Improved System of Notation or Tone Indication for use in Music Books.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Dec., 1892-Accepted, 17th June, 1893
CUMI LEIN DIDULTIVATION.
Improved System of Notation or Tone Indication for use in
Music Books.
I, CHARLES CLEMENTS KROPP of 260 S. Orange Avenue, Newark, New
Jersey, United States of America, Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object a notation consisting in adding special marks
or signs to the original forins of the usual letters, numerals, notes, et cetera, which
are intended to indicate the seven tones of a diatonic scale, by means of which
(additions) the properties of the melodious and harmonic tones are clearly and
easily comprehensibly indicated to the reader, and form a whole with the original
notes. In order to determine the exact length (duration of tone) of the note, I
employ the rhythmic length of time of the single beat as unit, and this beat unit
as the normal measure for the various durations of sound of the notes.
In Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing, notes are distinguished by tone
types. The rectangle added to the front sign prescribes the horizontal length of
the unit of time. The number 3 placed under the rectangle shows the number of
units and corresponds in this notation to the old indication or signature of 3, 4, 8
and also time.
From the number of notes of equal length which form a bar and from the
individual length of the notes which are not of equal length, the reader can easily
and exactly ascertain the proportionate length of tone, or duration, of each single
note. Thus, in the example shown in Figure 1, the time is composed of three bars
corresponding to the present time for instance. From the length of the various
notes compared with the length of the rectangle showing the time, the reader can
immediately ascertain the duration of sound which the tone in question has to have.
In the example shown in Figure 1, the note before the first bar indicates the
length of one beat. To the first beat it then follows, there are two notes of equal
duration, to the second beat three, and to the third beat four notes; the notes
composing each beat have all an equal duration of time. In the first beat of the
next bar, there are six notes of equal length, whilst in the second beat there are
five notes, the first of which is twice as long in duration of sound as any of the
following notes of such beat; in the third beat of this bar, there are two notes, the
first of which is three times as long, in regard to its duration of sound, as the second
one. The next bar contains in its first beat ten notes of equal length, in its second
beat two notes, the first of which is twice as long in duration as the second, and
in its third beat two notes, the first of which is five times as long in its duration
of sound as the second. In this manner the duration of sound of each note may be
at once seen from its length. This method of musical notation will enable composers
to write in kinds of time which could not hitherto be represented in writing, for
instance,,,,, et cetera, time. In place of the notation illustrated in Figure 1,
any other suitable signs may be employed and the lines necessitated for the method
illustrated in Figure 1 may be entirely omitted. In Figure 2 the notes are
shown as represented by the letters DR M F S LT (do, re, mi, etc.), or with the
Arabic numerals 1-7. In order to be able to ascertain in which octave a certain
note should be played, each of the seven notes of the scale has a particular mark
which clearly distinguishes as to whether the note is played in the octave higher
or lower than itself, not only from the usual middle octave, but also from any
suitable octave chosen and prescribed by the composer as a basis. Whilst the
notes of the basis octave are without other marks or additions, they are distinguished
by a special size, the corresponding notes of the next and the two following higher

page_text: octaves are provided with one or more protuberances or marks on their tops,
whilst the notes of the lower octaves have the corresponding protuberance or mark
underneath them. If therefore a note has two protuberances on its upper side, the
reader knows at first sight that the note in question is to be played two octaves
higher than the same note situated in the octave which has been selected as the
basis. The chromatic ascending or descending proportion of tone to the diatonic
tone is indicated by merely the outline of the note in question being shown, or the
same being shaded. The duration of sound of this note is indicated in exactly
the same manner as in Figure 1, namely, by the length of the note being made of
a size to correspond in proportion with the signature of the time indicated at the
commencement. If, therefore, a note be exactly as long as the signature of the
time indicated at the commencement, the note has a duration of one beat, if, on
the other hand, the note be only half as long as the signature of the time, the note
takes only half the duration of sound in proportion to the first note, et cetera.
Figure 3 shows some bars of music adapted to the violin.
The prolonging of the duration of tone may be indicated by a suitable sign,
such, for instance, as a Z lying on its side N, a rest on the other hand by means of
a Z in its vertical position. The duration of the rests or prolongations is also
immediately seen by the length of the sign in question in comparison with the
signature of the time shown at the commencement. In order to be able to at once
notice any crescendo or diminuendo of each successive note and of the melody, the
notes are not all placed on an equal level, but the notes incline upward when the
note or melody is to be rendered crescendo, and downwards when the note or
melody is to be played diminuendo. This crescendo and diminuendo of the notes
need not of necessity, however, take the same proportion as the interval between
the notes but merely a slight difference in elevation allows it to be clearly
seen whether the succeeding note is higher or lower than the one preceding it.
The signatures, et cetera, or marks determining the execution of the piece are placed
in another separate division under that which contains the notes.
In order to indicate in what key or under what conditions the piece is to be
played, a space divided into three divisions is arranged at the commencement of the
music. In the uppermost division, there is placed, as shown in Figure 3, a large R,
also the rectangle ☐ determining the signature of the time and the Figure 4.
The piece must, therefore, be played in the key of R (re) (D major) or the second
note of the diatonic scale in C major, and the time is composed of four beats. In
the centre division, the time regulated according to the metronome is given, and
the bottom division indicates the special key, string, valve, hole, et cetera, of the
instrument, by means of which the tonic of the octave which is chosen and taken
by the composer as a basis may be played or produced. In this instance, the
signature 2-0 indicates to the violinist that the second string is an open one or
first major note. If it be preferred that the piece shall be played in a higher
scale, the signature must be 3-4, that is to say, third string-fourth major tone-
whilst a suitable signature would raise the bass note and the bass octave a further
semi-tone higher.
Figure 4 shows some bars of music arranged for the pianoforte. It may be here
pointed out that only the topmost note is given in the octave chords, the lower note
is indicated at a little distance from the same by the octave sign. The mark in the
rectangle at the beginning of the bar indicates in this case that the piece must be
played in the key of E sharp major, and the time consists of four beats. The sign
before the row of notes indicates that the bass note, E sharp, of the key to be
played lies three octaves above the lowest E sharp on the key board.
In this manner, in the case of duets, a special central, or basis, octave may be fixed
both for the treble as well as the bass performer, which very much simplifies the
notation. The signatures, et cetera, determining the execution of the piece, are inserted
in the space between the rows of notes for the treble and bass clefs.
It must also be noted that, with this method of notation, the tonic of a chord is
particularly distinguished, so that the formation of each chord may be seen at the
f

page_text: first glance, as well as the tonic of each, the third, the fourth and the fifth,
et cetera, at once in consequence of their position above or below the bass note.
In this manner, all the properties of a given tone are concentrated into single
self-subsistent notes, which indicate-
1. The diatonic and chromatic height or depth of the tone:
2. The position of the various octaves in proportion to the basis octave :
3. The exact duration of sound in each beat:
4. The harmonic character of each note and its position in the chord :
5. The crescendo or diminuendo of the melody by the note being placed higher
or lower as regards position than the preceding note.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The improved system of musical notation or tone indication for use in music
books for directly representing the properties of notes, consisting in the employment
of self-contained independent notes, with or without the aid of lines, dots,
figures, et cetera, and distinguished by the duration of the sound of a note being
indicated by the horizontal length of the note in question in relation to the length
of beat of time selected, whilst the pitch of the tone is determined by the notes of
the basis octave being distinguished by a greater thickness but otherwise without
further indications, whilst the corresponding signs of the higher octaves are provided
at their tops with suitable markings 1-4, which, in a similar manner for the lower
octaves, are applied underneath the tone indications.
2. In the system of musical notation or tone indication described in Claim 1, the
method of indicating chromatically sharpened tones by showing only the outline
(that is, leaving a blank interior) of the note in question, whilst a chromatically
flattened tone is indicated by the shading of the note in question.
3. In the system of musical notation or tone indication described in Claim 1, the
method of indicating the crescendo or diminuendo in the melody by the arrangement
that, in a crescendo tone, the note may be placed at a suitable higher level than the
one preceding it, and in a diminuendo tone the note may, on the contrary, be placed
suitably lower.
4. In the system of musical notation or tone indication described in Claim 1, the
conspicuous indication of the tonic of a chord, by perceptibly reducing the size of
the remaining notes, so that the peculiarity and name of the chord are visible at
the first glance.
5. In the system of musical notation or tone indication described in Claim 1, the
method of indicating the sustaining of a note and rests which may occur during
one or more beats, or parts of a beat, or portions of a part of a beat, by the arrange-
ment that sustained notes and rests take the place of a note for the respective
duration of time of each beat or portion of a beat substantially as described.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1892.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.