Interactive game providing instruction in musical notation and in learning an instrument

A method of instructing a user to read musical notation through interaction with a graphical user interface and an input keyboard, comprising the steps of:

• a) generating the graphical user interface, having a first position, including a virtual keyboard positioned substantially at a top portion of the interface, having a plurality of keys, each key having a corresponding key on the input keyboard;
• b) incorporating a music file into the graphical user interface, wherein the music file contains data corresponding to an arrangement of at least a first and a second musical note in sequence, having a rhythmic pattern;
• c) directing a first game object, representing the first musical note in the arrangement, upward, in a first substantially straight trajectory, toward a first key on the virtual keyboard, corresponding to the first musical note, such that the first game object will experience a first collision with the first key;
• d) directing a second game object, representing the second musical note in the arrangement, upward, in a second substantially straight trajectory, toward a second key on the virtual keyboard, corresponding to the second musical note, such that the second game object will experience a second collision with the second key, according to the rhythmic pattern of the arrangement;
• e) awarding a value to the user based upon the user striking the corresponding key on the input keyboard approximately simultaneously with the first and second collisions.

A method of instructing a user to read musical notation through interaction with a graphical user interface and an input keyboard, comprising the steps of:

• a) generating the graphical user interface, having a first position, including a virtual keyboard positioned substantially at a top portion of the interface, having a plurality of keys, each key having a corresponding key on the input keyboard;
• b) incorporating a music file into the graphical user interface, wherein the music file contains data corresponding to an arrangement of a plurality of musical notes in sequence, having a rhythmic pattern, each note being represented by a game object;
• c) directing the game objects upward, in substantially straight trajectories, toward keys on the virtual keyboard corresponding to the musical notes;
• d) colliding the game objects with the corresponding keys according to the rhythmic pattern of the arrangement;
• e) awarding a value to the user based upon the user striking the corresponding key on the input keyboard approximately simultaneously with the collisions;
• f) rotating the interface to a second position, approximately ninety (90) degrees counterclockwise, once a predetermined threshold of user performance has been met, such that the virtual keyboard is positioned substantially on a left side of the interface, and the game objects continue to move along the substantially straight trajectories toward the virtual keyboard.