Partido State University
Goa Cam. Sur
s/y 2014-2015
‘’Many
people struggle to learn to read and play music, and many give up before they
become proficient. A better notation system make reading, writing, and
playing music more enjoyable and easier to learn’’
Musical
Notation
by:Catherine frias
What is Musical Notation?
is any system used to visually
represent aurally perceived music through the
use of written symbols, including ancient or modern musical symbols. Although many ancient cultures used symbols to represent
melodies, none of them is nearly as comprehensive as written language, limiting
the knowledge of ancient music to a few fragments. Comprehensive music notation
began to be developed in Europe in the Middle Ages and has been adapted to many kinds of music
worldwide.
·
Key Signatures
“The need
for a new notation, or a radical improvement of the old, is greater than it
seems, and the number of ingenious minds that have tackled the problem is
greater than one might think.” — Arnold Schoenberg
There are
fifteen different key signatures to memorize in traditional notation, and one
must always keep the current key signature in mind while playing. With a
chromatic staff this is not necessary since a note’s position on the staff
directly indicates what note to play. All keys are equally easy to read. The
traditional staff is based upon the notes from the key of C major and closely
related tonalities. This makes all of the other keys and tonalities more
difficult to read, even if they are just as easy to play on a given instrument
·
- Accidentals
In
traditional notation accidental signs must be used to represent accidentals —
notes that are not in the current key signature. On a chromatic staff they are
not needed since all notes have their own position on the staff, making it
easier to see each note’s pitch and how it relates to other.
- · Clef
In
traditional notation, staves that look the same may represent different sets
of notes, depending on the clef symbol. On a typical chromatic staff the lines
and spaces always represents the same notes, and an octave or register symbol
simply indicates the staff’s pitch range.
On a
traditional staff, two notes an octave apart do not look alike. If a note falls
on a line, the note an octave higher or lower will fall on a space (and
vice-versa).
On
chromatic staves like the one above, notes an octave apart look the same.
- · Intervals
Intervals
that look the same in traditional notation may not be the same interval. In
this illustration, whole steps and half steps are visually indistinguishable,
as are major and minor thirds. What you seedoes not always
correspond with what you hear and
must play.Chromatic
staves represent intervals more consistently and more accurately. As shown in
this illustration of a C major scale, whole steps are always two notes on two
neighboring lines or on two neighboring spaces. Half steps are always one note
on a line and another on a neighboring space.
Notation of Duration
A whole note is
good for 4 counts
A half note is good for 2 counts
A quarter note is good for 1 count
An eight note is good for 1/2 count
A sixteenth note is good for 1/4 count
A thirty second note is good for 1/8 counts
Based on the given values of each note, we can then arrived to a
diagram such as this
- The Tie
- it is a curved line
that connects two same pitches and connects their sound with a duration equal
to the sum of the two note values
- The Slur
- is a curved line that
connects two or more notes of different pitches.
- The Dot
- when place to the
right of a note head, the dot lengthens the value of the note by half against
its value. When another dot is added, the dot lengthens the value of the first
dot by half its value.
Dots can also be placed
after rest, the same concept applies, the only diffirence is you are now
dealing with rests.
- Irregular Subdivisions
- as shown above by our
rhythm notation chart, a note can be divided and subdivided into equal parts.
Those divisions that require added numbers are called irregular divisions and
subdivisions.
- Rhythm
- is a general term used to described the movement or motion of
music in time. Its fundamental unit is beat or pulse.
Even people who are not trained in music can sense the pulse or beat and may
respond either by tapping their foot or clapping their hand.
- Tempo
- is an Italian word
that comes from the greek word tempus which means time.
Here are the most common
tempos, from slowest to fastest.
TEMPO
NAME
BEATS PER MINUTE
Largo
40-60
Larghetto
60-66
Adagio
66-76
Andante
76-108
Moderato
108-120
Allegro
120-168
Presto
168-200
Prestissimo
200-208
- Tempo Related Terms
There are terms that affect the tempo of a piece aside from the
ones mentioned above.
accelerando (accel.) = speed up
gradually
allargando (allarg.) = slow
down and grow louder
ritardando (rit.) = slow down
gradually
rallentando (rall.) = slow
down gradually
- Meter or Time Signatures
- defined as a regular,
recurring pattern of strong and weak beats. A meter or time signature is made
up of two numbers. It appears at the beginning of a piece. It gives us two
different informations. The number above indicates the number of basic note
values, it may not indicate the number of pulses per measure as we will see
later.
- the number below indicates a basic note value; 2 stands for a half note, 4
stands for a quarter note, 8 stands for an eight note, 16 stands for a
sixteenth note and 32 stands for a 32nd note.
- Simple Meter
- each beat is divided into two parts (simple subdivision). In a simple meter,
the upper numbers are usually 2,3 or 4 indicating two, three or four basic
pulses.
The basic pulse in a simple meter will be some kind of a note
whose value is not dotted.
- Compound Meter
- in a compound meter, each pulse is a dotted note, which we will divide into
groups of three parts (compound division). The upper numbers you usually see in
a compound meter is 6, 9 and 12. In compound meter, the lower number refers to
the division of the beat while the number above indicates the number of these
division per measure.
The basic pulse of a compound meter is some kinds of a dotted note value
- Duple, Triple and Quadruple Meters
- both simple and compound meter will have two, three or four recurring pulses.
Meters are identified as duple if there are two basic pulses, triple if there
are three basic pulses and quadruple if there are four. Theses designations are
often combined with the division names to discribe a meter.
- Assymetrical Meters
- these are meter that
cannot be divided into equal groups of 2, 3 or 4. The upper number of these
meters are usually 5 or 7.
- Syncopation
- if the part of the
measure that is not usually accented is given emphasis, that is called a
syncopation.
- another way of
defining it to simply stress the beat that is usually unstressed.
- Dynamic Markings
- this was
mentioned in the topic basic elements of music but let us discuss it here in
more details.
- these markings indicate the general volume or amplitude of a sound. Although
it is not precise, it denotes the approximately level of intensity.
