Lesson 18: "Simplified Notation" (簡譜)

Sometimes, the songs that we have to play are only available in what is called the "simplified notation", or 簡譜 in Chinese. Instead of using the staff and notes described in the first few lessons, it uses numbers to represent the melody and rhythm. 簡譜 is something that both musicians and singers in a worship team should learn to be able to read it instantly (except for those who can learn a song much faster by listening), so that the practising process can be streamlined.

Musical Notes & Accidentals

The numbers that you will see in 簡譜 are 1 to 7, each number represents a musical note in the major scale:

• 1 = do
• 2 = re
• 3 = mi
• 4 = fa
• 5 = so
• 6 = la
• 7 = ti

The use of accidentals (sharps, flats, and naturals) in 簡譜 is exactly the same as that in standard notation. If you want to raise a note by a semitone, you write the "#" in front of the note, e.g. #4 means the note "fa" is being raised a semitone.

If a note is in a higher octave, it will have a dot above it. On the other hand, if a note is in a lower octave, it will have a dot below it.

Note Duration & Rests

• Quarter notes (or 1 beat) in simplified notation are represented by an unmodified number.
• Longer notes in whole beats are represented by the addition of hyphens following the number. E.g.
  5 - 6 - means the notes so and la are both 2 beats, and
  7 - - 6 means ti is 3 beats and la is 1 beat.
• Longer notes of other durations can be written as two notes joined together by a tie, just like in standard notation.
• Eighth notes (half beats) are written with one line underneath. E.g.
  1 2 3 2 1 1 : the first two beats consist of eighth notes, and the 3rd and 4th beats are quarter notes.
• Sixteenth notes are written with two lines underneath. Basically, the lines underneath the notes are equivalent to the flags on the 8th and 16th notes in standard notation.
• The concept of dotted notes in standard notation applies in simplified notation as well, except for the half note, since a dotted half note = 3 beats, has to be represented by hyphens in simplified notation.
• Rests are written as "0" in simplified notation. Each unmodified "0" represents a quarter rest. E.g.
  1 0 0 0 means the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beats have no sound.
  1 - 0 0 means the 3rd and 4th beats have no sound.
  Extended rests must be represented by writing multiple "0"s instead of writing hyphens after the first "0". So, the first example above cannot be written as 1 0 - -
• 8th rests and 16th rests are written as "0" with the corresponding number of lines underneath it.

Key Signature & Time Signature, etc.

• Since there is no staff in simplified notation, the key signature (調號) in standard notation cannot be written out. Therefore, the key of the song is usually declared at the beginning. E.g. "Key: C" means the song is in C major. "D#m" means the song is in D# minor. (The part "Key:" is sometimes omitted)
• The time signature (拍號) of the song typically comes immediately after the key at the beginning of the song, and is written in the form of a fraction. E.g. "4/4" or "3/4".
• Bar lines, double bar line (at the end of a song), and repeat sign are used in the same way as standard notation in simplified notation.

Simplified Notation: Real Life Example

It is the responsibility of the musicians and vocalists in a worship team to learn how to read the simplified notation, because the leaders and vocalists may not all know how to read music (although I still think that everybody in the team should learn how to read music, for their own sake). As a pianist, it is important to be able to play the melody smoothly from any kind of score you are provided, be it in standard notation or simplified notation. In fact, any pianist should slowly become able to play by ear, i.e. be able to play the melody on the piano after hearing it several times.