Comment by raverbashing | Hacker News Reader

Comment by raverbashing | Hacker News Reader

Yes, musical notation is hard. But no, this is not an improvement.

While a lot of the problems of it comes from its limitations at the origin (think medieval musicians writing music) it is a very flexible and interesting format

What are the problems I see with it:

- Apart from the center notes, it's hard to know which note is which. I know that the second line from the bottom is a G, beats me what's that thing 3 lines above the regular lines

- It's hard to capture what's happening. Chords on top help

- Having to identify notes in G clef, F clef (and C clef sometimes)

- It's an absolute mess when you have lots of simultaneous notes

I know there are a lot of historical, instrumental or music-theoretical reasons things are like that, but there's room for improvement

I just wouldn't think of twinkle twinkle little star when designing it, I would think of something more complex (and Let It Be, props to him, is not very complex but also not very simple)

(And that's not touching the issues with the piano, that's another load of items)

It's clearly stated that the solution is meant to be like guitar tabs for piano. It's a limited, instrument-centered approach and not intended as a complete or universal solution.

Yes, but since he frames it in the title as a "redesign," it's hard to get out of the frame of thinking about it as such. If he had titled it "A Simpler Notation for Piano Music" or something, his intent would've been clearer.

But then again, probably wouldn't have gotten to the front page without the word "redesign"

Traditional sheet music is already like guitar tabs for piano, because pianos (unlike guitars) only have one physical place where you can play a given note (like middle C). The reason guitar tabs make some sense [0] for guitar music is that "middle C" on a guitar can be played on several different strings.

[0] I say "some sense," because tabs are still fairly limiting, particularly in depicting complex rhythms. Traditional sheet music is still very common (and, I contend, indispensable) for advanced guitar study.

Does it matter on which string the note is played, except to not get yourself into an unplayable position?

Yeah, it's mostly about playability. It's easy to get into a position where you're playing the notes in the current chord correctly, but there's no way to play the melody of shift elegantly to the next chord. Classical guitar sheet music contains a lot of hints for fingering. Fret bar indicators are quite common, and sometimes you'll see complete stacked fingering indicators. Some more difficult pieces will give you almost nothing, and it's up to your experience (and just brute force) to figure out the ideal fingerings.

What baddox says is true, but I have to add that there is a noticeable difference in timbre between the same note played at two different places. So if you find yourself with the choice, you have to use your own judgment to decide which fingering you think sounds better.

> for guitar music is that "middle C" on a guitar can be played on several different strings.

True, and in the Piano you have to care about which finger to play it with (which is a similar problem)

That's true, but I find it's generally a much simpler problem on piano than guitar, and thus sight reading on the piano is much more tenable than on the guitar.

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