Type on a piano keyboard

People who work with music on their computer tend to have an elaborate setup so that they can have the computer keyboard, the digital piano keyboard, and the mouse all accessible.

So why not get the computer keyboard out of the picture entirely? Set up a piano keyboard to enter text and commands!

In the right hand, the notes of the scale could represent 12 common letters. "C D E F G A B" = "e n t a s o d", and "C# D# F# G# A#" = "c r u l i". This scale could repeat over a few octaves, say from bass G to high C, so that you get to the next key in either direction.

The left hand would then change the "scale". The above scale would be used when the keyboard is in the key of C. Hitting a low G would change the right hand's scale to represent 12 more letters (bfghjkmpvwxy, in some order). F would have those same letters arranged differently (no musician will want to endlessly bounce between two keys). Q, Z, and digits would be available in the D scale. Going a major third up from a scale (to the scales of E, F#, A, or B) would be equivalent to the "Shift" key. A minor third (Eb, Ab, Bb) would be "Control". The left hand's range of notes would go from low C to bass G.

The advantage is this would be a true chording keyboard. Some simple shortcuts would be available to cut down on the necessity of switching scales. For example, if in addition to one note you hit the one which is a minor third above it, you get that letter followed by an H. An interval of a major second or major third gets you another letter which is likely to follow the letter for the bottom note. Some ugly augmented fourths could get you Q or Z, as the method above would otherwise leave no way to hit Ctrl-Z.

Punctuation would be intervals in the left hand - for example, a perfect fifth would be a period. Command keys like "Tab", "Enter", and "Page Down" would be chords in the right hand. "Enter" would be a C major chord, while something more obscure like "Print Screen" would be something like an F# augmented 7th. Banging a dischordant cluster of keys would appropriately enough be "Backspace". Hitting the note in the left hand for the scale you are already in would be a space.

If you happen to have a full-size keyboard, or at least one which spans more than these 4 octaves, the extra keys could be assignable like function keys.

The keyboard would communicate with the computer through MIDI, so no extra functionality is needed in the keyboard. The layout itself might be known as the "Entasod" layout, based on the letters for the C major scale.

I think this could really catch on, and perhaps the musician would get new ideas for tunes out of everyday typing. Or maybe he'd do a jazz improvisation while typing an e-mail.