Future Research
Is the goal of researching Alternative Notations to find a replacement for Traditional Notation? No. The goal is to identify which notational designs, or design elements, prove to make reading music easier, and for whom, and for when in their musical development. For the foreseeable future, Traditional Notation will continue to be the lingua franca for music notation.
In my view, there is no “one size fits all” Alternative Notation solution. Advanced musicians, composers, and musicologists may prefer the more analytic format of chromatic designs. At the opposite end of the skill spectrum are beginners who may prefer more graphic and visually intuitive designs and tablatures like Klavarskribo. There is no (logical) reason why a player should not be able to select a notation that suits the score, the genre, and the player's skill level. But research results should be the guide on whether this is the case.
As mentioned in the history section earlier, the Music Notation Modernization Research Project was an evaluation of a collection of chromatic staff Alternative Notations. The evaluation was performed by highly experience musicians and did not address new students of music. One of the members of the MNMA proposed recommendations for future research that would take them into account. Click on this link to see them because they offer some sound advice.
MNMA Research Project Recommendations
The following paper by musicology researcher Richard Parncutt* lays out a proposed experimental method of evaluation:
Psychological Evaluation of Non-Conventional Notations and Keyboard Tablatures
The following topics are some of my own thoughts on future research and hopefully will stimulate some thought. However, I am not a researcher, so reader beware.
*Richard Parncutt is a systematic musicologist, music psychologist, and psychoacoustician with qualifications in physics, music, and psychology. He is a professor at the Centre for Systematic Musicology, University Graz Austria.