INDEX, Page 53.
How to Write Music
Introductory.
1.—It is reasonable to expect that a musician shall be at least an accurate and legible writer as well as a reader of the language of his Art. The immense increase in the amount of music published, and its cheapness, seem rather to have increased than decreased this necessity, for they have vastly multiplied activity in the Art. If they have not intensified the necessity for music-writing, they have increased the number of those by whom the necessity is felt.
Intelligent knowledge of Notation is the more necessary inasmuch as music-writing is in only a comparatively few cases mere copying. Even when writing from a copy, some alteration is frequently necessary, as will be shown in the following pages, requiring independent knowledge of the subject on the part of the copyist. (See e.g., par. 28.)
Yet many musicians, thoroughly competent as performers, cannot write a measure of music without bringing a smile to the lips of the initiated.
Many performers will play or sing a note at sight without hesitation, which, asked to write, they will first falter over and then bungle—at least by writing it at the wrong octave.
The admirable working of theoretical examination papers is sometimes in ridiculous contrast with the puerility of the writing.
Psychologists would probably say that this was because conceptual action is a higher mental function than perceptual: in other words, that recollection is harder than recognition.
The remedy is simple. Recognition must be developed till it becomes recollection: the writing of music must be taught concurrently with the reading of it.
This was once the case: music-writing was a necessary part of a musician's education. One may be the more surprised at its falling into disuse, inasmuch as phonography—in the musical sense—is a distinctly pleasant occupation. Without being either drawing or writing, it partakes of the nature of both.
But many points in the writing of music are not now considered to form part of the Rudiments of Music, and are not included in primers on the subject.
Hence the following pages.
While containing some matter which may have escaped the attention of more advanced musicians, they should, in an educational course, either be used along with a Primer on the Elements, or immediately follow it.
Choice of Paper.
2.—The first matter to claim attention in making a manuscript copy of music is choice of the right kind of music-paper. This will primarily be determined by the number of staves each score requires. Most paper contains twelve staves to the page. This is a most convenient number, allowing for a two-, three-, four-, or six-stave score.
Song-paper: three-stave score, two staves being braced for the piano part, with a third for the voice part. This latter is at a considerable distance above the other staves, to allow room for writing in the words.
Organ-music paper: three-stave score, two staves braced for manual part, and another underneath for pedal part.
Quartet-paper: four-stave score, no brackets or clefs.
Quartet-paper with accompaniment: six-stave score, two bracketed for piano part.
Full-score paper: much smaller than short-score staves. Very useful for other purposes where a small, narrow stave is required.
For piano and violin music, paper should be chosen the staves of which are wide apart, to allow of the large number of leger lines frequently required.
Scoring.
3.—The paper chosen, the first use of a pen will be in ruling the score-lines. A “score” technically is as many staves as are performed simultaneously: two in pianoforte music, three in organ music, four in an unaccompanied quartet, six in four-part vocal music with piano accompaniment, and so on. These staves have a line drawn down their left-hand edge. Hence the name, from their being scored through.
Their position always being at the left-hand edge of the staves, and their length determined by the number of staves, they may be drawn before the length of the measures has been arranged.
Care must be taken when a page is ruled at a time not to draw the score-line through more than the necessary number of staves. Except in a full score there will generally be at least two, and, of course, very often more, scores to the page.
Barring.
4.—After the score-lines come the bar-lines. And with the arranging of these begins that careful mapping-out of the whole work, neglect of which will lead to endless annoyance and dissatisfaction.
Some music is so uniform that a given space may be assigned to each measure, and consequently a uniform number of measures to each score, provided that there is no change of key or time. In determining this space allowance must be made (1) in the first measure of each movement for the key and time signatures, which may require a considerable space; (2) in the first measure of each score for the key