Fingering Notation of the Arcane

Magicians record their spells on paper, a strange medium for expressing sound and movement.

In the search for a standardized, comprehensible, and compact way to express the language and gestures of magic, magicians have created some common conventions in notation.

Hand-and-finger positions, for example, are arranged like the bass and treble staves of sheet music, with different ‘notes’ assigned to each shoulder, elbow, wrist, and filange. The ‘tempo’ and note indicators (holds, rests) show the mage how long to hold and over what span to change, and etc. Notes in common tongue along the roof of the measure, as well as accents and accidentals show nuance beyond the common positions. Along with all this there are, of course, the words of the spell, as though the choral/vocal partner to the notation.

Often preceding or succeeding the short-form notation are further readings to refine it: what’s the etymology of the word given in (magical) IPA in the third measure? What happens if one overextends the elbow rotation in between the finger-wiggles?

Simple spells and complicated spells are not distinct in their length, necessarily (tho some are), but often in their complexity. A short-form requiring one hand and two words may be a single page or three, depending on the depth of the associated notes and complicating quirks of the hand signs.

Voila!