MuSe was designed as an introductory music toy designed in the spring quarter of 2009. Muse has undergone 8 prototype revisions and more than 10 user tests. Music teachers and musicians were also consulted during the making of MuSe. The resulting product is a simple and flexible toy for kids to play with while learning about music.

MuSe sought to help kids learn the concept of pitch. Our target audience were kids ages 3 to 5. MuSe was designed with multiple modes of play in mind and can be played by an individual or a group, either at home or at school.

The finished MuSe product had 3 modes of play.

  • In the ‘listen and play’ mode, muse plays a tone and then checks if the user’s input matched the last pitch. If the pitch matches the tone is played and the player is rewarded. If it does not match the player is urged to try again.
  • In the Improvise Play session a melody is played in the key of C. The student can play over this for as long as they wish. Students also have the choice to turn the music off so that just their notes are heard.
  • In Complete the Melody the player is first presented with a simple melody. They are then played the same melody except for the last pitch. The students must play the correct pitch to move on to another melody.