ArchiTone: A LEGO-Inspired Gamified System for Visualized Music Education

TL;DR

ArchiTone is a LEGO-inspired gamified system that visualizes music theory as building blocks, making music education more engaging and effective for beginners by lowering learning barriers.

Contribution

The paper introduces ArchiTone, a novel gamified system that visualizes music theory concepts as blocks, inspired by LEGO, to enhance music learning and creativity.

Findings

Users found ArchiTone more engaging than traditional methods.

Learners showed improved understanding of music theory.

Participants performed better on music tasks after using ArchiTone.

Abstract

Participation in music activities has many benefits, but often requires music theory knowledge and aural skills, which can be challenging for beginners. To help them engage more easily, it's crucial to adopt teaching strategies that lower these barriers. Informed by formative investigation and inspired by LEGO, we introduce ArchiTone, a gamified system that employs constructivism by visualizing music theory concepts as musical blocks and buildings for music education. This system includes two modes: Learning Mode, which involves recognizing and learning common musical blocks through familiar musical works; Creation Mode, which allows learners to freely create and combine musical blocks to produce new musical works. User studies demonstrate that our gamified system is not only more engaging than traditional music education methods but also more effective in helping learners understand abstract music theory and apply it to music praxis. Additionally, learners demonstrate superior performance on music theory tasks after using ArchiTone.