fixed do or moveable do

[Deleted member 48]

I like the fact the Gallica website in France has scanned the original 1677 document by Jean-Jacques Souhaitty (* ca. 1632; † ca. 1697) , perhaps one of the greatest music educators of all times.
He was one of the first to use the 1 - 7 numbered music notation.

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9673589m/f13.image.texteImage

Nouveaux élémens de chant ou lessay dune nouvelle découverte quon a faite dans lart de chanter. Laquelle débarasse entièrement le plein chant de la musique de clefs ; de notes ; de muances ; de guidons ou renvois, de lignes et despaces, de b.mol, b.quarre, nature etc. en rend la pratique très-simple, très-naturelle et très-facile à retenir sans y altérer rien dans la substance : et fournit de plus, une tablature générale, aisée, et invariable, pour tous les instrumens de musique, edition Pierre Le Petit, 1677.

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/gr...92630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026286

Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the Souhaitty notation system, with moveable do.
http://normanschmidt.net/rousseau/

Great to be able to read this Souhaitty document online.

 

[Glenn]

Very interesting piece of history and a nice resource. Certainly more compact for simple melodic lines than current traditional notation.
A number system would however be a visual disaster for instruments playing chords and harmony. Just imagine a Chopin prelude rendered in this scheme[emoji15]

 

[Deleted member 48]

For the bass chords I use something very similar to the Roman numeral analysis:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeral_analysis

Used by many musicians today, it is related to numbered music notation. Basically it is the same idea of representing relative notes and intervals.
The melody line notated with 1-7, the bass line with I-VII, makes it clear and simple.

Numbered music notation for melody and bass is good for writing out accordion tunes and sheet music. Often diatonic tunes with accidentals.