The Pitch

This alternative notation WYSIWP is designed to overcome the challenges of reading traditional sheet music notation by being logical and intuitive.  Currently, the main target audience is adult beginning students of the piano.  In particular, it should be attractive to those who just want to enjoy playing music for themselves, friends, and family.  Those who have higher performance or academic aspirations will eventually need to operate in the mainstream of the music world, and sooner or later will likely need to learn traditional notation.  On the other hand, there are likely a large number of students who just want to enjoy making music, and with the full function WYSIWYP notation there is really no need to learn to read traditional notation.

Whatever the aspirations though, beginning with WYSIWYP may not be a bad option for students who have struggled to learn traditional notation while trying to learn to play the piano at the same time.  WYSIWYP permits the student to spend less time learning and interpreting notation and more time learning playing techniques. Then later, once the student has learned their way around a piano keyboard, there can be more focus on learning the complex traditional notation.  Each of the following topics tell the complete story.


How WYSIWYP addresses the challenges of reading traditional sheet music notation


Goals of the WYSIWYP design


Other Alternative Notations vs WYSIWYP for Beginners


The Great Challenge of Breaking Tradition


Target Audience


Searching for an easier way


The Pitch in summary



And now another pitch, for help:

Research.  With technology and younger generations that are willing to ignore tradition and to experiment, I believe there will be new notations that will gain traction. But without some academic influence, those that do may not be the best for long term success of the students.  The better path would be for academic research to lead the way in finding and developing the best notations and their instructional materials.  This would lead to a more direct route to getting front-line music instructors on board with these innovations and using them to attract and retain students.

There is even some evidence that easier reading of sheet music leads to an accelerated learning experience with adult learners.  And, being able to read and play the music that students really enjoy sooner is a big motivator. Therefore, to accommodate the ability to learn to read music faster, I believe new instructional methods and materials will likely need to be developed. 

Alternative notations in general (there are many besides WYSIWYP) are a goldmine of research opportunities.  Therefore, doing evaluative research on them and perhaps even helping to guide their direction is a way of being in the forefront of a movement that could have a big impact on music instruction.  This movement opens up the world of music to a wider audience with fewer dropouts which then leads to lifelong playing and enjoyment.  And along the way, there are great opportunities for academic papers to be written, conference presentations to be made, books/theses/dissertations to be written, and TED Talks to be given!  (And there already are some of the latter.)

 

The WYSIWYP Project. Cornelis Pot spent a lifetime tirelessly promoting Klavarskribo.  And as a wealthy industrialist, he had the resources to hire staff to create an extensive printed sheet music inventory as well as to develop instructional materials.  He also was able to exert his influence with the press via live demonstrations and concerts.  I’m no Cornelis Pot.  But what I learned from the story of Klavarskribo is that it is actually possible (although not easy) to overcome traditional barriers to get an alternative notation into the mainstream.  But at least now the internet makes the delivery of concepts, training materials, and promotion infinitely easier than in Mr. Pot's day.  The Klavarskribo project demonstrates that there are three essential elements for a new notation to succeed:

 

WYSIWYP is unproven.  Therefore, an initial project goal of WYSIWYP is to conduct evaluations to determine its effectiveness with respect to traditional notation, and perhaps even comparing it to other alternatives.  If the results confirm moving forward with the project, then the next goals are to Implement the following project elements: 


 

What needs to be done next: 

1st  a discussion with me on concepts and ideas.

2nd an evaluation of WYSIWYP vs traditional notation and perhaps even other alternative notations.  For example, informally test it with family or friends who don't already read sheet music.  Then, consider doing a wider, more formal, range of evaluations with adult non-readers or better yet, with students who gave up reading traditional notation and playing music altogether (i.e., the dropouts).

3rd consider working with me to develop a project plan.

4th enlist students to develop the project elements listed above.

 

The development team will need the following skills:


But equally important to these skills is the energy and enthusiasm to promote a new notation that will make it possible for more people to be able to make music... for a lifetime!


If you are in anyway piqued by these ideas, let’s talk.  Send an email to

 contact.wysiwyp@gmail.com