ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Parsons code

You know how you like to sing your favorite songs, but sometimes you can't remember all the words? Well, a person named William W. Parsons came up with a special way to write down music notes so that even if you forget the words, you can still remember the tune.

Parsons code is when you write down a song using letters and numbers instead of actual music notes. This code makes it easy to remember the melody of a song. Instead of writing "C," "D," "E," etc. to describe the notes, you write "U," "D," "S," and "Z."

Each letter stands for a different type of note. For example, "U" stands for an "up" note, which means the next note is higher than the previous one. "D" stands for a "down" note, which means the next note is lower than the previous one. "S" stands for a "same" note, which means the next note is the same as the previous one.

By using these special letters, you can quickly and easily write down any song melody in the form of letters and numbers. And, even if you don't know the actual music notes, you can still remember the tune!