Culture · 6 pages · 12 min

How music notation captures some of a performance

Staff notation records pitch and duration, and leaves timbre and microtiming mostly unwritten.

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From the opening

Common Western staff notation captures some of a performance by writing pitch relative to a clef and duration relative to a beat, along with a selection of tempo, dynamics, and articulation. It leaves out much of what a listener actually hears, including timbre, continuous inflection, and the small timing choices that make a playing feel alive. The opening covers pitch and duration are the core, timbre and microtiming stay open, and swing marks admit the gap.

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Inside

Pitch and duration are the core
Timbre and microtiming stay open
Swing marks admit the gap
A recording captures one sounding
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Common-practice staff notation of pitch and duration
Performance parameters left unspecified by the score

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How music notation captures some of a performance

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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