Parsons code

The Parsons code, formally named the Parsons code for melodic contours, is a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through melodic motion – movements of the pitch up and down.

Representing a melody in this manner makes it easier to index or search for pieces, particularly when the notes' values are unknown.

In the process he found out that *UU is the most popular opening contour, used in 23% of all the themes, something that applies to all the genres.

[4] The book was also published in Germany in 2002 and reissued by Piatkus in 2008 as the Directory of Classical Themes.

[5] An earlier method of classifying and indexing melody was devised by Harold Barlow and Sam Morgenstern in A Dictionary of Musical Themes (1950).