Timecode past:Theory of Music/On Notation
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by Oscar van Dillen
Contents |
Definition
- see also: Notation
Notation is the visualization of music, transferring that which can be heard to that which can be seen and read. Notation implies writing down what is percieved hearing, for the reading, playing or performance, by other people.
Forms of notation
Worldwide there are and have been various forms of music-notation, each specific for the music tradition it has or had been developed for, each emphasizing certain important elements and leaving out others.
This part of the essay will focus mainly on what i choose to call contemporary classical notation, sometimes referred to as "Western notation".
Based on this system, slightly different contemporary notations have developed which will be described separately:
Differing forms of notation which will be briefly described later are:
Contemporary classical notation
Introduction
Contemporary classical notation is such a versatile system, that it almost always allows for several ways to notate the very same music. The choices of a composer, arranger or editor of music may vary according to the circumstances as well as to the purposes of the written or printed music.
I will describe the elements one by one, gradually going from simple to complex, and demonstrate the use of the symbols and signs with examples.
Staff and clef
A staff (plural: staves) usually consists of five horizontal lines in contemporary classical notation, and is used to differentiate between pitches. The position of the notehead (either through or above a specific staff-line) can determine an exact tone when a clef is used.
The counting of the staff-lines occurs bottom-upwards, so the top line is called the fifth line.
Contemporary classical notation mainly uses three basic clefs for notating pitched sounds: G-clef, F-clef and C-clef.
More applications for these clefs are theoretically possible however, some of these are more of historical value, some are specific for notation software or contemporary composition. Special attention should be paid to the use of clefs for non-pitched percussion instruments:
As can be seen in the above examples: when a tone cannot be directly notated on the staff, that is, with the use of the five lines of the staff only, one or more small extra horizontal line(s) will be employed. These vertical extensions of the stafflines, which occur exactly through the notehead, are called ledger-lines.
Tone and note
Even though the words tone and note have distinct meanings, the two are often mixed up when talking. Their separate meanings are:
- Tone: a sounding pitch which can be named specifically.
- Note: a symbol used in music-notation to represent the duration of a tone.
Note-system
Basic values
Notes are used to designate relative duration values; each note-type has a unique look.
The duration of 1 whole note equals the duration of:
- from here onwards the system uses an increasing number of value-flags to determine the note-value:
And so on.
Since Klavierstück X of Karlheinz Stockhausen (1967), the older note-form breve has gradually found its way back into contemporary notation; a breve is the double length of a whole note (see example below about dot and multiple dots, last bar upper staff).
By using additional value-flags at the notestem (or the rest - see below), one could theoretically continue this series for ever:
The same relative durations also exist as rests:
Note that the phrase runs: the duration of the notes equal each other. Two half notes e.g. do not equal one whole note, because in the latter case only one tone will be performed whereas in the former there will be two: two half notes equal the same duration as one whole note. Hence the equality of the duration of the events, not of the events themselves.
Beaming
Although single notes from an eighth note onwards can be notated with value-flags as in the above examples, they are usually beamed together in rhythmical groups:
Rests cannot be beamed together. Note that the number of beams touching a notestem determines its value.
Beams can be broken without changing the values of the notes concerned, thus grouping the notes to allow for easier reading.
Ties
A tie connects precisely two notes together so they sound as one uninterrupted tone. If more that two notes are tied together, they are connected two at a time in a row. The two connected notes can each have any note-value, but they must always represent the exact same tone if they are to sound as one.
Rests cannot be tied together.
A tie is often confused with a slur. A slur can connect more than two notes, since it is a musical articulation sign, and not a rhythmical sign to notate certain durations as the tie is.
Dots
A dot is employed to lengthen a note by 50%. Another dot adds 50% of 50% equalling 25% and so on, meaning consecutive smaller note-values are automatically tied together into one symbol.
Thus there can be more than one dot at a notehead, lengthening a note to almost double duration, a procedure which one could compare to the Paradox of Zeno.
Time-signature
A time-signature groups together durations in bars and adds a structure of beats, it defines both the duration and the structure of its functional unit: a bar.
A bar is a unit within a time-signature, containing the exact sum of durations which is defined by the time-signature, with the beats structured according to the time-signature. Bars are separated from each other by a barline, which is most commonly notated as a simple vertical line (on the staff).
A time-signature therefore consists of two numbers:
- The lower number indicates the particle note which is to be counted until the bar is full. This number can be 4 for a quarter note, 8 for an eighth note, 16 for a sixteenth note and so on.
- The upper number indicates the number of particle notes per bar. This can be any integer, such as 1, 2, 3, 4 and so forth.
A time-signature defines three matters:
- The notes in which the tones are notated
- The number of beats per bar
- The subdivision of the beat
There are two prototypes of counting customary for time-signatures, both in beats and in the subdivision thereof: counting in 2 or counting in 3. A higher number can also be used, but this will usually lead to the perfomer subdividing in a series of twos and threes for practical reasons.
Staff-system
Multiple staves can be combined into a staff-system.
Normal use of a staff-system will assign one staff to each instrument.
Square brackets are used to group a staff-system (or a part of it) together, round brackets assign more than one staff to one part.
In a staff-system multiple staves are synchronized like layers of simultaneous notation, the staves are connected at least at the beginning, but usually also at the end. Normally the bar lines are drawn through all the staves of a staff-system, but in case of a large score barlines between groups are not vertically connected.
As a rule, the higher instruments are put above the lower instruments. If this is done per group for all instruments of the classical orchestra, we call this the score-order of the staves.
The following orchestrated example is based the same notes as the above, yet by its very music implies a much slower tempo. It has a large staff-system in which the instrument groups are visually linked by the use of square brackets on the left. The groups are also kept visually apart by the interrupted barlines between the groups:
In the above example there is still a lot missing: there are still no signs added to indicate tempo, dynamics, articulation or special playing devices such as trills, mutes for the brass, stick type for timpani and so on.
In a score like this it is possible to notate several musical instruments on one staff, to save space. Note however, that in these cases the notestems of the parts point in different directions.
Normal score-order for the classical orchestra (top to bottom) is:
- Woodwind instruments (pic, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, bcl, 2bsn, cbn)
- Brass Instruments (4 hn, 3tp, 3tbn, tb)
- Percussion (timp)
- Strings (vi1, vi2, vla, vc, cb)
Any additional solo-instrument would have to be added just above the first violin staff of the string section.
Tone-system
Basic diatonic tones
The contemporary classical system is a diatonic system and has 7 basic tones, in English-language called: C, D, E, F, G, A and B, each notated at a unique position on the staff. The same basic tones are named Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La and Si (or Ti) in other languages and music traditions. German language music theory also has the tone H (equalling the English tone B, while using the letter B for B♭), even though this tone has no special sign in music notation.
Images: the Curwen/Kodály handsigns for solmisation: do - re - mi - fa - sol - la - si - do.
The octaves
As each tone occurs in all octaves, the latter need to be named if an absolute pitch is to be named.
The fact that double the frequency still leads a perception of a reappearance of the same tone is unique for hearing; in visual perception i know of no similar phenomenon.
Alteration of the basic diatonic tones
All basic diatonic tones allow for alteration.
[[Category:Theory of Music]]
