Proposed FAQ: Notation

Q: How can I notate alternative tunings?

A: There is no general, uniform standard for notation of notes or intervals
beyond the traditional chromatic scale. A good notation for composers or
theorists may not be so good for performers, and vice versa.

Meantone and Pythagorean tunings may be notated entirely with standard
notation. Historically, sharps and their corresponding flats were not
considered to represent the same pitch. In meantone, for instance, A# would
have been pitched lower than Bb, while the opposite is true in Pythagorean
tuning.

Quartertones, or intervals about half the size of a sharp or flat, may be
represented by accidentals in front of the note. Typical names for these
accidentals are "semisharp" for half a sharp, "sesquisharp" for one and a
half sharps, "semiflat", and "sesquiflat". One common symbol for a
semisharp looks like half a sharp sign. Different symbols for semiflats are
in use by different composers. One system of notation that incorporates
these symbols is the notation for 31-TET (31 equally spaced notes per
octave) devised by Adriaan Fokker.

(http://www.bikexprt.com/music/notation.htm)

Smaller intervals may be represented by various arrow-like symbols or
numbers above the note specifying deviations in cents (1/100ths of a
semitone) from the standard 12-note equally-tempered pitch. Ezra Sims has
devised a notation for 72-TET (72 equally spaced notes per octave), which
coincidentally provides a good approximation to 11-limit Just Intonation
and is consistent as far as the 17-limit. (See "limit", "consistency".)

(Include link to Ezra Sims' notation here.)

In his "Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media", Easley
Blackwood devised systems of notation for each of the equal scales from 13
to 24 notes per octave. In addition to the standard accidentals (including
double sharps and double flats), Blackwood included single and double
circled arrows in both directions, to notate the pitches "in between" the
ones reached by standard notation.

(Any online illustrations of Blackwood's notation?)

For keyboard instruments, notating the actual keys to be played by the
performer, as if the keyboard instrument were tuned the standard way, is an
alternative that might be more practical for the performer than other
systems.

(Feel free to suggest more alternative notation systems. These are the
first ones that came to mind, but I'm sure there are others that are just
as good.)

--
see my music page ---> ---<http://www.io.com/~hmiller/music/index.html>--
hmiller (Herman Miller) "If all Printers were determin'd not to print any
@io.com email password: thing till they were sure it would offend no body,
\ "Subject: teamouse" / there would be very little printed." -Ben Franklin

--- In tuning@y..., Herman Miller <hmiller@I...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_19423.html#19423

> Q: How can I notate alternative tunings?
>
> A: There is no general, uniform standard for notation of notes or
intervals beyond the traditional chromatic scale. A good notation for
composers or theorists may not be so good for performers, and vice
versa.
>
> Meantone and Pythagorean tunings may be notated entirely with
standard notation. Historically, sharps and their corresponding flats
were not considered to represent the same pitch.

And the rest...

Hello Herman...

This sure looks like an excellent start to me. I wish they had
taught EVEN AS MUCH AS THE ABOVE in the conservatory....!! Amazing.
________ _______ ______ _
Joseph Pehrson