Notes on a musical pipe instrument are selected by covering or uncovering combinations of holes. The proposed notation for the notes of a pipe instrument displays the fingerings to be used to play the notes. Each of eight holes is represented in the proposed notation by a vertex. If the numbered hole is to be used in playing a note, then its representative vertex is to be joined by a line to the centre of the diagram for that note. The vertices for the covered holes by the same hand are joined to each other in the diagram for the note, but the vertices for holes played by different hands are not to be joined to each other except incidentally.
In the proposed notation, the vertices for the four holes played by the left hand are at the corners of a square oriented with its edges oblique like a diamond. The following picture diagram illustrates the notation for the left hand:
The vertices for the positions played by the right hand on the pipe are the corners of a square with its edges horizontal and vertical. Holes played by the right hand that are half covered can be indicated by writing a short line perpendicular to the diagonal of the square at the relevant vertex. The following diagram shows the notation for the right hand:
The notation for a single note combines both hands as shown in the following diagram:
The fingerings for a selection of scale notes by this notation are exemplified on a treble stave in the following image:
There should be a ledger line for the note middle C. The diagrams for the notes can be written at least twice as big relative to the stave. It is possible to combine the note head diagrams with stems indicating note durations. A distinction between a filled, as of a crochet, or unfilled, as of a minim, note head could be achieved by a cartouche around the note head. Another way to specify the note durations is by writing a mathematical fraction immediately to the right of the diagrammatic note head. For example, a crotchet would be followed by the fraction 1/4. A dotted minim would be 3/4. Metric durations of tuplets can also be specified by this proposal.
The author of this article is the inventor of this proposed notation, is not reporting on the work of someone else, and has not seen anything like it elsewhere.
Ideas & Observations 