Graspable Music and Vuzik: Music Learning and Creativity using an Interactive Surface

This paper examines an approach to music education and exploration that we have called “graspable music,” whereby music is represented in a more tangible and permanent form that illustrates certain otherwise abstract musical concepts in a multisensory way. We describe one exploration of this approach in Vuzik, an interface we designed and implemented to allow children to compose music by painting using an interactive surface, and we present our findings from a preliminary design critique of our current prototype.