Both of our girls play instruments in the orchestra and band. We introduced them to musical instruments around three years ago and they have taken it upon themselves to practice every day and strive to achieve the various honor levels awarded by the school. We beam with pride every time we attend a concert or recital and hope they continue developing their skills.

This past fall we had tons of fun playing with Compose Yourself by ThinkFun, a new tool to help young composers create their first works. Using an app and a stack of transparent cards, they could arrange their own composition and hear it played back immediately by an orchestra or a solo marimba. Our youngest grabbed the newly created piece and immediately began playing it on her violin. There have been many others made in the past few months.

We found a 70's-era game designed to help you compose music! Melody Dicer is a recreation of a game that's been around since the late 1700's! - SahmReviews.com

As it turns out, Compose Yourself wasn’t the first attempt at turning music composition into a game. We recently happened across a copy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Melody Dicer, an original dice game from 1976. Very little information about Carousel Publishing exists, but they did create at least one other version entitled “Scott Joplin Melody Dicer” in 1974.

We found a 70's-era game designed to help you compose music! Melody Dicer is a recreation of a game that's been around since the late 1700's! - SahmReviews.com

Both games appear to have a similar mechanic. In our Mozart version you roll two dice and look up the results on an included table.

We found a 70's-era game designed to help you compose music! Melody Dicer is a recreation of a game that's been around since the late 1700's! - SahmReviews.com

The result will correspond to a measure from Mozart’s Musikalisches Würfelspiel (Musical Dice Game), published in 1792. The player is then intended to copy the notes onto their own piece of blank sheet music, taking turns until every person has completed their composition.

We found a 70's-era game designed to help you compose music! Melody Dicer is a recreation of a game that's been around since the late 1700's! - SahmReviews.com

Then off to the piano to actually play each piece, and all players vote on which one they like the best. That person is declared the winner!

This piano version, even though issued once in 1973 and again in 1976, is relatively difficult to find. The Scott Joplin version, which correctly has players creating their own ragtime music and can be played on a number of instruments, seems to be a bit more common. It is unknown if Carousel Publishing issued any other variations of Melody Dicer – if you know of any, we’d sure like to hear about them!

If you’re interested in finding a copy for yourself, eBay is probably your best bet. Right now there is a copy of Scott Joplin Melody Dicer for around $6 and a 1st Edition of the Mozart version for $15. And of course, always keep your eyes open at your local thrift shops!

11 thoughts on “Thrift Treasure: Melody Dicer

  1. What an interesting way to learn how to compose your own music and learn how to write it down correctly. I never really learned to play any musical instruments except MAYBE the recorder which my parents were very happy when I stopped!! I also tried the guitar—-oh well. This would be perfect for anyone attempting to learn how to compose their own music!!

  2. So interesting. I love finding neat old games like that on Ebay and in Thrift Stores, they give a great new variety to game night.

  3. I will pass on this game, but I know two musical kiddos that will enjoy playing it. That would be my teenage son and daughter.

  4. That is so interesting! My son takes music lessons so I am going to show this to him. Playing games instead of watching TV would always be the desired direction in this dad’s opinion!

  5. What an interesting find! Turning something — anything, really — into a game is a surefire way to make learning it easier, and learning music composition can be beneficial in so many different ways. I can definitely see my husband being into this, given the fact that he’s a professional musician and music teacher.

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