What kind of music notation do you use?

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  • Dave2002
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 18025

    What kind of music notation do you use?

    I have gradually come to realise that there are many forms of music notation. "Standard" western music notation uses staves and notes, with time signatures, key signatures, and various conventional marks for rhythm, articulation, dynamics, tempo etc.

    Chinese instruments, which may or may not be used to play similar tunes, can be played by many people - who may use a numeric notation. For examples - see how to play tunes for the Dizi - a kind of Chinese Flute.

    Guitarists often use a form of tablature - or so I'm told.

    School children in the UK may learn to sing using letters for pitch - and pick up the rhythms by ear.

    Many jazz musicians (including guitarists and electric guitar players) use lead sheats, and notation which is understood by them and others within their genre.

    Even penny whistlers may use a form of tablature - now specific to wind instruments - showing which holes to cover.

    Composers and musicians who use electronic instruments and midi may use Piano Roll notation - input directly into a sequencer. They may not even think about what they are doing very specifically, and may work directly with sounds, which they can manipulate using DAWs.

    People who are used to software may use tools such as Sibelius, Musescore etc. to notate music, and also to generate sound renditions.

    Some people use DAWs to create mixtures of written down music, and synthesised sound, and they can manipulate musical fragments easily, and use DAWs for practice purposes.

    I have no idea what Indian musicians do, with instruments which may be intended to play microtones etc.

    So - back to the heading - What kind of music notation do you use?

    PS: I thoroughly expect at least one person to come back with pictures involving circles, lines and text.
  • MrGongGong
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 18357

    #2
    All of those
    None of those
    Photographs of fields of sprouts

    Not all music uses "notation"
    and "notation" comes in many forms

    "circles, lines and text" here you go

    Comment

    • Dave2002
      Full Member
      • Dec 2010
      • 18025

      #3
      Originally posted by MrGongGong View Post
      All of those
      None of those
      Photographs of fields of sprouts

      Not all music uses "notation"
      and "notation" comes in many forms

      "circles, lines and text" here you go

      I agree it has lines, circles and text. I was expecting something more like this one:

      I see you didn't get banned. Feeling better now?

      Comment

      • ardcarp
        Late member
        • Nov 2010
        • 11102

        #4
        Other end of the spectrum....

        Comment

        • Dave2002
          Full Member
          • Dec 2010
          • 18025

          #5
          Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
          Other end of the spectrum....
          Maybe an even earlier one -

          From
          The goal of e-codices is to provide free access to all medieval and a selection of modern manuscripts of Switzerland by means of a virtual library. On the e-codices site, complete digital reproductions of the manuscripts are linked with corresponding scholarly descriptions.


          Cantatorium of St. Gall - example of neume notation. Dated circa 920.

          Would have been good to have a larger image (yours), but thanks for that.

          Now mine is far too large! Must try to get the hang of these images in imgur and in this site (vbulletin) and elsewhere. Are there parameters to adjust the size which work?

          Comment

          • Dave2002
            Full Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 18025

            #6
            It seems it is even possible to use spectrograms - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKzANNYfHt0

            I've got one "in the oven" which I'll maybe post in a while, and anyone can see if they can figure out what the tune was. I do have the recording ready to go.

            Comment

            • MrGongGong
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 18357

              #7
              You need to be a bit clearer (IMV) about what you mean by "notation"

              off the top of my head

              it could be

              1: Instructions for actions
              2: Tablature that tells you what to physically do (like Lute, Guitar, Shakuhachi notation)
              3: Aide memoire for "non-notated" musics
              4: Listening score
              5: Text score

              and so on and so on

              Comment

              • Bryn
                Banned
                • Mar 2007
                • 24688

                #8
                I was given a copy of the original hardback of this by a friend who had been sent two copies for review, back in 1969 or 1970. It offers a very wide range of approaches to the problems of musical notation at that time:

                Comment

                • MrGongGong
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 18357

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                  I was given a copy of the original hardback of this by a friend who had been sent two copies for review, back in 1969 or 1970. It offers a very wide range of approaches to the problems of musical notation at that time:

                  https://monoskop.org/images/9/92/Cag..._Notations.pdf


                  Worth more than a warehouse full of Andrex these days

                  This (inspired by Cage) is worth a look

                  165 international musicians and composers visualize sheet music in a remarkable showcase of new-age notation.



                  (loads of other things ... this has some of the "usual suspects" http://rhoadley.net/presentations/Notation-as-Art.pdf)

                  Comment

                  • ardcarp
                    Late member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 11102

                    #10
                    3: Aide memoire for "non-notated" musics
                    I think very early neumatic notation was just that. The plainsong tunes and modes were all passed on by memory, but the neumes showed how the words fitted in and jogged the memory. There has been much scholar/time spent on various incidental squiggles and signs which are even now not fully understood.

                    Comment

                    • Dave2002
                      Full Member
                      • Dec 2010
                      • 18025

                      #11
                      Originally posted by MrGongGong View Post
                      You need to be a bit clearer (IMV) about what you mean by "notation"

                      off the top of my head

                      it could be

                      1: Instructions for actions
                      2: Tablature that tells you what to physically do (like Lute, Guitar, Shakuhachi notation)
                      3: Aide memoire for "non-notated" musics
                      4: Listening score
                      5: Text score

                      and so on and so on
                      Multiple choice:

                      All of the above. [at least]

                      Instrumentalists may concentrate on 2.

                      Other people may use the notation in different ways - for example film editors who are neither composing music, nor producing the sounds, but linking it to video.

                      Comment

                      • MrGongGong
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 18357

                        #12
                        Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
                        I think very early neumatic notation was just that. The plainsong tunes and modes were all passed on by memory, but the neumes showed how the words fitted in and jogged the memory. There has been much scholar/time spent on various incidental squiggles and signs which are even now not fully understood.

                        It was only certain types of social organisation that made it necessary to write down "compositions" in ways that could be performed without the "composer" being present.

                        Not all musics need this. (which is obvious really)

                        Comment

                        • Dave2002
                          Full Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 18025

                          #13
                          Here is a representation of a piece of music. Challenge - work out what it is!

                          Hint: it doesn't last long - about 10.5 seconds.

                          Comment

                          • Dave2002
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 18025

                            #14
                            Just got to cross-link from another thread - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkt67TJ9qLc

                            Maybe I prefer this version, though - https://youtu.be/YkIaRAW1Yjs

                            Very good.

                            Comment

                            • MrGongGong
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 18357

                              #15
                              You might like this

                              Comment

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