Notation ProjectIntroduction

My younger brother (age 10) has recently started learning to play Bach’s Prelude No.1 on the piano. I asked him to follow a simple set of instructions, an algorithm of sorts to investigate how, as a relatively naive musician, interpreted the music:

Taking each note in turn:

1. listen to the note and the note that immediately preceeds it.2. draw a pictogram which expresses how you feel regarding the preceeding note.3. on the same piece of paper draw another pictogram relative to the first one, expressing the relative difference between the two notes.4. shape the ball of plasticine provided and place in on the grid in a way that expresses how you feel regarding the pair of notes.5. repeat

After scanning and photographing these results and matching their timing to that of the music I conducted further analysis of the pictograms. which follows.

absolute melodic intervals

+12

+11

+10

+9

+8

+7

+6

+5

+4

+3

+2

+1

-15

-14

-13

-12

-11

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

-16

-18

-17

-19

+13

+14

+15

+16

+17

relative melodic intervals

7 perfect fifth

6 diminished fifth

5 perfect fourth

4 major third

3 minor third

2 major second

1 minor second

8 minor sixth

9 major sixth

10 minor seventh

11 major seventh

12 perfect octave

relative harmonic intervals

7 perfect fifth

6 diminished fifth

5 perfect fourth

4 major third

3 minor third

2 major second

1 minor second

8 minor sixth

9 major sixth

10 minor seventh

11 major seventh

12 perfect octave

general statistics

last in measure

first in measure

lowest in measure

highest in measure

Pictogram NotationGraphical Analysis

The pictograms drawn by my brother were reduced to a point (representing the centre of the pictogram), and a square (representing the shaded area).

The sheet music for the song was then analysed note by note, and each pictogram was plotted on charts for various intervals and statistical metrics.

The analysis and plots were created using custom python programs which I coded specially for the task.

For example we can see that the first note in a measure tends to be drawn centrally in the upper half of the paper. The last note in a measure tends to be drawn in the top right corner of the paper.

Harmonic intervals show the difference between two notes held down at the same time. Absolute melodic intervals show the difference between a note and the preceeding note without limiting this to the range of an octave. Melodic intervals show the same as absolute melodic intervals, except that the interval has been limited to an octave.

relative harmonic intervals

17161514131211109876543210-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19

Pictograms

121110987654321

Melodic Intervals

ref

Absolute Melodic Intervals

121110987654321

Harmonic Intervals

ref

relative melodic intervals

7 perfect fifth

6 diminished fifth

5 perfect fourth

4 major third

3 minor third

2 major second

1 minor second

8 minor sixth

9 major sixth

10 minor seventh

11 major seventh

12 perfect octave

relative harmonic intervals

7 perfect fifth

6 diminished fifth

5 perfect fourth

4 major third

3 minor third

2 major second

1 minor second

8 minor sixth

9 major sixth

10 minor seventh

11 major seventh

12 perfect octave

general statistics

last in measure

first in measure

lowest in measure

highest in measure

absolute melodic intervals

+12

+11

+10

+9

+8

+7

+6

+5

+4

+3

+2

+1

-15

-14

-13

-12

-11

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

-16

-18

-17

-19

+13

+14

+15

+16

+17

Plasticine NotationGraphical Analysis

Photographs of the balls of plasticine shaped by my brother were reduced to a point (representing the centre of the ball of plasticine), and a square (representing the area of the photograph taken up by the plasticine).

See the notes on pictogram notation for more on the meaning of this analysis.

relative harmonic intervals

17161514131211109876543210-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19

Plasticine

Absolute Melodic Intervals

121110987654321

Melodic Intervals

ref

121110987654321ref

Harmonic Intervals

Pictogram NotationNote Tower (bottom to top)

Plasticine NotationNote Tower (bottom to top)