Instructional systems and methods for musical instruments

A method of instructing a student to play music on an instrument having a body assembly, a neck assembly that rigidly extends from the body assembly and defines a playing surface, and a plurality of strings suspended by the body assembly and the neck assembly adjacent to the playing surface, the method comprising the steps of:

• arranging a plurality of display segments in an instruction grid such that each display segment corresponds to a unique location on the playing surface;
• and
• arranging the instruction grid on the neck assembly such that, when the body assembly and the neck assembly are arranged in a playing orientation relative to the student, the instruction grid substantially faces the student to facilitate viewing of the display segments;
• operating the display segments based on control data to indicate where the string members are to be brought into contact with the neck assembly to form desired musical notes;
• generating feedback data indicating the locations on the playing surface at which the string members are brought into contact with the neck assembly;
• and
• controlling the display segments to communicate the feedback data to the player.

A system for instructing a student to play music, comprising:

• a body assembly;
• a neck assembly rigidly extending from the body assembly, where
• the neck assembly defines
• upper and lower elongate neck edges,
• a playing surface on a front portion of the neck assembly extending between the upper and lower neck edges, and
• a palm surface on a rear portion of the neck assembly extending between the upper and lower neck edges;
• a plurality of string members attached to the body assembly and the neck assembly such that the string members are suspended substantially parallel to the upper and lower neck edges and adjacent to the playing surface;
• a plurality of display segments arranged in an instruction grid such that each display segment corresponds to a unique location on the playing surface;
• and
• a control circuit for operating the display segments based on note data such that the display segments communicate note instructions that indicate where the string members are to be brought into contact with the neck assembly to form musical notes;
• and
• finger sensing means for generating feedback data identifying the locations on the playing surface at which the string members are brought into contact with the neck assembly;
• wherein
• the instruction grid is arranged on the back portion of the neck assembly such that, when the body assembly and the neck assembly are arranged in a playing orientation relative to the student, the instruction grid substantially faces the student to facilitate viewing of the display segments;
• and
• the control circuit is operatively connected to the finger sensing means and operates the display segments to communicate the feedback data to the player.