Keyboard electronic musical instrument with guitar emulation function

A method of generating ascending and descending musical chord arpeggiations comprising:

• assigning at least twelve of the keys within a keyboard to a note select function;
• determining which keys are included within a group of said note select keys being held in a selected state by a user;
• instructing a tone generating device to play an ascending arpeggiation of the notes corresponding with said group of keys in response to a first user-initiated state change of a triggering device from a first trigger state to a second trigger state as said group of keys continue to be held in selected state;
• and
• instructing said tone generating device to (a) mute the notes played in response to said first trigger state change and (b) play a descending arpeggiation of the same notes in response to a second user-initiated state change of said triggering device from said second trigger state to said first trigger state as said group of keys continue to be held in selected state.

An emulator for producing a guitar style performance from a controller, said controller including first and second user-operated triggering devices, each of which a user may alternate between a rest trigger state and a selected trigger state, and at least twelve keyboard keys assigned to a note select function, each of which a user may alternate between a rest key state and a selected key state, comprising:

• a digital data processing system which receives trigger state information from said triggering devices and key state information from said note select keys, and which sends commands to a tone generating device wherein,
• a state change of said first triggering device from said rest trigger state to said selected trigger state when at least two of said note select keys are in said selected key state causes said data processing system to command said tone generating device to initiate production of a plurality of tones corresponding to the selected note select keys in an ascending sequence;
• and,
• a state change of said second triggering device from said rest trigger state to said selected trigger state following said state change of said first triggering device as said selected note select keys and said first triggering device continue to be held in selected state causes said data processing system to command said tone generating device to (a) terminate production of said plurality of tones and (b) re-initiate production of said plurality of tones in a descending sequence.

A method of generating ascending and descending musical chord arpeggiations comprising:

• assigning at least twelve of the keys within a keyboard to a note select function;
• determining which keys are included within a group of said note select keys being held in a selected state by a user;
• instructing a tone generating device to play an ascending arpeggiation of a group of notes corresponding with said group of keys in response to a user-initiated state change of a first triggering device from a rest trigger state to a selected trigger state as said group of keys continue to be held in selected state;
• and
• instructing said tone generating device to (a) mute said note group and (b) play a descending arpeggiation of the same note group in response to a user-initiated state change of a second triggering device from a rest trigger state to a selected trigger state as said group of keys and said first triggering device continue to be held in selected state.

An emulator for producing a guitar style performance from a controller, said controller including at least 24 keys, each of which a user may alternate between a rest key state and a selected key state, comprising:

• a digital data processing system which receives key state information from said 24 keys, and which sends commands to a tone generating device;
• said processing system including a memory device which stores data, said data including the tones contained within twelve predetermined chords, each of said twelve chords corresponding with one of the twelve notes in a standard octave;
• wherein,
• said 24 keys are grouped by said data processing system into twelve strum key pairs, each pair corresponding with one of said twelve predetermined chords and consisting of an upstrum key and a downstrum key;
• and
• for any one of said key pairs, (a) a rest-to-selected state change of the upstrum key causes said data processing system to command said tone generating device to initiate production of the tones contained within that pair's corresponding chord in a descending note sequence and (b) a rest-to-selected state change of the downstrum key causes said data processing system to command said tone generating device to initiate production of the tones contained within the same corresponding chord in an ascending note sequence.

A method of generating ascending and descending musical chord arpeggiations comprising:

• assigning at least 24 of the keys within a keyboard to a strum triggering function;
• grouping said 24 strum trigger keys into twelve key pairs, each pair corresponding with one of the twelve notes in a standard octave and consisting of an upstrum key and a downstrum key;
• assigning one of twelve predetermined chords to each of said key pairs;
• instructing a tone generating device to play an ascending arpeggiation of one of said chords in response to a state change of that chord's corresponding downstrum key from a rest key state to a selected key state;
• and
• instructing said tone generating device to play a descending arpeggiation of one of said chords in response to a state change of that chord's corresponding upstrum key from a rest key state to a selected key state.