Numbered Notes, 6-6 Jazz Font Express Stave, and TwinNote music notation systems
In case you haven’t seen them, check out the following notation systems that have been added to our website in recent months.
Numbered Notes (notes-only and numbers-only versions) by Jason MacCoy
MacCoy’s system is notable for its staff with lines that are a minor third apart. Although this possibility has been discussed, to our knowledge this is the only system that has implemented it. As its name indicates, Numbered Notes emphasizes the use of numbers for identifying pitches. More information on Numbered Notes is also available from the Numbered Notes website.
Express Stave (6-6 jazz font version) by John Keller
This is a version of Keller’s Express Stave that has a 6-6 pitch pattern through a variation in the slant of the noteheads. Half of the noteheads are sharply slanted while the other noteheads lie flat. This 6-6 pattern is “overlayed” over the 7-5 pitch pattern found in the solid and hollow noteheads, making it one of only a few systems that represent both (other examples are Diatonic Twinline by Leo de Vries and perhaps 6-6 Tetragram by Richard Parncutt).
TwinNote is Morris’ version of Twinline by Leo de Vries. It is similar to the versions of Twinline by Reed and Keislar, but uses solid-oval and hollow-triangle notes to highlight the 6-6 pitch pattern and make notes easier to identify. This is also similar to Sotorrio’s Bilinear notation. Using solid-ovals gives quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, (etc…) a more consistent appearance when switching back and forth from traditional notation. More information is also available on the TwinNote Music Notation website
Expanded TwinNote by Paul Morris
Expanded TwinNote is designed as a companion notation for use with TwinNote. They share the same line pattern and solid-or-hollow notehead pattern making it easy to read either system interchangeably. The only differences are TwinNote’s vertically compact staff and use of triangular noteheads.
