Parsons code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:40, 22 March 2017

Revision as of 13:48, 15 September 2017

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The '''Parsons code''', formally named the '''Parsons code for melodic contours''', is a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through [[melodic motion]]—the motion— movements of the [[pitch (music)|pitch]] up and down. [[Denys Parsons]] developed this system for his 1975 book ''[[The Directory of Tunes and Musical Themes]]''. Representing a melody in this manner makes it easyeasier to index or search for particular pieces, particularly when the notes values are unknown.

The book was also published in Germany in 2002 and reprinted by [[Piatkus]] as ''[[The Directory of Classical Themes]]'' in 2008.

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The first note of a melody is denoted with an [[asterisk]] (*), although some Parsons code users omit the first note. All succeeding notes are denoted with one of three letters to indicate the relationship of its pitch to the previous note:

*<nowiki>*</nowiki> = first tone as reference,

*u = "up", iffor when the note is higher than the previous note,

*d = "down", iffor when the note is lower than the previous note,

*r = "repeat", iffor when the note has the same pitch as the previous note.

=== Some examples ===

{{Listen|filename = Twinkle Twinkle Little Star plain.ogg|title = Twinkle Twinkle Little Star|description = Tune for ''Twinkle Twinkle Little Star''}}

*"[[Twinkle Twinkle Little Star]]": *{{Not a typo|rururddrdrdrd urdrdrdurdrdrd drururddrdrdrd}}

*"[[Silent Night (song)|Silent Night]]": *{{Not a typo|udduuddurdurdurudddudduruddduddurudduuddduddd}}