Graphic notation – the simple sketch and beyond

Abstract

Graphic notation is taught to music therapy students at Aalborg University in both simple and elaborate forms. This is a method of depicting music visually, and notations may serve as memory aids, as aids for analysis and reflection, and for communication purposes such as supervision or within research work. This article focuses especially on the simple form. It cites and comments examples from a collection by the author. Additionally, the range of purposes as well as didactics is discussed, and bibliographical information is given.

Keywords:

• graphic notation (music)
• music analysis
• musical analysis
• auditive analysis (music)
• improvisation (music)
• music notation

Notes

¹This metaphor comes from visual artist Paul Klee and might exist only in orally transmitted form. At the time of writing, a large number of internet sources mention it. They include Laura Cumming (2002) who states that “Taking a line for a walk' may have become the catchphrase Klee unwittingly bequeathed to posterity'.

²A more exact term is the retention aspect of memory. This was described by Husserl, and, referring to him, Noll (1977) has an interesting discussion of it. Sarath (1996) coins a different term for the experienced ‘now’ in improvised music: ‘localised present’.

³My own hermeneutic method, presently termed ‘3 column analysis’, has the speciality of a self-critical reflection on ‘therapists’ subjective bias', besides dialectically opposing syntactic and semantic elements and experienced primary emotions. It was inspired by work with the 3 zones in gestalt therapy.

⁴See Bergstrøm-Nielsen (1999b) for an elaborate example in black/white. Examples in colour can be found in Bergstrøm-Nielsen (1999a). The same examples are included in Bergstrøm-Nielsen (1992a) in a better quality, but without English translations. They also appear with translations in Bergstrøm-Nielsen (2009).

⁵Two among many other writings are Stern (1975) and Trevarthen (1999).

⁶The articles listed in the bibliography by Gilboa and Bensimon (2007) and by Gilboa (2007) describe works of other colleagues. Bergstrøm-Nielsen (2009) is an article in which different forms of graphic notation by different authors are compared.

⁷You may consult http://www.musikterapi.aau.dk for further details. The information is given in Danish language, although individual disciplines have also English names in the official curriculum description, to be found under ‘studieordninger’.