glyph construction
If there are two glyphs under a technique name, that indicates left and right hand versions.
Glyphs are always drawn from the player's perspective.
Each glyph is centered around a line, which represents the asalato player's hand.
Strikes are notated with circles. They are marked differently depending on if the gourd striking is a held gourd or free gourd. For techniques involving only one hand, only the free gourd is shown.
A plus is used to represent a grab. It represents not moving after the hit. It is placed next to an existing glyph, to modify it.
shake
A short line is used to notate the basic shake. Specific types of shakes are also notated with lines.
rest
A small dot is used to notate a rest (complete silence).
clicks
Triangles are used to represent clicks.
This also means a small triangle and a shake line combine to create click shake.
hits
Arrow symbols are used to show movement of the gourds when swinging. This is relevant for basic techniques such as flip-flop and den-den.
The individual hits of a den-den are split up into individual glyphs.
A line going through the gourd indicates that the gourd has been pushed out of the hand, such as through an air-turn.
heli and coils
Small x symbols are used to show techniques where there are no strikes. This is in the case of finger coil, kengo special, and heli.
throws
Large X symbols are used for throws.
knocks
When both hands are notated, the right hand is placed above the left hand.
A double-lined arrow is used for knocks, placed between hands to show that gourds are striking between hands.
Note that here, a different glyph is used for heli, as it is performing a knock.
A downwards-pointing triangle is used for the the chest. These techniques include chest bass and chest slap.
A shaded square is used for knocks between asalato and other objects. A key should be made available to the player to indicate what object the square refers to.
pitch
A diamond is used for boca. A thin rectangle is used for finger pitch.
If specific pitches or melodies are desired, staff notation should be included above the desired pitches.
body
A flat rectangle with a line shows stomps, placed below the glyphs of the hands.
pass
A curved arrow shows passing the asalato between hands or feet.
other
The fingers can be drawn on the hand to show techniques. This glyph represents peace.
