Re: simplifying chromatic scale notation

[Paul Morris]

> On Jan 25, 2016, at 4:38 PM, Simon Albrecht <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> Reminds me of Clairnote, a more radical approach, which has also been 
> realised with LilyPond: <http://clairnote.org/>.

Thanks Simon, I guess that’s my cue?  :-)  For anyone interested, check out the 
attached pdf.  

In short... in Clairnote the staff positions represent the notes of the 
chromatic scale.  There are three space notes / positions between adjacent 
lines.  (Adjacent lines are always 4 semitones / a major 3rd apart.)  Hollow 
and solid notes help convey pitch and interval relationships.  Half notes get a 
double stem to distinguish them from quarter notes.  No need to memorize key 
signatures.  Intervals are easy to see.  Notes an octave apart look similar 
because the staff repeats with every octave, so no different clefs to learn.  
Etc…. 

Oh and if anyone is curious about the (alternative) accidental signs, they are 
documented here: http://clairnote.org/accidental-signs/

If nothing else it’s a testament to LilyPond’s extensibility and just how far 
you can go with some Scheme!

Also, Clairnote is just one variation on this theme.  You can see a lot of 
similar systems on the Music Notation Project’s site.  Some are much less of a 
radical departure.
http://musicnotation.org/systems/gallery/

Cheers,
-Paul

Liszt-mephisto-waltz-excerpt.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document