<By nuances I mean more the phrasing and the length of notes, i.e. holding a note just that tiniest fraction longer or shorter than would be written.
These, together with attack, are in my view among the most basic elements of style and illustrate how, in many ways, style is inseparable from technique. I'm mainly a string player and these things really boil down to how to use the bow. I'm sure everyone who has attempted to teach a string instrument will have come across the "i'll worry about those details when I can play better" attitude from otherwise intelligent pupils who fail to realise (or refuse to believe) that concerning yourself with such "details" is how you get to play better in the first place. With the brass and wind, the equivalent is how to use the tongue, lips and breath. On nsp it probably boils down simply to how short or long the notes are (and of course in 99.9% or more of cases, notes on nsp sound better separated - which is what "staccatto" means (it doesn't mean "short")) and whether slides or gracenotes are used (I confess to being quite fond of the odd choyte here and there.) <I just find that taking the played note and writing it down is like translating something from one language into another, and wondered if other people have had a similar struggle. As a professional translator, I can assure you that the correspondence between music and the notation that has developed for representing it visually on a more or less one-to-one basis is much closer than the correspondence between any two languages. Languages are, after all, not code forms of each other - which is one of the reasons why we translators still haven't been put out of a job by computers. I can attest to the struggle though. Oops, way off topic!!! As for the penguins, give it a go - it may be the elusive element you've been missing all along (though I prefer peacocks). chirs Hilary -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 07 November 2006 09:18 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: the vagaries of the written note The written notes identify a piece. By "nuances" i expect hilary means aspects of style (though in French "les nuances" means "dynamics" - loud and soft, crescendo-diminuendo etc.). Style - i.e. phrasing, articulation etc. - is tradition. It can be conveyed by a teacher and/or absorbed from careful listening. "Classical" music is as much a tradition as any other genre. The top young students have often acquired a solid and complete technique from their "anonymous" teachers before they go near a big name to study the finer points of interpretation. In Hilary's specific case, it would be interesting to see what she had written and to compare it with how she plays the same pieces. I don't think one can generalise about how to put a maximum of music into the notes on the page. The older the music, the fewer the markings - presumably because people weren't exposed to a wide variety of styles as they are today (transport, communications). The addition of markings reached an extreme with webern, who put dynamics over rests (go figure). The following delight may be new to some of you: http://www.well.com/user/bryan/waltz.html chirs -----Original Message----- From: Hilary de Vries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 10:41 PM To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] the vagaries of the written note With the topic drifting into the area of written music, I'd like to ask to see if other people have had the same experience as me with regards to writing music down. Before starting to compose myself, I took written music pretty much as gospel (probably encouraged by learning Highland chanter where it all felt very spelt out). Then when I tried to write my tunes down, I discovered that it was far from an exact science. I felt like I was squeezing them into some kind of musical corset: the overall shape was okay, but somehow the nuances had been flattened out. The fact that some of my tunes don't have a regular time signature hasn't made the process any easier. I've sort of accepted the limitations of the written note, but not without a struggle, and the fight's not over yet. I wonder what other people's experiences have been, and if similar battles have been fought. Or if, unlike me, you've found ways to get your tune over without feeling compromised. If so, I'd love to know how! I look forward to your replies! Hilary -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html __________ NOD32 1.1856 (20061106) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com
