can also choose to be accompanied only”, explains one of the Songs2See developers, Christian Dittmar, Head of Semantic Music Technologies at Fraunhofer IDMT in Ilmenau.

Just in time for the Musikmesse 2012, Songs2See is now available for purchase as a full consumer version. A spin-off from Fraunhofer IDMT, solely set up for marketing due to the great public demand, starts shipping on 20 March, 2012. From 19.90 Euros, Songs2See is going to be available from www.songquito.com.

Meet us at the Musikmesse, March 21 to 24, 2012, in hall 5.1 at booth C62 and experience Songs2See yourself. At 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., the Songs2See demo workshops welcome all music enthusiasts. Press representatives are invited to this event as well.

Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Ilmenau conducts applied research in the field of digital media and works on leading projects and topics in the field of audio-visual applications. Besides sound solutions for home and professional users (e.g. IOSONO® Wave Field Synthesis technology) software technologies for analysis and characterization of multimedia content as well as audio-visual applications for medical engineering are being developed. Furthermore interactive AV applications for entertainment and knowledge management and the design of architectures for digital online-distribution are in the institute’s research focus.The Fraunhofer IDMT realizes innovative scientific results through prototypes and applicable solutions which come up to customer and market requirements in close cooperation with partners in economy, culture and science. Since 2008, Fraunhofer IDMT has two new branch labs. The department Children’s Media, based in Erfurt, works on the development of innovative computer based program and edutainment formats for children and adolescents. The new project group Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology, based in Oldenburg, researches topics of audio system technology concerning the fields of health, transportation, multimedia and telecommunication.

Contact Person:
Stefanie Theiß
Press and Public Relations
Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT
Ehrenbergstraße 31
98693 Ilmenau, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 36 77/4 67-3 11
Fax: +49 (0) 36 77/4 67-4 67
stefanie.theiss@idmt.fraunhofer.de