Re: what about simplifying music notation?

[Marc Weber]

> Bernardo Barros
0,1,...,A,B (base 12)

Yes, you're right. Tell me one programmer who can count in Hex by heart. I can
do so on paper. But I can't tell you instantly what B*C gives. (11 * 13 = ..
back to hex? let me use a calculator).

You're right. Base 12 would be fun. But its not tought in school. Thus its
harder to learn. That's why I chose 10.

I have to think about whether 6A 7A being one actove is worth this effort.
This would be a thing which must be tested in real life.

> Mike:
I'm a programmer. I know many languages upside down (unfortunately not lisp)
And I experienced the replies as being full of interest and doubts.
And there doubts are correct. I could not move to the local music orchestra
asking anybody to adopt a foreign system because they all have been trained on
the Do Re Mi .. thing for years. (They call it C D .. but its the same)

There are at least two skill sets: 
  1) make your fingers move what notes say
  2) hear and recognize sound and make your fingers move

By using alternative notations (eg write notes by using intervals: +2 +2 +2 -1 
+7)
and making pupils play it they will get a feeling for intervals faster. Thus
they will listen to the radio and start thinking: +2 -4 +8 .. and you won.
They can use this thinking on and instrument. That's what will make them appear
somewhat smarter than others.

This all only makes sense if I can make a business out of it which means:
- print music yourself
- find teachers
- find stutends
- hope that the students learn faster than using traditional systems.

After 3min practise I can write down numbers myself. That's not the real point 
right now.
Anyway thanks for your contribution :) It has helped someone else.
If I do some real tests I have to hack the core somehow. don't think
it'll be too hard though.

> David Kastrup
I'm lacking knowldege here. All I know is that in simple orchestras are using
electronic tuners here. So they don't care about whether a note is 2 cents
higher or not.

whether you have 100 cents or 128 or whether you say +20,34345 cents is only a
matter of representing a number.

I've never seen pitch annotations such as +10cent on notes. So most music huge
masses plays from paper doesnt care about it. It depends on the musician
playing.

All I wonder is: Is it worth learning that 3rd+ is the same as a 4th etc ?
Its nice to learn about history and what some componists thought about using
which notes which had assigned what char. But is it important to most musicians
today?

In Germany there is even a song such as "C A F F E, drink nicht soviel Kaffee"
which is translated to C A F F E E don't trink so much coffee. and you guess
it: the first tones are C A F F E E.  But those are corner cases.

So in this regard my ideas don't improve anything neither do they anyhting bad.


Thanks for all of your ideas!

Marc Weber