Explore what's involved when musicians create a performance from musical notation in this free online course.TranscriptWould you like to know more about what musicians do in rehearsals and performances? Would you like to learn different techniques for listening to and understanding music?This free course provides a general introduction to how to understand a musical score, and insights into what professional musicians do with the notation that these contain. You'll learn how to connect the notation you see with the music you hear, from short familiar melodies to a full orchestral score.Focusing on works by Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Mahler, we'll introduce you to a pianist, a small chamber group and a conductor who will explain how they create memorable performances from the notes on the page.RequirementsThis course is intended for anyone with an interest in music. You do not need to be able to read musical notation or play an instrument.
Overview
Syllabus
- Week1Week 1: Understanding the principles of musical scores
- Introduction
- 1.1 Types of musical score
- 1.1.1 How do musical scores work?
- 1.1.2 Some things notations do
- 1.1.3 What should a musical score capture?
- 1.1.4 The ear-eye connection
- 1.2 Introducing pitch and rhythm
- 1.2.1 A little bit of history
- 1.2.2 Working with neumes
- 1.2.3 Guido of Arezzo
- 1.3 Organising time
- 1.3.1 Finding the beat
- 1.3.2 Close listening
- 1.3.3 What are you listening for?
- 1.3.4 Comparing notes: reading a musical score
- 1.3.5 Single line notation in context – the bigger picture
- 1.4 Week 1 summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Pianists and piano scores
- Introduction
- 2.1 Variations on a theme
- 2.1.1 Getting started with piano scores
- 2.2 Melody and harmony
- 2.2.1 Texture
- 2.2.2 Texture in big band jazz
- 2.2.3 Discussing Mozart
- 2.2.4 Comparing notes: the kaleidoscope of piano textures
- 2.3 Some new symbols
- 2.3.1 Fitting sound and silence together
- 2.3.2 Visualising textures in a score
- 2.3.3 Practising your skills
- 2.3.4 Fitting it all together
- 2.4 Week 2 quiz
- 2.5 Week 2 summary
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Musical collaboration and the role of the score
- Introduction
- 3.1 Working collaboratively with a score
- 3.1.1 Introducing new genres
- 3.1.2 Working with instruments
- 3.2 Instrumental colour
- 3.2.1 New textures
- 3.2.2 Instrumental tone colour
- 3.2.3 Layering and balancing sounds
- 3.2.4 Layered textures
- 3.2.5 The Trout revisited
- 3.3 Introducing jazz instrumentation and notation
- 3.3.1 Big band timbres and textures
- 3.3.2 Putting it all together
- 3.4 Week 3 summary
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Understanding orchestral scores
- Introduction
- 4.1 Score order
- 4.1.1 Staves and systems
- 4.1.2 A conductor discusses: orchestral rehearsals
- 4.1.3 Coordinating movement
- 4.1.4 Synthesising sight and sound
- 4.1.5 Following the score
- 4.2 A conductor discusses: developing a performance
- 4.2.1 Mahler - what to look out for
- 4.2.2 Keeping track - Mahler Symphony No.1, third movement
- 4.3 Following a motif
- 4.3.1 A conductor discusses: interpretive approaches
- 4.3.2 Double bar
- 4.4 Week 4 quiz
- 4.5 End-of-course round-up
- Acknowledgements
