Getting Ahead with Research
Essentials for Music Theory
These pages offer you some essential theoretical skills that might be worth acquiring before the start of the course. Initially, it involves some preliminary research on different music notation systems that are adopted globally, as well as some relatively simple activities that you may wish to complete to help you with the fundamentals necessary for you to have in your skill set. It has been divided up according to the THREE components necessary for both standard-level and higher-level students.
Photo by Xavier von Erlach on Unsplash
Research Task
There are many types of musical notation globally and not simply the standard Western notation system.
Conduct research into:
- a broad range of systems that represent cultural differences, AND
- suggest reasons as to why they have developed as they have.
Ensure that you are getting into the habit of properly acknowledging the sources that you are using. You may wish to use citation machine OR the options that are available to you in Microsoft Word (bibliography).
Set up a music journal that documents your thoughts. No doubt your teacher will offer you greater guidance with this once you begin the course.
You may wish to view some OR all of the following that have been offered as a starting point:
Music of Mesopotamia
The area of Mesopotamia is considered to be "between the rivers" in modern-day Iraq (see J. Paul Getty Museum HERE).
That period in history contains the oldest surviving substantially complete record of music in existence. Here is a sample of the Hurrian Hymns, dating to the 13th century Before the Common Era (Buccellati, 2003).
Photo by Yusuf Onuk on Unsplash
Musical Interpretation of the Hurrian Hymn
Numbered Musical Notation
Music Practice and Theory
Aprico, M., Broadley, B., & Chua, A. (1960, January 1). Note length line (beam) placement in numbered musical notation. Music. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/20203/note-length-line-beam-placement-in-numbered-musical-notation
Ziffersystem (Numerical Musical Notation)
Klassen, Johann Peter, Elizabeth Horsch Bender and Harold S. Bender. (1959). Ziffersystem (Numerical Musical Notation). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 June 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ziffersystem_(Numerical_Musical_Notation)&oldid=177513.
Indian Classical Music
The teaching of music in India has always been an oral tradition, but more recently musicologists have attempted to notate the pitch and register of some of the ancient works in order to preserve this wonderfully rich history.
Here is a wonderful pdf that explains origins and history with sample questions that can help to illuminate the traditions further:
Photo by Nishant Aneja on Pexels
Here is a sample of this music with a notational form developed by Pt. Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande:
Bandish in Raag Kedar
Bandish in Raag Kedar
Government of India. (1989). 5 notation system of Hindustani music. The National Institute of Open Schooling. https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/Hindustani_Music_242/hindustanimusictheorybook1/HMB1Ch5.pdf
Sādhana. (2011). Notating Indian classical music. Notating Indian Classical Music - Raag Hindustani. https://raag-hindustani.com/Notation.html
Graphic Scores
In the 1950s, some Western Art composers began experimenting with new sounds and, as such, needed inventive ways to notate their music. They developed a new way of visualising music known as graphic scores or graphic notation.
Graphic scores often look very different to traditional musical scores. Instead of lines and dots on a musical stave, graphic scores can use all sorts of different images and symbols to tell the performer what to play.
Extracted from the site School of Noise
Mayfield, D. (2021, December 12). What are graphic scores?. School of Noise. https://schoolofnoise.com/global-graphic-score-project/what-are-graphic-scores/
Here is one interpretation of the Stripsody by Cathy Berberian (1966):
Western and Eastern Notation Systems - Neumes
Neumes are the basic element of the Western and Eastern music notation systems, prior to the adoption of the five-line stave system. These are inflection marks indicate the basic shape of the music, but not the pitch or length of the note. Here is an example from the 11th century:
Digraphic neumes in an 11th-century manuscript from Dijon. Letter names for individual notes in the neume are provided.
Learning, L. (n.d.). Music appreciation 1. Neumes | Music Appreciation 1. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-musicappreciationtheory/chapter/neume/
DAW Notation
There are a range of different forms in this regard, but here is a typical layout that is featured in many of the software types. This particular one has been taken from Cubase:
A. Tracks
B. The Tools
C. Audio Data
D. Note Data
E. Track Info
F. Song Position
G. The Mixer
H. Transport Controls
Jones, A. (2017, June 17). The beginner’s guide to daws - the basics. MusicTech. https://musictech.com/guides/essential-guide/essential-guide-daws/
Ensure that you have a comprehensive understanding of different notation systems globally.
You may also wish to access some of these lessons and exercises on this site for further consolidation of standard Western Art notation. You can tailor-make the materials to suit your level (click on the image to access the FREE site):
