idea
Notation
Every way of writing music decides what to keep and what to leave to the performer. The Western staff is a kind of graph, with pitch going up and time going to the right. Note values are fractions: half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes. Other systems write scale numbers, as in Chinese jianpu, syllables, as in Indian sargam, or finger positions, as in lute and guitar tablature. Many traditions do not write music at all and pass it on by ear, from teacher to student.