Period tablature: note duration symbols need to encompass voice 2 as well
I'm not sure, if the following is possible, but I'm sure, that it should be.
Tablature in fact is a notation system that only gives the starting of notes and the position on the fret board and the course. The duration of notes is not given exactly and lies completely in the hand of the player. The "length" of notes up to the next note is given with the flags (note values). The letters (or numbers) give the position on the fret board.
If I add a linked staff in normal notation the concept can be seen immediately.
Now it would be possible to change notes to different voices (here we have 2 voices, but sometimes in Renaissance literature we have up to 4 voices, maybe even more). With two voices it's very easy and it gives the music more clearly. Another advantage is, that it is very easy to add slurs f.i.
But one can see the problem, if one compares the two lines of note values.
It would be good, if there would be an automatic way to excerpt the tablature note durations from the complete given musical text, with other words from all voices.
Or - the other possibility, which could eventually be easier to establish, to be able to change the note values above manually (which is not at all possible now, as it is made automatically from voice 1).
For guitar (and maybe also for lute, even if that is not historical) it could also be senseful to have 2 lines of note values (1 below).
Beside the problem with the flags there is another problem that makes things complicated: It is not possible to have 2 voices with one tab sign position - or at least the sign then is coloured red ...
This requested change would help to transcribe tablature music much easier to modern notation. And also the sound is much better, as the notes will sound as they musically should.
BTW - in my short example one can see, that the notation of baroque lute, but also of older lute music is not really satisfactory with one system. Though it is possible to notate it in a G key, one octave lower, it would be better to have one linked system with violin and bass system. The notes in my example are quite low, there are also notes one octave higher and even more.
In the complete edition of the music of Silvius Leopold Weiss they used such a double system that is exactly so narrow, that the ledger line of c1 is in the mid of the two systems, so that it has 5 lines of G key, 1 line in between, which is invisible (only as ledger line, if needed) and 5 lines of F key. Even then the low notes have many ledger lines (that can be seen in my example)
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Test_BaroqueLute.mscz | 23.27 KB |
Comments
Period tablature can be represented with note symbols above the staff representing durations. Currently, however, the symbols only encompass voice 1: e.g.
In the above example, the durations of voice 2 are ignored.
Suggestion: Note duration symbols need to include duration changes in both voices 1 and 2.
Relates to #270551: [EPIC] Tablature issues.
Came up again at https://musescore.org/en/node/315329.