At first glance, the D地i notate pitch very much the same as we do. They use a four-line staff. They graphically represent a pitch of high frequency visually higher than one of low frequency. They use symbols like clefs to distinguish between low, middle, and high collections of pitches. Given that the D地i language is written from left to right and that accompanying music needs to be organized in a parallel, visually compact fashion, these similarities are not surprising.
However, differences abound. Noteheads written in the same location can represent more than one pitch. Accidentals are unnecessary, as all pitches can be individually notated. Many intervals, triads, and four- and five-note chords can be notated with a single notehead. The D地i developed a complex system of notation that is just as flexible and efficient as the one we commonly use.
The building blocks of D地i pitch notation are the four-line staff and the square notehead. The notehead always appears in the spaces of the staff and above and below it; it never is placed on the lines, as it is in Western notation. Each space is a perfect fourth apart from the space above and below it. Thus, the standard ambitus of a full staff (three spaces, plus the space above the top line and the space below the bottom line) is two octaves葉he natural range of a human (and presumably D地i) voice, and also twenty-five chromatic pitches in total.
Another way to look at it is to say each space encompasses the semitones that comprise a major third葉hat is, five semitones. Diagonal lines inside the notehead indicate each of these five pitches. The middle space on the staff, for example, comprises the interval a#-d. A note in this space with a full descending diagonal would be a#, with a half descending b, with no diagonal, c, with a half ascending c#, and with a full ascending d.
Thus, each of the spaces comprises the following intervals: below the staff, c-e; lowest space, f-a; middle space, a#-d; top space, d#-g; above the staff, g#-c. The diagram below maps the D地i staff onto the Western staff.
Sequent notes are placed immediately adjacent to one another.
