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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Parsons code, formally named the Parsons Code for Melodic Contours, is a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through melodic motion—the motion of the pitch up and down. Denys Parsons developed this system for his 1975 book, The Directory of Tunes and Musical Themes. Representing a melody in this manner makes it easy to index or search for particular pieces.

Contents 1 The code 1.1 Some examples 2 References 3 External links

[edit] The code

The first note of a melody is denoted with an asterisk (*), although some Parsons code users omit the first note. All succeeding notes are denoted with one of three letters to indicate the relationship of its pitch to the previous note:

• u = "up," if the note is higher than the previous note
• d = "down," if the note is lower than the previous note
• r = "repeat," if the note is the same pitch as the previous note
• * = first tone as reference

[edit] Some examples

• "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star": *rururddrdrdrd
• "Silent Night": *udduuddurdurdurudddudduruddduddurudduuddduddd
• "Love Me Tender": *uduududdduu
• "White Christmas": *udduuuu
• First verse in Madonna's "Like a Virgin": *rrurddrdrrurdudurrrrddrduuddrdu
• First verse in "We Are the World": *rduduururdrddrududuu
• Verse in theme for "Att angöra en brygga": *uuudddduddududduddudduuuuuuuddddddududdu
• First verse in Shakespears Sisters "Stay": *dduuuuuuuddddu

[edit] References

• "The Parsons Code for Melodic Contours". Musipedia. http://www.musipedia.org/pcnop.0.html. 
• Parsons, Denys (1975). The Directory of Tunes and Musical Themes. S. Brown. ISBN 0-904-74700-X. 

[edit] External links

• "The Open Music Encyclopedia" uses Parsons code for encoding songs in their database
• The search for a notation index