notes value when the word notes comes first: bass: notes i---v---. It is drawn on steps, and a step is a sixteenth note, so a bar of 4 over 4 is 16 steps.
Writing notes
A note is a capitalA to G, then an optional # or b, then an optional octave from 0 to 8. A note without a number is in the current octave. Pitches are as they sound, so a guitar’s low E is E2.
A note is one step however many characters it has, so
F--- and F#--- are both quarter notes. Two notes never touch: a -, _, space or | goes between them. A space takes no step, so E---F# E-E-- is ten steps.
In a pattern, the last note rings over the repeat until the first note or _. A value written as the same figure more than once is an error, because the pattern repeats it: C2-C2- is C2-.
Degrees
A degree is a Roman numeral fromi to vii where a note goes, written as a chord’s is, counted on the scale of the key and its mode: in C major iii is E, and in C minor it’s Eb. A b or # in front moves it a semitone off the scale. Degree i is the root in the current octave; ' after the numeral is an octave up for each mark, and ' before it an octave down. A numeral is as long as it reads, so iii is one note, and two numerals in a row take a space: i i.
A name holds degrees, not pitches, so it is read under whichever key and mode play it: the second play is C minor, and the last F# major. Letters and degrees can share a line, as a chart holds I vi|F G. On a kit piece’s line a number is a beat, so kick: 1 3 hits beats 1 and 3 and bass: notes i iii plays two degrees: the line’s name says which.
Counting from a note
of counts a degree from another note instead of from the key: v of C3 is the 5th of C3, which is G3. The degree counts on the major scale of that note, in any key or mode, so biii of C3 is Eb3. On the left of of goes a degree, with ' marks for octaves as usual: v' of C3 is G4. On the right goes a note, or a degree of the key: under set key D, v of ii is the 5th of E, the key’s 2nd. Counting from the key’s own i is the identity, so v of i is just v. ^ or ~ goes in front of the whole note: ^v of C3.
To count from a note that is itself counted with of, put that note in brackets. Here is the circle of fifths, counted up from C3:
This plays C3, G3, D4 and A4. Without the brackets, v of v of C3 is an error. A note counted with of is still one note, so -, _ and lengths work on it the same way.
Lengths
Commas split a line into parts. A length in front of one note holds it for that long, and in front ofrest is silence. The length ... is what is left of the block: ...G1 holds G1 to the end, and ...rest is silence to the end. A line ended in ... has no length of its own, so the other lines decide how long the block is.
A length holds one note: 3 beats C2-E2- is an error, since a figure is drawn on the steps. A long line continues on the next line when that line starts with |, and a length can follow the | as it follows a comma.
Layers
A line plays one note at a time. For notes that sound together, give the instrument a block of layers, one per line. Each layer is its own voice and repeats until they all end together. A layer can be a chart withchords in front, to put chords under a tune.