Get your own Free Home PageGood, legible manuscript is one of the most important tools of a composer (well, at least it used to be, back before these fancy notation programs). As I learned the art of writing music, I was simultaneously learning the art of musical notation. This page shows some of the phases I went through over the years as I polished my music manuscript skills.
My early composition attempts reflected a giant void in my notation expertise. As this first sample shows, the concept of the key signature eluded me completely, plus I wasn't that clear on cautionary accidentals. Also, my treble clefs were backwards and my noteheads extremely bulbous.
By the time I had written this second sample, I had learned a little more about key signatures and accidentals. However, I still had problems with noteheads up to this third sample, which I showed to a classmate who slammed my manuscript. On one side of this page, to the left of the second backwards treble clef, you can see her writing on my page where she showed me how notes "should" be written. As a result of her frank comments, I altered my notation style dramatically when I re-copied this sketch here.
When I was around eighteen or nineteen, I was a huge Bachophile, emulating the great composer in every way possible. I even tried to mimic his manuscript, making the bars between eighth and sixteenth notes wavy. This sample shows the manuscript style my freshman music theory professor in college termed "spidery". When I had to write smaller, as in this full score, the effect was less noticeable.
By 1982, I had pretty much realized my mature manuscript style, although my composition itself had a ways to go. This score, from the first version of Little Requiem, reflects the style I still use today-- That is, when I do write by hand. Which brings us to:
By 1992, I had my own computer and could consider using a music notation program. When Laura Grosvenor and I started Magdalene Music in 1993, we experimented with a couple of such programs. We first went the cheap route, paying $99 for a new program, whose name escapes me. After concluding that this program wasn't powerful enough for our needs, we shelled out the big money for Finale. I still use Finale to this day, although I had to make some adjustments to my composition routine. For example, I can no longer write music in front of the TV.
I have little occasion to write by hand anymore, but when I get an idea while away from home, I need a method of writing it down so I won't forget it. Here is music for "When the Saints Come Marching In" written on a sticky note. The lower case "m" off to the side indicates the music is in the minor mode, while the numbers over the notes indicate scale degrees. Octaves are differentiated by the relative vertical positioning of the notes, which are written as normal with the exception of not being located on a staff.
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