Notation Must Die: The Battle For How We Read Music

If you're at a loose end and have time to listen to how written music evolved, then click the below (maybe watch Full Screen). I must admit that for someone who doesn't read music, seeing all those demi-semi-demi quavers and keys with six flats is really off putting. Thing is, it's not just the notes that are played as I can work those out. Lines and spaces matching notes with letters A to G (and why they didn't call C "A", as playing up the white notes you would then have had A to G, and back to A as an octave). The problem is the timing, and how long notes are held for. It's this that makes the music so difficult to interpret.

When you start the video going, you will think you are watching the wrong video, as it is all about CHESS. But stick with it! He is explaining to us that music is not the only area where nobody could seem to agree on the best way of recording (ie. writing down) what is happening so that others can follow it.



You can skip to the parts of the video that may interest you (with me, it was all of it that interested me!). I am just glad that I didn't live with the ancient Greeks, as melody was the be-all and end-all of music, and as I love to listen to the harmony in a piece, this wouldn't have suited me at all!

00:00 - Setting the stage
09:26 - Notation must die INTRO!
15:12 - Ancient Greek notation
19:40 - The history of western notation
31:57 - Chromatic staves
36:15 - The piano roll
42:54 - Clefs (and resistance to change)
44:42 - Muto method
46:45 - Notation & the aristocracy
48:25 - Tablature
51:40 - Guitar Hero
52:51 - Klavarskribo
54:08 - Other types of keyboard notation
55:47 - Musitude!
1:01:18 - Dodeca
1:03:01 - Accessibility
1:04:31 - Farbige Noten
1:06:49 - Jullian Carrillo's system
1:08:26 - The best of the rest
1:11:52 - Where can we go from here?

Hugh

Nothing difficult in reading music if you put your mind to it. Every sheet of music displays a treble or bass clef and also a time signature , the easiest of which is probably the waltz. It is in 3/4 time. The 3 signifies 3 beats to the bar and the 4 indicates the value of each note as a crotchet or quarter note. The key signature indicates what musical key the music is written in. This is the part that probably causes the most difficulty in reading music. The rhythm of the piece is achieved by counting the value of each written music bar by bar. This should not cause many problems in modern music but is a different story when reading classical music. Start simply and gradually move on to more difficulty pieces. However, most will take the easy route and continue playing by ear and or using chord sheets. Unfortunately you do not always end up playing the true version, but the version that sounds correct to your ear. Timing and rhythm issues are the most common errors that I hear when listening to musical posts.

Ron

Very well put Ron. Agree wholeheartedly. Regards, Den.