Siffernotskrift

Siffernotskrift

Siffernotskrift

Form of numbered musical notation


Siffernotskrift (Swedish: "numerical note writing") or sifferskrift is a form of numbered musical notation in which numerals are given which correspond to musical notes on given instruments. The system was devised and used by Swedish clergyman, psalmist, and music educator Johan Dillner (1785-1862) in the hymnal he wrote 1830 for the psalmodicon - a one-string, bowed string instrument.[1][2]

Psalmodicon with siffernotskrift book
Notation for the psalmodicon from Lindeman's Coral-Melodier for Psalmodicon i siffertoneskrift for the tune «Vor Gud han er saa fast en Borg»

Unlike the Galin-Paris-Chevé system of numbered notation, octave shifts are described using a combination of under/overlining and a shift in the position of numbers. The first phrase of the Vor Gud han er saa fast en Borg would become the following in the Asian GPC notation:

1 | 1 1 | 5 7 | 1 6 ...

References

  1. Nutida musik. Sveriges radio. 1977. p. 33. - Den bygger på samma system som t ex prosten Dillner använde i sin melodipsalmbok för psalmodikon och torde inte vålla några större ...
  2. Sveriges kyrkor, konsthistoriskt inventarium: hft. 1. Kyrkor i Västra Hisings härad (1944; ser. vol. 57). Generalstabens litografiska anstalts. 1944. p. 54. - Johan Dillner (1785 — 1862) var prästman, musiker och författare. Hans främsta insats ligger på kyrkosångens område. Han byggde 1830 ett lätthanterligt stränginstrument, psalmodikon, och utarbetade en enkel siffernotskrift.

Further reading


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Siffernotskrift, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.