Rousseau Melody Notation


Rousseau numbered musical notation is now possible on an iPhone/iPad or Mac. This universal App has a seven-note keypad that produces ordinary or numbered notation on the screen to the sound of an Italian harpsichord. Buttons allow for playback, key and octave change, accidentals, and formatting. Melodies are saved and opened with the iReal b App or exported to other music programs using ABC, Midi or MusicXML formats.

Title page Make no mistake about it. Geneva-born philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a master musician and composer. Many people ignore or haven't read his first published work entitled Dissertation sur la Musique Moderne in which he thoroughly explains numbered musical notation. This book was printed in Paris in 1743 and expands on material from his previous Projet Concernant de Nouveaux Signes pour la Musique presented to the French Royal Academy of Sciences a year earlier. The Academy wrongly considered the work unoriginal, yet commended the young Rousseau for his effort and excellent presentation. There is no doubt that inventing and using numbered notation played an important role in his own musical education. Rousseau's progression from amateur to professional musician is very well documented and we are fortunate that he was extremely qualified to share his knowledge.

The Rousseau Music App is based on the Dissertation sur la Musique Moderne. The symbols, special usage of numbers for the notes of the scale and ideas on rhythm were all programmed directly from the original text (but without the prose). The result is an iOS device and Mac based sketch pad for musical ideas and for exploring music theory anywhere you please. Rousseau numbered musical notation allows non-musicians and musicians of all levels to benefit from modern technology in a fun and easy way.

To get an idea of how numbered musical notation works, take the example of this 18th century popular song. On the left is Rousseau's hand-written version of Lisette Quitté La Plaine. In the middle screen-shot the notes have been entered. And on the right, the song is shown in ordinary musical notation (by using the bottom right button in the App).

   
Manuscript from the Geneva Public Library.    





    
Numbers for Notes

The keypad on the screen (or keyboard of the computer) is used to enter the numbers 1 through 7 that represent the notes of the diatonic scale. Depending on the key you are in, a number can have a different pitch. The numbers stay the same from octave to octave and from key to key. For example, in the key of C the notes of the diatonic scale are:
and in the key of G they are  

The first musical example (in the key of G) from Rousseau's Dissertation sur la Musique Moderne shows how to move from one octave to the other.

The melody starts with the numbers 1 7̣ 1̇ 2  which correspond to the notes Sol, Fa dièse, Sol, La. In anglo-saxon notation the notes would be G, F#, G, A. (These first four notes also happen to represent Rousseau's year of birth.) Notice the dot below the 7 that tells us to move to the octave below. The following dot above the 1 tells us to return back up to the octave where we were.


Position for Rhythm

As we have just seen, in numerical notation the information for pitch is contained in the numbers themselves. In ordinary notation this information is indicated by the position of the note on the staff. A similar opposition exists for rhythm! In Rousseau's notation, rhythm is determined by position whereas in ordinary musical notation the notes themselves contain the timing information. When writing music with numbers, it is through positioning (using spaces, the comma and dots) that rhythmic value is given to the numbers in each measure. This is perhaps best understood by comparing a few incipits showing "number-view" with "note-view" mode directly beneath it. (Clicking on a staff will also open the musical example in the iReal b App if installed.)

G   63̇3   7̣66   366   76⋅  
 Eb   1, 1̇   7̣ 56, 7 1̇   1̣, 6   5  
C   1, 27̣   1̇2, 7̣   6663̇   0  
 C   6⋅7, 1̇⋅3   2 6̣ , 6⋅6̇   6⋅6, 5⋅3   3,⋅6  
C   656 , 56⋅   ⋅6 , 56⋅   ↑1  656 , 56⋅   ⋅6 , 56⋅  
  



Rousseau MusicPad Control

Moving the song cursor
    •  tap the left and right edges of the screen for playback
    •  a single tap near the center of the screen moves the cursor left or right
    •  swipe left ← goes to the previous measure
    •  swipe right → goes to the next measure
    •  swipe up ↑ goes to the beginning of the song
    •  swipe down ↓ goes to the end of the song
    •  pinch ↔ resizes the text

Main options
     ?   help screen
     ♪   switches between text and note-view mode
    X   erases and restores the melody
     exports the melody to the iReal b app, MusicXML or ABC

Music editing buttons
    1)  change key signature or modulate (root note = 1)
    2)  dot next to a note makes it longer, button to add a sharp (/)
    3)  space after a note makes it longer, button to add a flat ()
    4)  dot above = octave up, dot below = octave down
    5)  comma separates a measure in two, zero = rest
    6)  bar line
    7)  backspace

System requirements:  iPad/iPhone/iPod touch iOS 4.3 or later or Mac OSX 10.6 or later

© 2011-2013  Norman Schmidt  www.normanschmidt.net