I have given a lot of thought recently to the pros and cons of the different modes of writing standard music notation to create musical scores. My question is increasingly, why do my students need to be able to write music notation with a pencil and paper? The same question, theoretically, can be asked about handwriting in general. Is the skill of calligraphy or physically inscribing notation a truly necessary skill for music students to learn in the 21st century?
To be honest, I am not adamant that my students should not bother learning to ‘draw’ notation, but I am definitely heading in that direction. Let’s list some pros for keeping up the manual skills of drawing notation.
- Students may become more aware of conventions of notation, such as note head shapes and sizes, the correct side for note stems etc.
- Students improve fine-motor control and ‘penmanship’
- Students can notate music without a computer (but they will need paper manuscript, pen, pencil, eraser)
- Students may feel a sense of satisfaction with producing an artifact ‘by hand’.
Now, lets list the benefits of using digital notation. My students use Sibelius as a powerful music publishing desktop package. They also use Noteflight which is a web 2.0 tool.
- Digital notation is always neat and tidy.
- Students produce much more creative compositions because they can use immediate feedback to make improvements on the fly.
- Digital notation can be played back accurately and immediately without the need for highly skilled performers.
- It can be linked to midi instruments to ‘play in’ notation.
- Printed parts can be generated instantly.
- Entire scores can be edited easily without the need to re-write or transcribe what has already been done – for example, transposed into different keys or instrumentation changed. Bars can be added or deleted without ‘messing up’ the whole.
- Digital notation can be embedded into web pages such as wikis and blogs
In the last year, I have embraced digital notation and online composition tools with all of my middle years and IB Diploma students. This has been a conscious change from using paper manuscript and paper workbooks and we have now gone completely paperless. I have noticed a marked improvement in the general level of engagement of my students in composition tasks. And the best thing, is that their work across the board is more creative and complex. I am convinced that the main feature which has led them to better musical creations, is the ability digital tools offer to experiment, test ideas and work by trial and error. I can see that students are missing out on the manual skills of using pencil or pen, but I believe the benefits to their musical learning outweigh this. I can honestly say that many of my students will probably never get around to ‘drawing’ a treble clef now, as there is too much composing to be done. I would feel it was a waste of their time in most cases.
The other thing we are finding now, is that students are putting their work on display more actively. Each student has their own area in a shared class music wiki. They embed their scores and write reflections and are able to share their creations with each other and a wider audience.
We have to ask ourselves if it is really that important for students in the 21st century to be learning the same skills learnt by their parents. Or does their access to stunning new learning tools and digital environments lead them naturally towards a better and more effective way of doing things? If we insist on teaching the old skills, we should have good reasons for doing so, especially if it takes time away from students who would otherwise be constructing their own learning through creative experimentation.
I just dont see how it is practical to not teach with a pencil. I can’t think of a Symphony rehearsal where a pencil isn’t an important tool.
The best composer/arrangers I have worked with have done their best work at rehearsal with a pencil. I can’t imagine them saying “give me a minute so I can print out new parts”.
I played a long time in band where the guy had over 500 tunes in the book. All written by hand, without a score. Without a mistake. Ever. The pencil can be a powerful tool.
Of course, I would love a suite of computers. I’m not being silly.
Thanks for your comment, Brandt. I agree that when in rehearsal a pencil is essential. I’m just not so sure that it is the best method for composition and arranging any more. Of course, we are always making notes on scores and annotations by hand, but the feedback available from digital notation is just not available from pencil and paper (except for experienced musicians who ‘hear’ what they write). I personally love writing with my old fountain pen, but am using it less and less. Cheers.
Yes, computer a great tool. Use it myself.
When would you start? Is this a luxury of a more wealthy school?
I see the value of learning “at the piano composing” as well. I think a mix might be more appropriate.
Perhaps a lot depends on where the student is coming from. Are they a pianist taking a composition class? Are they a band student, or just a plain old kid with no other skills?
I’d be curious if the feedback the computer provides activates the same part of the brain. Does the brain work differently when you are composing on guitar or piano? Are you “listening” rather than “performing/evaluating” when the computer plays back?
Just curious how the learning works or is different.
I imagine the better skills one has in playing an instrument, the better they will be able to compose using that instrument. From my experience, good piano players compose well for piano and have a strong understanding of harmony. Players of melody instruments like flute probably have a strength in composing melody. The important feature though is the feedback. When we compose with instant playback, it is so easy to make improvements and adjustments on the fly. As with any skill, the more we do it, the better we get at it. Electrical connections are formed in the brain with repetition.
Music writing is calligraphic scratchy scrawling, and is akin to munching on an apple, and playing on a grand piano. It’s a huge treat for the brain, which distinguishes the stroke of a treble clef or a grand staff. It senses what “four sharps” or “three flats” actually feels like, from the scratch of a pencil. Some would call this calligraphy, a word stigmatized, thought of to be ancient or superfluous.
One’s personal handwriting “notation”, whether coarse or fine, is a document of the life story in one’s BRAIN. The more one accesses one’s inner structure, which is, poetry after all, the more one digs in a vein of pure gold.
A single stave can contain a rhythmic focus, a single line and a splash of harmonic intent, a chordal commitment and key signature. With this information, a dream becomes reality.
With a pencil or other sharp object, “The Blues” structure is laid bare, as well as “lead sheets”. I find the paper writing tablet to be indispensable for making the preliminary sketch. I am reminded of poetry, where few words make a big impact.
I can make usable, undeniable notation, by spot writing, usually as fast as the recording goes by. Tough lines and complicated forms can slow me down. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Regarding retention, of my hundreds of scrawls, most required expansion to become something. I also use a computer as well as a digital work station. I upload finished charts, high speed, to a commercial printer, who delivers the scores for six cents a page.
I know I wouldn’t have anything to upload, were it not for the original pencil and paper study, the silent shorthand work.
A wise teacher once said, “Do the whole study.” In my mind, the music begins life as a brain-scratch. If it itches, scratch it out.
Long live calligraphy!
Dear Stu,
I do know what you mean about the pleasure of ‘scrawling’ and jotting ideas by hand. I actually use my old, leaky fountain pen for handwriting and music notation as a first step. It has just the right thickness of line for making nice looking note heads and stems etc. It still seems the best way to scan the rhythm of lyrics when song writing.
My idea for this blog post was to provoke some thought and to point out the benefits of new notation media which has the huge advantage of allowing for instant playback. I still keep a stack of manuscript paper in my classroom, but I am finding that I need to replenish it less often these days.
Thanks for sharing your insightful ideas.
I think we will continue to find a balance between paper and digital as you have done in your creating of music.
I have been using the computer to write music for about 15 years now, scientific, educational stuff and sometimes some missing parts for the concert tomorrow. Then I type lots of (handwritten, difficult notation) early music into the computer for editions etc. But during all those years, I’ve been still composing with the pencil. There is just great freedom, quickly moving paper snippets around to create a piece. The missing feedback, well, I actually “hear” the music when I see it written. The only way to learn that is solfege/rhythm and a good knowledge about harmony. Of course, for some that’s not so much fun like playing around with the computer, but composing becomes much easier once you have those skills, and quicker and (I feel) more natural. So I still recommend to learn that… The actual drawing of notes, well, I don’t know. Some months ago I started to really compose with the computer, and actually I like it pretty much, but it depends completely what program you use – unfortunately, it seems the popular notation programs are not being developed by composers. Well, 15 years ago it was worse (I still remember fighting against the first version of finale…), but still, I think there is a gap between composing and music-desktop-publishing. For composing, I prefer programs like logic studio over Sibelius or Finale, just because of the freedom to move those snippets easily around or just start in the middle of a bar to write, without having to care for rests, etc. I hope one day there will be apps that serve well both for publishing and composing…
Dear Lemon,
Thank you very much for your interesting comments. I am very interested in your use of Logic Studio for composing. Best regards, Gerard.