A Method for Learning Netytar: An Accessible Digital Musical Instrument

Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMI) are increasingly raising interest within the scientific community, especially in the contexts of Sound and Music Computing and Human-Computer Interaction. In the past, Netytar has been proposed among these. Netytar is a software ADMI operated through the eyes using an eye tracker and an additional switch or sensor (e.g., a breath sensor). The instrument is dedicated to quadriplegic users: it belongs to the niche of gaze operated musical instruments, and has been proven effective and functional through testing. Although there are several other gaze operated ADMIs available in market and literature, a formal method for studying music with them has not yet been proposed. The present work introduces a simple study method based on a set of exercises. This can be useful for approaching musical performance with Netytar, but it’s also potentially generalizable for learning other similar instruments. The exercises are illustrated, discussed and explained in view of an improvement. A simple musical notation is introduced. At the end of a learning cycle, a user is expected to be able to perform simple melodies, and have a basis with which to learn other new ones. In the future, the method will be tested with the target users.