Notes on melody notation
For the Ranch Songbooks, Sarlo Sarlo and Para use this special notation.
- Conventions for melody notation are as follows
Basically, the letters a to g have been used for the notes, one for each syllable of the words, separated by spaces.
Sharps and flats (# and b) have been kept to a minimum by transposing the songs to simple keys, so notes are relative, not absolute.
When they are for songs i have done chords for, they will be aligned with those chords.
In addition:
- Where more than one note is to be sung with a given syllable, its notes will be run together without spaces.
- To eliminate ambiguity regarding octaves, a + or - is used to indicate jumps of six or more semitones. The absence of these indications will mean the nearest note up or down (five or fewer semitones) will be the one.
- Previously a system had been described in an attempt to reckon with timing and length of notes. As this came to be seen as unwieldy and difficult, it has been dropped in favour of this simpler presentation. FWIW, timing flows fairly naturally in most songs, making precise indications mostly unnecessary.
