* R U U R D D D D R U U R D R *-* / \ * * / \ *-* * *-* \ / \ * * *-* \ / *-*
TheParsons code, formally named theParsons code for melodic contours, is a simple notation method used to identify a piece of music throughmelodic motion – movements of thepitch up, down or static.[1][2]
The first note of a melody is denoted with anasterisk (*), 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:
Denys Parsons (father ofAlan Parsons[3]) developed the system for his 1975 bookThe Directory of Tunes and Musical Themes. Representing a melody in this manner makes it easier to index or search for pieces, particularly when the notes' values are unknown. Parsons covered around 15,000 classical, popular and folk pieces in his dictionary. In the process he found out that *UU is the most popular opening contour, used in 23% of all the themes, something that applies to all the genres.[4]
An earlier, alternative method of classifying and indexing melody was devised byHarold Barlow and Sam Morgenstern inA Dictionary of Musical Themes (1950).[5]
TheDirectory of Tunes and Musical Themes was also published in Germany in 2002 and reissued byPiatkus in 2008 as theDirectory of Classical Themes.[6]
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