Bridgewater - A
Bridgewater music teacher is on the brink of
putting himself out of business - and he couldn't
be happier. Bill Schnare is convinced his
invention, Guitar Mentor, will mean students
won't need him any more.
Guitar
Mentor is a computer program that allows someone
with little or no musical knowledge to learn in a
day what it took Mr. Schnare three decades to
find out.
"I
can't deny the fact that (losing my job as a
teacher) will probably happen ... but the reality
is that the benefits of this are far greater than
the disadvantages," Mr. Schnare said.
"What
this is going to mean is that literally
thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who
now wish they could be playing music will be able
to do so and they will be able to compose highly
complex music. To me that is utterly
fantastic."
The
program teaches budding composers which chords to
use to build a piece of music and how they should
be sequenced. The software comes with an
extensive chord dictionary that specifies how to
play the chosen chords.
Once
they've written their compositions, users will be
able to produce CD quality recordings of their
work using the program's digital recording unit.
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Mr. Schnare, 54, spent 17 years
developing what he calls his calculus of music. A
chance meeting with a former student in 1998
turned his vision into a reality.
"I
could immediately see the incredible importance
and value of this project so I put everything
else on hold," John Rogers said.
It
took the Hunts Point computer whiz three years of
14-hour days to build the software.
Guitar
Mentor is designed for novice and seasoned
musicians, Mr. Schnare said.
"A
musician who perhaps plays in a band will look at
a chord sequence and he might like to be able to
play a beautiful solo to this but he doesn't have
the knowledge to do it.
"Our
program instantly divulges the correct scale.
That may not sound fantastic to a person who's
not deep into music but anyone who is realizes it
takes 25 to 30 years of intense study to have
this kind of knowledge."
The
$39.95 USD program is available starting Canada
Day (July 1st) at www.guitarmentor.com
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