Standard notation sorcery.

You don't.

Standard notation is a way of writing pitch, not fingering - if you have at least 22 frets, the D note written on the second line from the top can be played in five different spots.

You're right that there's a difference between each of them... but what a composer really does with standard notation is say "here's what you should play" rather than "here's how to play this music". We're not the only instrument faced with fingering choices - violins, cellos, etc. have different ways to get the same pitch - it's just that writers very rarely find it important to say "play this HERE".

Tablature 'solves' the problem, but creates the opposite one - you know the fingering, but not the pitch; you're limited to whatever choice the transcriber laid out.

But there is a way to lay out a fingering in standard notation - two ways, in fact. In the first, the composer writes the position above the staff, traditionally in Roman numerals preceeded by the letter 'C'. If you saw the notation CXX (20th position) over a section, you'd have only one choice for that pitch: 22nd fret.

The other way is rarely used for guitar, but common for classical strings - it's the word 'sul', which means 'string'. When a violinist sees 'sul G', or 'sul D', etc. above a passage, the composer wants all the notes in the phrase to be played on the G or D string, even if you could get them somewhere else. Individual performers sometimes mark their scores this way... which has led to some unknown violinist contributing a title to the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite. Bach didn't name the movement, but some violinist decided it sounded best on one string - the G string - and after marking his/her score 'sul G' the world has known the piece as "Air on a G string"

Another common way of indicating on which string a note is to be played in guitar music is by writing the string number inside a circle and placing it close to the note. This distinguishes it from uncircled numbers, used to indicate fretting hand fingering.

If you use the tab/ notation editor Guitar Pro however, beware that its creators in their wisdom have chosen circled numbers to indicate fretting hand fingering, the symbols being placed under the tab. This isn't a problem when reading tab, but if the 'standard notation only' view is enabled those symbols remain, attached to the relevant notes, much to the confusion of any unsuspecting readers.

For chords with notes that are very close together you get the 'blobs' (technical term!) placed on either side of the 'line' for clarity. I've seen it done before that you have two blobs indicating the same note on either side of the line - I assumed that was a unison, but I wouldn't know if it was standard or just someone thinking of a way around a 'problem of the moment'.

Can you tell I'm not much of a music reader? :mrgreen:

The circled numbers aren't really part of 'standard' notation - they're an effort by a specific publisher to make things easier for the piece. As noted, different publishers/programmers will try different things.

One problem with these notations is that they're 'extras' - they don't have a logical connection to the music that's noted. The symbol for a string or a finger could be anything... without changing the pitch of the underlying note.

That makes them darn hard to check, unlike instructions for position or 'sul'. If I want to proofread a piece that's marked as fifth position, I need only look to see if any notes are below A (two ledger lines below the staff) or above about C/D (two ledger lines above). If a phrase is marked 'sul', I only need to check and see if the phrase falls within the range of the string.

Compare that to using numbers in/out of circles... the D note on the 22nd fret of the 6th string can be played on five different strings, and it can be fretted using any of four fingers. 20 possibilities in theory. There's no practical way to check the numbers except actually playing it - and proofreaders don't typically do that.

(As part of my practice today I was sight reading a blues piece; it used numbers to 'help' with a fingering for a three-note F7... but following the numbers won't get you the notes; somebody missed the fact that Eb doesn't lie on the first string, so playing it with finger '1' as noted requires a leap up the neck - for no logical purpose!)

As far as notation of actual unisons, I didn't cover that - I thought the question was more about equivalent pitches. I'm guessing what ChordsAndScales is talking about is note heads on both sides of the stem - that's the way it's usually done.

True unisons are much more limited in how you play them. In an isolated case, a unison on the original D pitch can only be done in four ways: 6/22 & 5/17; 5/17 & 4/12; 4/12 & 3/7; 3/7 & 2/3.

In most music that requires a unison, one of the notes is held while the other moves. That's probably going to limit those four possible choices to just a couple (maybe even just one) that has a practical fingering.

I see, I see...

So, for example let's say that the whole song is just 4 measures long and the first note is one that can be played in a few different places... I choose one of those places where that note can be played and if I can play the rest of the notes without dropping off the fingerboard then I've chosen the right position of the starting note?

Thanks for the insightful replies everyone. 8)

There's no 'right' position - only good or not so good positions. A good position (in your example) is one that you won't regret having chosen 4 bars later.

The circled numbers aren't really part of 'standard' notation - they're an effort by a specific publisher to make things easier for the piece.

Unfortunately, there's no precise way to define the term 'standard' as it applies to 'standard' music notation. Strictly speaking we could include all instrument-specific directions as being non-standard.

For guitar, this would include all position and fingering directions such as position indicators (e.g. CVII), numbers, circled numbers, pima, etc. Fortunately, however, in the absence of true standards, conventions have become established that are almost universally recognised (although they are employed to varying extents). Their use by publishers and editors is almost always to facilitate ease of playing, although their use by composers and arrangers may also be to achieve a desired tonal effect.

Numbers in circles to indicate strings may not be standard, but it is a well established convention employed throughout the industry. There may be more work involved in proofing music that employs such symbols, however, they aren't included for the benefit of proof readers but for the benefit of the end user, i.e., the player, who must assume that they are correct and well placed. Guitar Pro's use of circled numbers to indicate fingers rather than strings, flies in the face of a time honoured tradition, and I hope they'll change it. Actually I think it's an oversight, and that they meant it for use with tab only.

Position indicators are another example of non-standard notation, the symbols for which may be understood differently, even within the established guitar publishing industry.
For example, the 7th position may be indicated in various ways including CVII or simply VII. Some publishers, etc, treat these as identical, whereas others reserve the use of 'C' (from 'capotasto') to indicate a full or partial barre, not just a position, and may include both symbols throughout a single piece of music. Such differences, though, are fairly minor and unlikely to cause much confusion compared with using circled numbers to indicate fingers rather than strings.

I think I'm just annoyed that I can't include any fretting hand fingering in Guitar Pro scores. There's no way I'd use numbers in circles for it.

As for unisons, I'll go with Chords and Scales' "blobs". That may not be a technical term, but it certainly should be. :lol:

Thanks Fretsource... indeed that must be why it's called music theory and not science, eh? 8)

EDIT: So, I suppose that I'll keep working on those songs while keeping in mind that most notes can be played in different places.

I just play it wherever it seems easiest. Playing bass in jazz band, sometimes you gotta move fast. I actually use open strings a lot.

indeed that must be why it's called music theory and not science, eh?

Actually 'theory' is a misnomer IMHO as a real theory (which actually is linked to science) allows you to predict certain events in a way whereas music theory merely describes what has happened in the past and offers solutions for possible problems. In itself music cannot have any real theories as too much is based on individual taste and cultural trends. :)

That is but one of the definitions of "theory". Others are:
1. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted.
2. a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena.
3. An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.

So "theory" is a perfectly valid word, here.

Aha, learn something new every day here. I stand corrected. :D

Yes, the word theory is derived from the Greek word for seeing; therefore it's really a way of looking at things in its most basic definition.