3 ms·

I've wondered the same thing. Guitar tablature is a more intuitive notation for me to understand than piano, by far, so I wonder if there is an alternative for

by xtagon 7y ago

I've wondered the same thing. Guitar tablature is a more intuitive notation for me to understand than piano, by far, so I wonder if there is an alternative for piano that feels as simple. There are some[0], but not quite as radical as I would expect, they still seem to use the same basic look and feel. [0] http://musicnotation.org/systems/ http://musicnotation.org/systems/

0815test 7y ago
Guitar tablature is not a notation for music though, it's a notation for how-to-play-something-on-the-guitar. And yes, that's a very relevant distinction here - when it comes to music, there's nothing more intuitive than the well-established notations that we already have (with a few very limited caveats, of course). And I'm not just talking about Western notation, either - the number-based notation that's in widespread use in East Asia is also highly intuitive and perhaps more so.
- baddox 7y ago
  And that distinction really only exists for instruments like the guitar that can play the same note on multiple strings. Piano music on staves is already very similar to a piano roll, at least on the y axis. You still have to learn the notation for different durations (the x axis), but there's not much mystery over how to physically play the notation on a piano, other than some potential for tricky fingerings. There is also fairly standard staff notation for fingerings, both for piano music and classical guitar music (in my experience, it's much more important for the latter).
- caillancm 7y ago
  >And I'm not just talking about Western notation, either - the number-based notation that's in widespread use in East Asia is also highly intuitive and perhaps more so. Do you have any more information about this? Fpr example, scores of Chinese music using the Indian/Arabic number system? I know that number notation is used as a mataphor for gamelan music—by westerers, which has caught on natively (although which might be frowned upon) for archival purposes, at least. The number metaphor for tones clashes with the number metapor for the counting of beats, which is ubiquitous in Western music. But perhaps there are different metaphores in East-Asian music.
Yetanfou 7y ago
There is Klavarskribo [1], more or less the keyboard-equivalent of Tabulature for stringed instruments. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo
- xtagon 7y ago
  I like this! It's sort of like the piano rolls you see in DAW sequencers.
  - zserge 7y ago
    I've made a toy page for it - https://naivesound.com/klavar/ https://naivesound.com/klavar/ Click on the columns to put a note, add more height if needed, edit the title, then print it to PDF. I often use it to write down simple melodies when playing the piano. Also, there are two blank PDF templates - https://github.com/naivesound/naivesound.github.io/tree/master/klavar https://github.com/naivesound/naivesound.github.io/tree/mast...

by xtagon 7y ago

0815test 7y ago

Guitar tablature is not a notation for music though, it's a notation for how-to-play-something-on-the-guitar. And yes, that's a very relevant distinction here - when it comes to music, there's nothing more intuitive than the well-established notations that we already have (with a few very limited caveats, of course). And I'm not just talking about Western notation, either - the number-based notation that's in widespread use in East Asia is also highly intuitive and perhaps more so.

baddox 7y ago
And that distinction really only exists for instruments like the guitar that can play the same note on multiple strings. Piano music on staves is already very similar to a piano roll, at least on the y axis. You still have to learn the notation for different durations (the x axis), but there's not much mystery over how to physically play the notation on a piano, other than some potential for tricky fingerings. There is also fairly standard staff notation for fingerings, both for piano music and classical guitar music (in my experience, it's much more important for the latter).
caillancm 7y ago
>And I'm not just talking about Western notation, either - the number-based notation that's in widespread use in East Asia is also highly intuitive and perhaps more so. Do you have any more information about this? Fpr example, scores of Chinese music using the Indian/Arabic number system? I know that number notation is used as a mataphor for gamelan music—by westerers, which has caught on natively (although which might be frowned upon) for archival purposes, at least. The number metaphor for tones clashes with the number metapor for the counting of beats, which is ubiquitous in Western music. But perhaps there are different metaphores in East-Asian music.

Yetanfou 7y ago

There is Klavarskribo [1], more or less the keyboard-equivalent of Tabulature for stringed instruments. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo

xtagon 7y ago
I like this! It's sort of like the piano rolls you see in DAW sequencers.
- zserge 7y ago
  I've made a toy page for it - https://naivesound.com/klavar/ https://naivesound.com/klavar/ Click on the columns to put a note, add more height if needed, edit the title, then print it to PDF. I often use it to write down simple melodies when playing the piano. Also, there are two blank PDF templates - https://github.com/naivesound/naivesound.github.io/tree/master/klavar https://github.com/naivesound/naivesound.github.io/tree/mast...