The Dodeka Music Notation is an alternative
music notation
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
or musical notation system invented and designed in 1980s by inventor and musician
Jacques-Daniel Rochat in an attempt to improve upon traditional music notation.
Staff and pitch
Unlike conventional
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
, the Dodeka music notation system uses a
chromatic scale
The chromatic scale (or twelve-tone scale) is a set of twelve pitches (more completely, pitch classes) used in tonal music, with notes separated by the interval of a semitone. Chromatic instruments, such as the piano, are made to produce the ...
of 12 pitches and follows an equal pitch intervals configuration, with 4 lines per octave.
In this configuration, the 12 notes of an octave appear in four positions vis-à-vis the
staff lines, that is, either on, between, above and below the lines.
Each pitch has its own unique place on the staff. And while conventional music notation may alter notes using accidental signs or
key signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at ...
s, notes in the Dodeka notation appear as they are. There are no more key signatures or accidental signs in this musical system.
Note duration
The Dodeka notation system represents note duration in a visual manner. Note lengths are represented through the notes graphical shapes, similar to what can be found in
sequencer
Sequencer may refer to:
Technology
* Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically
* DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...
programmes. The reference time unit or time value being the
quarter note
A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a note (music), musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless ste ...
(or crotchet), all durations are expressed as visual ratios from this reference point.
For example, a
whole note
A whole note (American) or semibreve (British) in musical notation is a single note equivalent to or lasting as long as two half notes or four quarter notes. Description
The whole note or semibreve has a note head in the shape of a hollow ov ...
is the representation of four quarter note lengths. At the opposite, an
eighth note
180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest.
180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together.
An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...
(or quaver) is twice as short as a quarter note.
Octaves and clefs
While traditional music notation represents the whole musical spectrum with different
clef
A clef (from French: 'key') is a Musical notation, musical symbol used to indicate which Musical note, notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff (music), stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to ...
s, such as the treble or bass clefs, in the Dodeka notation the staff configuration is consistent throughout the octaves. This means that each pitch has its own unique position on the staff regardless of the octaves.
For example, a C always keeps its position in every octave.
Relationship with keyboard layout
The Dodeka music notation was developed together with the
Dodeka keyboard
The Dodeka Keyboard design is an isomorphic keyboard invented and designed by Jacques-Daniel Rochat. It is similar to a piano keyboard but with only a single row of keys containing each chromatic note. The keys corresponding to C, E and A flat ar ...
: an alternative keyboard layout that reflects the notation system. With this keyboard, the relationship between the notes on the sheet music and the keys on the keyboard are direct and consistent thanks to colour references.
[{{Cite news, url=https://musically.com/2017/08/15/dodeka-rethinks-keyboard-music-notation/, title=Dodeka rethinks the keyboard… and music notation, last=Dredge, first=Stuart, date=August 15, 2017, work=Music:ally]
References
External links
Dodeka Music Dodeka Music Notation website
Musical notation