Many aspiring musicians never learn to read and write traditional music notation, yet they achieve a high level of proficiency in singing and/or playing by ear. What is wrong with this picture? Traditional music notation is beyond complex; it is complicated. The principles of music theory are simpler and more intuitive than the symbol system itself; music notation is more accessible to left-brained learners; and presenting notation before audiation is counterproductive. This study explored traditional music notation from multiple perspectives: the relationship of mathematics and music,...