Noteability
Noteability Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
To score points by correctly playing songs and identifying songs played by teammates or opponents.
Game Equipment
- One "Baby" Grand Piano. The piano is powered by three "AA" batteries (not included).
- Three plastic snap-in legs and small felt self-adhesive pads for bottoms of legs.
- 200 Music Cards. Each card has on it three songs from four different categories: Pop, Standards, Oldies, and TV Theme Songs.
- 1 Score Pad.
Piano Assembly
Remove the three piano legs from their bag. Snap them into the three square holes on the piano's underside. Once in place, these legs cannot be removed. Peel off the backing and stick a protective felt pad on the bottom of each leg.
Open the battery compartment located on the piano's underside and install three fresh "AA" batteries. The piano is now ready to be played. There is no ON/OFF switch.
Test the piano by touching a few keys.
Further Preparation
Place the game box with the deck of cards in it within easy reach of the players. After a card is used, place it at the back of the deck so it won't come up again for quite a while.
Elect a scorekeeper (who will need the score pad and a pencil).
Rehearsal
You need no prior musical skills or experience to play the game, but a little practice helps everyone to get into it faster. Rhythm is an extremely important part of this game. The recognizability of a song is often as dependent upon accurate rhythm as upon playing the right notes. The following time lengths or "counts" must be carefully observed:
- NUMBERS (indicating which key to press): ONE COUNT
- DASHES (indicating a rest between numbers): ONE COUNT
- SPACES (between numbers indicate no rest, but an immediate playing of the next numbered key): ZERO COUNT
For example, the following song sequence has 13 counts or beats:
10-8-6---10-8 8 6
The following sequences have 21 counts or beats:
1 1 3-1-6-5---1 1 3-1-8-6
8 5 1-5-8-13---17 15 13-5-7-8
(What are these three songs?)
Some suggestions for first timers:
- Before you begin the official game, have everyone try the above songs for practice.
- Count out the song sequence silently to yourself before you play it, or tap it out on the table to become familiar with any difficult beats.
- Play each song SLOWLY.
Play Options
Noteability can be played as a team game (like Charades) or individually. At least four people are required for the team version. A minimum of three players are needed for individual competition, but two can enjoy the game by simply playing songs for their partner to guess.
Team Play
- In team play each team scores as a unit.
- Choose a Piano Player. On each successive turn members of a team will rotate as the Piano Player.
- The designated Piano Player draws a card and places it (like sheet music) on the piano. He or she then plays any one of the three songs on the card. The song can be played through twice to give the Piano Player's team a good chance, and during that time other players must remain silent. If any teammate correctly names the song, the team scores 4 points. The Piano Player then plays the next song on the card and finally the third song. Thus, on a perfect turn, a team can score 12 points (3 songs x 4 points). If no one guesses a particular song, no points are scored. After playing all the songs on a card, the piano is passed to the next team in sequence, and so on.
- If, however, a team member gives an incorrect guess or has no guess at all, any member of any other team can shout out his or her guess and, if correct, capture the piano from the team that has it and also score 2 points for the correct guess.
- The team capturing the piano now takes over and proceeds as in rule 3 above.
- The first team to score 50 points, or any predetermined number of points, is the winner.
Individual Play
- Choose a person to be the first Piano Player. All the other players are Guessers.
- The Piano Player draws a card and rests it (like sheet music) on the piano.
- The Piano Player may play any one of the three songs on the card for the first Guesser, who is the player to his immediate left. The song can be played through twice to give the Guesser a good chance, and during that time other players must remain silent.
- The Guesser calls out the name of the song as soon as he/she knows it. If correct, the Guesser receives 4 points and the Piano Player two points (for a fine performance!).
- The Piano Player then plays a second song from the music card for the next Guesser in clockwise sequence at the table. This goes on until the Piano Player has played all three songs on his or her music card. The piano then rotates to the next player, moving clockwise around the table.
- If, however, the Guesser can't come up with the title after two full run throughs by the Piano Player, or if the Guesser incorrectly names the song, all other players may jump in immediately to try to name the song. (The original Guesser may not "rescue" his own song at this point.) If everyone screams at once, ties shall be broken by mutual agreement of the field. In case of a correct guess from the field, the new Guesser receives 2 points and the Piano Player, one point. In addition, the new Guesser captures the piano and becomes the new Piano Player. He/she then follows the sequence described in rules 2 through 5.
- If no one can guess a particular song, no points are scored.
Shoot the Piano Player
If it is felt by the primary Guesser that the Piano Player is intentionally mis-playing a tune to keep the Guesser from scoring points, the Guesser may call out "SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER!" If this happens: 1) the piano is passed to next Piano Player on the left in sequence; 2) the Guesser also cycles to left; and 3) a new card is picked by the new Piano Player. A unanimous vote of all other players is required before this option may be exercised.
Winning the Game
The winner is the first player to score 50 points, or any predetermined number of points.