How to evaluate the possibilities of Pentagram notation reform
A. The development of Pentagram notation has already reached its acme. Today, on
account of historical evolution, its technique has difficulty keeping up with the demands
of musical development.
The reform is an inevitable consequence of this.
A. The Pentagram notation has been in use for more than five centuries. By now it has
been developed to the point of having become a worldwide musical ideography. In the
face of such a vast range of usage and such longstanding customary application, it is
necessary first of all to ponder the possibilities of accomplishing a reform.
The proposal of Hexagram notation is based upon ample research, with full respect for
the above-mentioned considerations; it inherits and preserves the theoretical and artistic
achievements of Pentagram notation and its customary application. It adopts a
methodology that modifies the formal and mathematical logic, but does not change the
way of reading and writing the notes. Having thus found a keystone — a logical formula
and a unified rule that is simple, versatile, and multifunctional — it does not involve
beginning again from zero, but concerns instead only a conceptual conquest and a process
of transformation.
Once musicians have understood the basic concepts of the Hexagram system, they can
all master it immediately and be ready to soar again in flight from the ground of
Pentagram theory.
B. The reform of Pentagram notation inevitably influences the categories of musical
theory, performance, education, and publishing. All illustrious musicians and famous
works are inseparable from the Pentagram. This is a social reality that the reform must
confront.
Hexagram notation is a natural and rational evolution of Pentagram notation, all the
achievements of the Pentagram category can be expressed in a way that is more correct,
simpler, and more efficacious. The "Great staff" of 13 lines of the Hexagram comprises
the "Great staff" of 11 lines of the Pentagram, it is also a combination of and a reciprocal
complement to the system of reading the notes on the three lower lines of the "Treble
staff" and the three upper lines of the "Bass staff". Thus the relations and reciprocal
transformations between the two systems turn out to be very natural and harmonious, they
can for a certain period be used together without any problem, and the transition from one
system to the other can be accomplished gradually.
Only by means of actual application and comparison can the possibilities of reform be
realized.
C. The artistic form of Pentagram notation has by now entered our hearts. It is perfect and
harmonious and represents a gem produced by musical culture. This is an aspect that the
reform must respect and defend.
Hexagram notation preserves and fully develops the artistic form of Pentagram
notation. It cannot induce in musicians any sensation of extraneousness or any attitude of
contrast. The reform does not violate the intellectual and emotional habits of anyone. It is,
on the contrary, an innovation that can be easily adopted.