Hacker News Reader

I think back when music notation was being actively iterated on, you had to convey all the information possible, because it’s not like you could share a recording. Things like guitar tabs - which typically erase timing information - only work because who ever reading them has already heard the song and know what it’s meant to sound like

View on HN

Aren't guitar tabs typically combined with abbreviated notation to show the rhythm? No lettering of notes, but just an "X" associated with half-notes, quarter notes, etc?

Sometimes. Guitar Pro had a text format that could output them - but it's not frequently used. Bar lines are encoded pretty reliably, which is at least some timing information

Not really that I’ve seen, they are basically written in plain text and you are at the mercy of the tab writer. You really got to have a recording available to go along with the tab since theres no rhythm information at all usually.

There's always been a tendency towards shorthand-- medieval manuscripts elided certain parts of the harmony/accompaniment because it's just known to be there by the musicians of the day. Same for jazz lead sheets-- they give you the melody and a general sense of the harmony, with the understanding that specific voicings and reharmonizations will be left to the discretion of the performer in the moment.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com