Music Notation

You may be familiar with music notation that looks like this:

This type of music notation has been around since the 11th century when music theorists and teachers, such as Guido of Arezzo, began to develop the system of stave notation (notation using lines).

The aim was to help musicians learn and remember songs more accurately and also to help to preserve songs for future generations. As this type of music notation developed through the centuries, it allowed for more complicated forms of music to be imagined and performed.

Composers began using musical notation to create music of incredible levels of complexity and sophistication. Using music notation allowed them to give instructions to musicians of exactly what to play, when to play it and how to play it.

Music Notation Examples

This system of musical notation was used by composers to create incredible music, from the choral music of 14th century France ...

... to the orchestras of the classical and romantic eras ...

(Can you follow the fast strings at the bottom of the page and hear when the woodwinds start playing at the top of the page?)

... to contemporary composers working with traditional notation today.

This piece was composed by Terry Riley in 1964. It consists of 53 short patterns for the musicians to play.

Each musician starts at 1 and repeats it until they decide to move onto number 2 and so on ...

There is also a piano playing a repeated C note all the way through. Can you hear it?

Can you hear when the musicians move onto number 2?

Graphic Notation

Music notation has changed to suit the music being made throughout the centuries and, in turn, music has been influenced by the type of notation available to the composer.

A number of composers in the 1950s began to experiment with alternative types of musical notation to facilitate their expanding world of new sounds, instruments and performance techniques.

Composers such as John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and Morton Feldman began to experiment with new forms of notation that challenged the traditional methods of composing and performing music.

John Cage

Below is an example of a graphic score by John Cage.

In this piece he uses a watch to count the time between each sound he makes. The numbers on the top are seconds and the symbols underneath show what sound he makes.

Watch this short video all about John Cage, music notation and how we can make our own!

Follow the instructions and play the listening game below. This is the hardest of the listening exercises. The instruments are all mixed up!

Using the voice or any instruments you have, perform the symbols in sequence or have one person perform and the others conduct by pointing at the screen.

We have looked at some different forms of graphic notation and learned how to use them in sequences to make music.

Now it's time to make your own graphic notation. If you do this in pairs or small groups, you can then perform each others' musical notation.

Using shapes, words, pictures or symbols:

• Draw a loud sound
  
• Draw a quiet sound
  
• Draw a long sound
  
• Draw a short sound

Now try to make these sound with your voice. Next, try to make these sounds with simple instruments. You can then use your new musical notation to make a piece of music.

Fill your notation into one of the worksheets attached to create a Graphic Score!

Perform from left to right, or with one person conducting.