Handle notation

A handle notation is a sign system that adherence of handles on musical instruments , in particular woodwind instruments allowed. Grips in this context are combinations of closed and open finger holes that the woodwind instrument player has to vary in order to be able to produce different pitches on his musical instrument. The handle notation can be in symbolic form or in the form of numerical systems . The fingering notation is intended to support the interpreter in finding the fingering required to create a tone or sound. Sometimes it should also prescribe a grip that is required to achieve an explicitly desired sound. Instrument construction variants from the various manufacturers often make it difficult to obtain a handle notation that is valid for all instruments of the same type as soon as the basic fingering is deviated from.

With the symbolic handle notation , the handle systems of the respective instruments are reproduced as exactly as possible, so that the player receives fairly precise information about the respective required handle. It can also be used to map complex valve systems. Black fields often represent closed finger holes or flaps, while those with a simple border represent open ones; Notation solutions can also be found here for half-open finger holes or flaps. Related forms of fingering notation using symbols include the tablatures known from keyboard and plucked instruments .

With fingering notation using a number system , numbers either stand for a specific finger, a finger hole, a flap or a chord . This form of fingering notation is unsuitable for woodwind instruments with complex key systems, but not so with the recorder , in which the fingers contact the fingering holes directly, so that the numbering of the fingering holes is definitely the basis for a meaningful fingering notation. Related forms of fingering notation using digits are fingering , for example in string instruments, and digit notation in basso continuo .