Bottom-up Path Components

Preface

Frankly, unless you're interest has really been piqued, you may want to skip this long-winded detail until you are piqued!

The development project

The Alternative Notation Designer might start the process by posting the proposed design on the internet to get feedback.  For example, the Music Notation Project (MNP) has a forum where designers can post their designs as well as discuss a broad range of topics related to Alternative Notations.  There are also music fora on the internet that would also provide an avenue for review and discussion.  With feedback over time, the design can evolve.  When the designer feels the notation may be a viable alternative, a Promotor / Project Manager would develop a project plan to develop:

•  A website to attract, inform, and promote

•  An internet presence on social media

• An app to display the sheet music

• Instructional materials

Each of these require different skills and so the project team may involve a number of participants.  What follows are descriptions of project roles in addition to the Designer.  Of course, individuals may assume multiple roles.

Promoter:  In Project Management terminology, this would be the Project Manager.  The promoter is the center of the project.  He/she Is responsible for creating the “product”, getting it delivered to the music community, and advancing its acceptance by users. The promoter enlists volunteers for the development team.  The promoter might also solicit personal testimonials from satisfied users for the creation of promotional videos.

Sponsor:  The promoter may find a sponsor who can provide funding for the development and  the  “selling” of the ideas.  Instead of (or in addition to) proving funding, the sponsor might enlist, or even be, a well-known personality in music who endorses the notation and promotes it both on and off the internet.  This could include infomercials and YouTube videos.   For example, Harry Connick Jr promotes Piano Party, which is a subscription website with video-on-demand lessons (alas, using Traditional Notation of course).

Development team:  This team creates all of the materials and tools needed to support the project goals.

The app development could be the most challenging element to implement.  The implementation needs to consider all the possible device operating systems to support in order to maximize availability to users.  If the app is browser-based, then the range of most used browsers should be considered as well.  To implement all the functionality of the Traditional Notation is a formidable task.  And if a score editing capability is desired (which would be a very valuable function to users) then the scope expands significantly.  (An example of such an editing app for Traditional Notation is MuseScore.)

One development strategy for the app is to not implement everything initially.  Only the most important functionality would be available at first, but enough so that it would at least serve as an evaluation tool.  This is commonly called a beta version.  This would permit academic and intrigued user evaluation.  Feedback from this version would be helpful in prioritizing modifications and additional functionality for proceeding with further app development.

While app development can be private, there are a large number of open-source projects (of all kinds) on the open-source code hosting site GitHub.  Often these projects have multiple volunteer contributors.  This is one way of avoiding the high cost of programming expertise, but at the expense of code privacy (projects wanting to monetize their project probably don’t want to go this route).

Development of instructional materials requires different skills from app programming.  Experience and knowledge of student instruction would be valuable to the team.  Creation of internet promotion and instruction such as YouTube videos require additional skills. 

Development of promotional materials and videos would include introductions that attempt to engage and “sell” to an audience, perhaps most importantly, to a young audience. 

The website

A well-designed website provides a one stop shopping point for information, instruction, and promotion.  A well-designed site will attract attention and be optimized for discovery by internet search engines (Google and others) with the implementation of Search Engine Optimization techniques.  The goal is to attract and engage an audience of students searching for an easier way to read music.  The site may also provide feedback mechanisms for comments and questions to the Project team.  User testimonials would also enhance credibility and even promote enthusiasm. 

The website could also provide a forum that supports conversations by topic.  Some of the critical areas of interaction would include these topics:

• development and roll-out plans

• promotion

• user support

• requests for changes and new functionality

• evaluation

The forum documents discussions and debates among the project team, users, and schools and instructors.  At all points along the life cycle of the Alternative Notation, this provides crucial feedback that allows the project to evolve and flourish.

Social Media

The importance of the role of social media cannot be overstated.  These include apps like Facebook as well as music community fora.  Social media enhance the project website by providing a more casual and interactive discussion arena.   The project team itself would make posts to try to ramp up enthusiasm.  Like memes, Alternative Notations can catch fire in an ever-widening audience when fueled by social media.

Student community

The student community is likely to be mostly comprised of beginning, and/or struggling, students who are looking for an easier way to read music.  If an internet promotional campaign is effective, an Alternative Notation is discovered by these students with browser search engines (Google, etc.).  Those who try it out and find it useful may become early adopters and spread the news to family/friends by word of mouth.  They may also post results and opinions on social media.  With increasing popularity and “buzz” on social media, more users try it and publish their results there.  This becomes a feedback loop and the notation starts to become popular.

When an audience size tipping point has been reached, the adoption rate increases dramatically, and the notation goes viral.  Perhaps some private instructors then recognize the possibility of attracting and retaining more students and try using it with students.  With continued success, music schools eventually adopt it and incorporate it into their curricula to put the notation into the mainstream of music.

Phases of acceptance:

1.  Early adoption

2.  Popular

3. Viral

4.  Mainstream

Music schools and instructors

Once a notation has gone viral on the internet, students themselves begin requesting instruction from private instructors and even music schools.  This creates a demand that inspires innovative instructors to provide it.  Alas, instructors brought up playing Traditional Notation themselves may very well resist this notion of a new notation.  Therefore, it is going to be a tough sell.  However, the prospect of attracting and retaining more students may provide the financial incentive for them to get on board.