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Lesson 3:
Colour determines direction

In the previous pages, we studied specific VINTs in detail. You will have noticed that VINTs are shown in three colours: red, blue, and black.

 

Each colour has a precise meaning - it indicates the direction you should play the notes on your instrument.

Colour Key

Ascending
(goes higher in pitch)
 

Red

Black

Unison
(remains same in pitch)
 

Descending
(goes lower in pitch)
 

Blue

It is important to note that a Unison VINT must be black, since if it were red it would instead be known as an ascending Octave it, and if it were blue it would be a descending Octave.

vint-music-theory-notation_edited.jpg

How VINT Works

perfect_5th_descending.png
perfect_5th_ascending.png
unison.png

VINT Colour

Examples

Here are some examples of how VINT colour shows the direction of an interval: it can go up the keyboard (higher in pitch), down the keyboard (lower in pitch), or stay the same (like the Unison VINT).

c-block.png

For the examples below, we’ll use B as the starting note and keep it the same throughout.

Let’s look at some of the smaller interval VINTs to see which notes they create. We’ll start by playing the note B, then figure out the next note by decoding the VINT shape (number of lines) and its colour.

Unison (Black)

c-block.png

We'll start off with a unison VINT, which is always black. Unison means the same - so we play:

Same note twice

B + B

unison.png

= Starting note

= Note in between

= Target note

starthere.png

Minor 3rd Ascending (red)

This VINT means to play a Major 3rd higher than the last note played (ascending, going up the keyboard).

c-block.png

2 notes in between

B + D

minor_3rd_ascending.png
starthere.png

This VINT tells us to play a Perfect 4th below the starting note B (going down the keyboard).

Perfect 4th Descending (blue)

c-block.png
perfect_4th_descending.png

B + F#

4 notes in between

starthere.png

Major 3rd Ascending (red)

This VINT tells us to play a Major 3rd above the starting note B (going up the keyboard).

c-block.png
major_3rd_ascending.png

B + D#

3 notes in between

starthere.png

This VINT tells us to play a Major 2nd below the starting note B (going down the keyboard).

Major 2nd Descending (blue)

c-block.png

1 note in between

major_2nd_descending.png

B + A

starthere.png
octave_ascending.png

Octave (red)

A single red dot means there are 11 notes between the starting note and the target note. So we move up an octave on the keyboard to the next B.

B + B

c-block.png

11 notes in between
 

Next Lesson: Play a Song

Now that we know how to read VINT, it’s time to have some fun - let’s start playing a song melody!

Music Concert
side1.jpg

VINT, a component of the
Visual Piano System

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