Kite's thoughts on hi-lo notation - Revision history

TallKite: clarifications, also added hihi and lolo

2025-11-22T02:01:36Z

clarifications, also added hihi and lolo

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:01, 22 November 2025
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	Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings ~~with~~ much more ~~accuracy~~ than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.		Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings much more accurately than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.

	* C E G = C ~~or C~~ basic		Hi-lo notation identifies every chord member by its interval from the chord root as 3rd, 5th, etc., written as 3, 5, etc. It then describes what needs to be done to the root position close voicing (known as the ''basic'' voicing) in order to change it into the given voicing.
	* C G E = Chi3 (because the 3rd is an ~~8ve higher than in the close voicing~~)
	* G C E = Clo5 (aka 2nd inversion)		* C E G = C (the basic voicing is the default voicing)
			* C G E = Chi3 (hi3 because relative to the basic voicing, the 3rd is raised by an octave)
			* G C E = Clo5 (aka 2nd inversion, the 5th is lowered from basic)
	* E G C = ChiR (R stands for root) aka 1st inversion		* E G C = ChiR (R stands for root) aka 1st inversion
	* E C G = Clo3 (~~also~~ 1st inversion)		* E C G = Clo3 (another example of 1st inversion)
	* G E C = ChiRlo5		* G E C = ChiRlo5

	When there are multiple high or low notes, the terms "hi" and "lo" are only used once:		When there are multiple high or low notes, the terms ''hi'' and ''lo'' are only used once:

	* C G E B = CM7hi37		* C G E B = CM7hi37
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	* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi38 or possibly Glo5add8loR3		* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi38 or possibly Glo5add8loR3
	* A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3add8hi5lo5		* A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3add8hi5lo5
	Use addhi8, not add15. The ~~complete list of large intervals:~~		Use addhi8, not add15. No degrees higher than 13 are used, analogous to chord names. The terms ''hi'' and ''lo'' and degrees R-8 cover voicings up to a 3-octave range, because every note is in either the lo octave, the central octave or the hi octave. Degrees 9-13 go even higher. To extend the range an extra octave both above and below, use hihi and lolo. For example, hihi3 is a note a double-compound 3rd above the root.

	* 8, ~~9 or hi2, 10 or hi3~~, 11 or ~~hi4, 12 or hi5,~~ 13 ~~or hi6, hi7~~
	* hi8, hi9, hi10, hi11, ~~hi12~~, ~~hi13~~

	To find the number of voices in a chord, start with the obvious: a triad has 3, a tetrad has 4, etc. Then subtract the "no" notes and add the "add" notes. For example, A7no5hi3add8 has 4 (tetrad) - 1 (no 5th) + 1 (add 8ve) = 4.		To find the number of voices in a chord, start with the obvious: a triad has 3, a tetrad has 4, etc. Then subtract the "no" notes and add the "add" notes. For example, A7no5hi3add8 has 4 (tetrad) - 1 (no 5th) + 1 (add 8ve) = 4 notes.

	For more examples, see [[Kite Guitar Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning)]].		For more examples, see [[Kite Guitar Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning)]].

	== Notating chord progressions ==		== Notating chord progressions ==
	There are sometimes two possible names for a voicing, depending on what one considers the "home octave" to be. As we saw, C C E G can be either CaddloR or Chi35add8. This ambiguity can be removed by designating one note in a specific octave as "the" tonic, then naming all ~~other notes~~ relative to that tonic. Unlike [[wikipedia:Scientific_pitch_notation\|octave numbers]] which only increase when going from B up to C, the hi-lo categories only change in the region of the tonic. This has the advantage that transposing to a new key won't change the hi-lo categories.		There are sometimes two possible names for a voicing, depending on what one considers the "home octave" to be. As we saw, C C E G can be either CaddloR or Chi35add8. This ambiguity can be removed by designating one note in a specific octave as "the" tonic, then naming all chord roots relative to that tonic as hiC, loF#, loVII, etc. Unlike [[wikipedia:Scientific_pitch_notation\|octave numbers]] which only increase when going from B up to C, the hi-lo categories only change in the region of the tonic. This has the advantage that transposing to a new key won't change the hi-lo categories.
	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
	\|+G major scale in both scientific pitch notation and hi-lo notation		\|+G major scale in both scientific pitch notation and hi-lo notation

TallKite: clarify names of large intervals

2025-11-20T14:05:10Z

clarify names of large intervals

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:05, 20 November 2025
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	* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi38 or possibly Glo5add8loR3		* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi38 or possibly Glo5add8loR3
	* A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3add8hi5lo5		* A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3add8hi5lo5
			Use addhi8, not add15. The complete list of large intervals:

			* 8, 9 or hi2, 10 or hi3, 11 or hi4, 12 or hi5, 13 or hi6, hi7
			* hi8, hi9, hi10, hi11, hi12, hi13

	To find the number of voices in a chord, start with the obvious: a triad has 3, a tetrad has 4, etc. Then subtract the "no" notes and add the "add" notes. For example, A7no5hi3add8 has 4 (tetrad) - 1 (no 5th) + 1 (add 8ve) = 4.		To find the number of voices in a chord, start with the obvious: a triad has 3, a tetrad has 4, etc. Then subtract the "no" notes and add the "add" notes. For example, A7no5hi3add8 has 4 (tetrad) - 1 (no 5th) + 1 (add 8ve) = 4.

TallKite: changed the name of the close root position voicing from "close" to "basic", since there are multiple close voicings

2025-11-19T02:35:06Z

changed the name of the close root position voicing from "close" to "basic", since there are multiple close voicings

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:35, 19 November 2025
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	Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings with much more accuracy than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.		Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings with much more accuracy than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.

	* C E G = C or C ~~close~~		* C E G = C or C basic
	* C G E = Chi3 (because the 3rd is an 8ve higher than in the close voicing)		* C G E = Chi3 (because the 3rd is an 8ve higher than in the close voicing)
	* G C E = Clo5 (aka 2nd inversion)		* G C E = Clo5 (aka 2nd inversion)

TallKite: TallKite moved page Hi-lo notation to Kite's thoughts on hi-lo notation: Editor VectorGraphics has repeatedly edited pages I've written about my own research and inserted misinformation. On discord he is openly hostile to me. This move is necessary to avoid a toxic work environment for me.

2025-08-20T01:45:00Z

TallKite moved page Hi-lo notation to Kite's thoughts on hi-lo notation: Editor VectorGraphics has repeatedly edited pages I've written about my own research and inserted misinformation. On discord he is openly hostile to me. This move is necessary to avoid a toxic work environment for me.

← Older revision	Revision as of 01:45, 20 August 2025
(No difference)

ArrowHead294 at 18:29, 11 February 2025

2025-02-11T18:29:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:29, 11 February 2025
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	Hi-lo notation was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]].		Hi-lo notation was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]].

			{{Navbox notation}}
	{{~~Notation navbox~~}}

	~~[[Category:Notation]]~~

BudjarnLambeth: {{Notation navbox}}

2024-12-03T00:00:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:00, 3 December 2024
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	Hi-lo notation was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]].		Hi-lo notation was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]].


			{{Notation navbox}}

	[[Category:Notation]]		[[Category:Notation]]

TallKite at 21:11, 8 October 2024

2024-10-08T21:11:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:11, 8 October 2024
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	* C E G C = Cadd8		* C E G C = Cadd8
	* G C E G = Caddlo5		* G C E G = Caddlo5
	* G C E G C = ~~Caddhi8lo5~~		* G C E G C = Cadd8lo5
	* C E G E = Caddhi3 or Cadd10		* C E G E = Caddhi3 or Cadd10
	* C C E G = CaddloR or possibly Chi35add8		* C C E G = CaddloR or possibly Chi35add8

TallKite at 05:41, 1 May 2023

2023-05-01T05:41:28Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:41, 1 May 2023
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	Hi-lo notation ~~was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]]~~ for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings with much more accuracy than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.		Hi-lo notation is for naming chord voicings. It applies to all tunings, even conventional ones like 12-edo or meantone. It allows arrangers, composers and theorists to discuss specific voicings with much more accuracy than the conventional 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, etc. nomenclature.

	* C E G = C or C close		* C E G = C or C close
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	Naming the roots as hi or lo ''almost'' allows us to reduce a barbershop tag to a mere succession of chords. However voices sometimes coincide or cross. See [[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis#Barbershop tags]]		Naming the roots as hi or lo ''almost'' allows us to reduce a barbershop tag to a mere succession of chords. However voices sometimes coincide or cross. See [[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis#Barbershop tags]]

			Hi-lo notation was invented by [[Kite Giedraitis]].
	[[Category:Notation]]		[[Category:Notation]]

TallKite: clarified note names

2023-05-01T05:38:32Z

clarified note names

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 * C major: x32010 = C E G C E = Cadd8hi3
 * D major: x00232 = A D A D F# = Dhi3add8lo5
-* E major: 022100 = E B E G# B E = Eadd8loR5 or possibly Ehi3add8hi5hi8
+* E major: 022100 = E B E G# B E = Eadd8loR5 or possibly Ehi3add8hi58
-* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi3hi8 or possibly Glo5add8loR3
+* G major: 320003 = G B D G B G = Gadd8hi38 or possibly Glo5add8loR3
 * A major: 002220 = E A E A C# E = Ahi3add8hi5lo5
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 == Notating chord progressions ==
-There are sometimes two possible names for a voicing, depending on what one considers the "home octave" to be. As we saw, C C E G can be either CaddloR or Chi35add8. This ambiguity can be removed by designating one note in a specific octave as "the" tonic, then naming all other notes relative to that tonic. For example, if C2 is the tonic, A1 is loA, A2 is simply A, and A3 is hiA.
+There are sometimes two possible names for a voicing, depending on what one considers the "home octave" to be. As we saw, C C E G can be either CaddloR or Chi35add8. This ambiguity can be removed by designating one note in a specific octave as "the" tonic, then naming all other notes relative to that tonic. Unlike [[wikipedia:Scientific_pitch_notation|octave numbers]] which only increase when going from B up to C, the hi-lo categories only change in the region of the tonic. This has the advantage that transposing to a new key won't change the hi-lo categories.
+{| class="wikitable"
-This lets us write out chord progressions as e.g. Cadd8 - loAmhi3add8 - Dm7 - loG7hi3. The entire 4-part harmony can be deduced note-for-note from this. Here are the notes, where the lower octave uses underlined letters and the upper octave uses lower-case letters:
+|+G major scale in both scientific pitch notation and hi-lo notation
 * C E G c

BudjarnLambeth: Categorised this uncategorised page

2023-04-27T00:48:20Z

Categorised this uncategorised page

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:48, 27 April 2023
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	Naming the roots as hi or lo ''almost'' allows us to reduce a barbershop tag to a mere succession of chords. However voices sometimes coincide or cross. See [[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis#Barbershop tags]]		Naming the roots as hi or lo ''almost'' allows us to reduce a barbershop tag to a mere succession of chords. However voices sometimes coincide or cross. See [[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis#Barbershop tags]]
			[[Category:Notation]]