The Distance

Original Musicards™ card game by Joseph E. Reed © 2018

For more, go to: www.PlayMusicards.com

 

The Musical Alphabet is only 7 letters: A-B-C-D-E-F-G. Then it starts over again.

 

THE CARDS: You may use all 54 cards of the Musicards™ deck, including the four "?"s and two "Chromatic Scale" cards which function as wilds. The octave, color, and suit do not matter.

SET UP: (For 2-5 players)

1. Deal out 7 cards to each player. Players may look at their cards.

 

2. Place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table as the stock.

 

3. Flip the top card of the stock over to start the discard pile beside the stock.

-If the card you flipped over to start the discard pile is a wild (“Chromatic Scale” or “?”), the first player may choose any card to play on top of it.

-If the flipped card has two letters on it, (for example “G#/Ab), the first player can choose which of the two letters it is and play up from that.

 

OBJECTIVE: The first player to run out of all their cards WINS!

 

PLAY:

1. Play proceeds clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

 

2. On each turn, you are to put the next letter up above the last card played onto the discard pile.

 

3. You may choose to put down more than one card, but they must be the same letter (and have the same number on the cards).

-Example: If you’re going up by Seconds* and the last card played is an “F” (an F or F#), the next player must play a “G”. It may be a Gb, G, or G# (but not a mixture of these).

 

4. A wild card ("?"s and "Chromatic Scale"s) can always be used as a substitute for a needed card.  Wilds may be played as part of a group of cards, too.

 

5. When playing your card or cards, you must ALWAYS say the letter you are playing.  If you put down the wrong card OR say the wrong letter, you must take your card(s) back into your hand AND draw two (2) penalty cards from the stock.

 

6. When you get down to the last card in your hand, you must say, "Musicards™!" to let others know you have one card.  If another player says "Musicards™" before you, you must draw two (2) penalty cards from the stock! (But you don't have to take back the card you played.)

 

PASSING:

1. If you don't have the card you need, you must draw from the stock. If that card works, you may play it.  You must draw at least 3 cards in order to be allowed to pass. If you pass, the next player puts down the letter you were supposed to play, (unless they need to draw, etc).
 

2. If the stock runs out, shuffle and turn over the discard pile (except for the top card) and use it as the stock.

 

*At the beginning of each game, decide which interval you will be going by. For this game your choices are Seconds, Thirds, Fourths, Fifths, Sixths, or Sevenths. When figuring out the interval, you must count the letter you start on, the letter you end on, and the letters in between.

Example 1: From any F to any G is a Second. F-G. (1-2)

Example 2: From any F to any A is a Third. F-G-A. (1-2-3)

Example 3: From any A up to any D is a Fourth. A-B-C-D. (1-2-3-4)