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Braunstein’s notation system was directly inspired by Johannes Beyreuther’s two systems. It is suitable for use as a general purpose notation, but he designed it with Chromatic Lyres in mind. Chromatic lyres are isomorphic instruments with two rows of strings tuned in a 6-6 pitch pattern of two interlocking whole tone scales. One row of strings is played by the right hand and the other by the left hand.
The notation system has the same line pattern as Beyreuther’s systems (lines for E and G#/Ab, and a ledger line for C). Like Beyreuther’s systems it also uses hollow and solid notes to emphasize the 6-6 pitch pattern. On a chromatic lyre the solid and hollow notes each correspond to a row of strings and the hand that plays them. Braunstein made the line-notes hollow in order to aid with handwriting. This allows solid notes to be written quickly as small dots, avoiding the risk that they might visually blend into a line (if they had been used for line-notes). It also helps differentiate hollow notes on lines from those in spaces since you can see the line through them.
Braunstein’s system uses a traditional alto clef to indicate the position of middle C. It incorporates 8va, 8vb, 15va, or 15vb symbols into the clef to indicate the staff has a higher or lower pitch range. Rhythmic notation is the same as traditional notation with the following exceptions. Half notes (minims) have no stem, in order to distinguish them from quarter notes (crotchets). Whole notes (semibreves) have a single vertical line on either side of the notehead. Double whole notes (breves) have a double vertical line on either side of the notehead. Rests also follow this same symbolic convention. These are illustrated on the notation’s website.
Earliest documentation: 2009
Website: http://www.delos.cz/en/Chromatic_Notation.html
Source: Jan Braunstein
Similar Notations: Chromatic 6-6 Notation by Johannes Beyreuther
Manuscript paper is available at the Chromatic Lyre Notation website
