Visualizing “Blank Space:” The Importance of Visual Aids - Moosiko

Learning how to play an instrument can be challenging because it requires the use of all three learning styles:

  • Kinesthetic – learning by doing (ex. Physically playing a guitar)
  • Visual – learning by looking (ex. Looking at a chord chart)
  • Auditory – learning by listening (ex. Mimicking what you hear in a song on your instrument)

Since humans make sense of the world mostly through our eyes, visual aids are critical for learning guitar. Guitars do not have the notes laid out in front of the musician like a piano does, making visuals in guitar even more important. 

Moosiko Blank Space Song Sheet

Example of Moosiko’s color-coded song sheet

According to Crump, Logan, and Kimbrough, in Keeping an Eye on Guitar Skill: Visual Representations of Guitar Chords, activation of the mirror neuron system can facilitate “the transformation of the visual display into desired finger placements” (46). Photographs, chord charts, and colors activate this system, while things like black and white musical notation and tablature do not. This is incredibly important to recognize, as it can completely change one’s approach to teaching.

Moosiko Chord Charts

E comparison for common guitar visuals

A common visual teaching method is the CAGED system, which is heavily based on chord charts. The CAGED system shows how to play the same chord anywhere on the fretboard. The system makes little to no sense without looking at a chord chart, as visualizing the chord shapes is a crucial part of the method. Learning guitar theory can be really complicated, but using a visual like the CAGED system can make theory more accessible to more students. 

Keeping with the accessibility of theory provided by the CAGED system, while also providing instructors with easy visual aids to give their students, Moosiko enters the ring.

Moosiko Guitar Visuals

Moosiko takes a highly visual approach to teaching guitar

Moosiko is a great addition to private lessons. Giving students access to visual aids that activate the mirror neuron system during their practice at home will help them learn music quicker, and provide more time for quality instruction in their lesson. Instructors can focus on kinesthetic and auditory teaching, Moosiko will provide the visual aids. Moosiko provides familiarity with chord charts so that teaching theories like the CAGED system is that much easier in lessons.

Moosiko is the perfect companion to help you effectively teach and retain students by keeping them engaged. It not only has colorful, easy-to-read visuals, but it also offers a wide variety of genres, perfect for a well-rounded student.

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