Note: Instruments not included
The Visual Note Music Learning Device F Type is a tuition system for guitars with a 648mm (25.5") scale length that can be attached to the fingerboard in a matter of minutes. The wireless controller in turn is discreetly installed at the back of the headstock. The matrix of 90 LEDs covers 15 frets and shows the player the fingering positions required to play a song or an exercise, allowing them to keep their eyes on the fingerboard instead of continually having to look up at a screen, app, or sheet music, and notes can additionally be played via MIDI. The starter kit includes 60 scales, 48 triads, 48 arpeggios, and 16 impressive light effects, and more of each can be added via Bluetooth using the Visual Note app, which is available for iOS and Android. The system is powered by an inbuilt rechargeable battery, which takes just 2.5 hours to charge using the magnetic charging cable and provides around ten hours of operation, and the scope of delivery also includes an installation manual and a cleaning cloth.
The Visual Note Music Learning Device F Type gives budding guitarists access to a whole range of exercises, songs, riffs, chords, scales, and arpeggios courtesy of the embedded software, which also includes a tuner. The app of course lets the user customise the positions and fingering of the chords in their own library, and chord sequences can also be looped. In scale mode, the system highlights the tonic note so that the relationship of the other notes to the root is always clear, and individual sections of the respective scale can be illuminated continuously - a very practical feature when improvising with the notes displayed. The Visual Note software can also create tablature from Guitar Pro files, and guitar game fans are sure to appreciate the system's Flow mode, which is reminiscent of certain famous guitar-based video games.
The Visual Note Music Learning Device F Type gives beginners a hands-on tool to help them get to grips with chords, scales, and arpeggios, while more advanced players can use it to hone their skills while ironing out any bad playing habits they may have developed over time. Guitar teachers in turn can make good use of the Visual Note Music Learning Device to set their pupils appropriate exercises complete with tablature files in both video lessons and face-to-face tuition. In this context, the option of assigning specific colours to the different fingers will also be helpful when learning chord and scale fingering, particularly for those just starting out on the instrument. The Visual Note Music Learning Device system is available for classical, steel-string, and electric guitars, and the F Type shown here is suitable for both left and right-handed six-string guitars that have an ST-style scale length and nut width - making it compatible with models such as Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters as well as TE and ST-type models from Harley Benton and many other manufacturers.
Visual Note is an Italian company that offers guitarists a whole new approach with its innovative tuition system. The company was founded by Vincenzo Maresca, whose experience of teaching himself to play the bass led him to search for ways to make learning easier. Initial patents were registered in 2012, and Visual Note was eventually founded in 2017. Maresca's idea - a system that uses LED strips on the instrument's fingerboard, which are controlled by a dedicated smartphone app, to guide beginners through their first lessons - was made a reality after his prototypes allowed the necessary crowdfunding to be secured.
The Visual Note Music Learning Device F Type is an excellent solution for players who want some guidance when practising alone - after all, learning the basics also requires tuition videos with a "flesh-and-blood" instructor to show how it is done. The wide range of control options offered by the dedicated app will be extremely helpful when repeating the exercises in each lesson, as users can vary the tempo and loop specific sections of the material. If multiple MIDI tracks are being used, it is even possible to mute individual tracks in order to better focus on what absolutely needs to be heard, and this also means players can learn the different guitar tracks for a song one after the other. What is more, the Visual Note Music Learning Device's eye-catching colours and light effects - which range from VU meter to spectrum analyser - will be a guaranteed highlight on stage and in music videos.