Continuing from where we left off in part 2a of this four-part series about music notation, I have three more visualisation techniques to share. With some thinking and some practice, you may find yourself doing these things quite naturally and instinctively, deepening the relationship you have with music.
Technique #4 - Aim high, exaggerate and get it wrong.
I liken this to a baby babbling. Before an infant can speak, it just makes noises that feel right. In conjunction with their babbling, regular exposure to other people's voices, their inflections, and the situational context of the language they hear, young children learn how to create words, sentences and eventually have conversations with others in growing complexity.
Now let's imagine ourselves in a similar situation, as children learning the language of music - Writing music with little inhibition, with regular exposure and attention to the rhythmic and intervallic patterns in quality music (both audible and written), progressing naturally into creating musical phrases, motifs, movements and the ability to communicate with other musicians.
Simple exercise 1:
Compose music with little inhibition. Lower your guard and allow yourself to just write notes with no worry about how they will sound, just as an infant would make noises with no concern if the words are coming out right.
Just as the proverbial infant absorbs and recreates the phonetics and context of the language around them, identify patterns within the music you hear, read, write and perform. Later to be freely transformed and channeled into written, musical form.
Attempt to play what you have written and accept what you have created. Take note of the sounds and patterns in your composition that you like, grow in confidence as you witness your pure musical voice shining through the void of the unfamiliar. With practice this will inevitably manifest in greater detail, granting you the ability to write what you hear and hear what you read.
Simple exercise 2:
When playing or listening to music, imagine seeing the notes being transcribed onto manuscript before your eyes.
Even if the vision is a bit faint and blurry or other evidence (such as practical abilities in transcription) suggest that the pitches and note duration being visualised may be largely incorrect, remain confident that it will inevitably evolve into greater skills of aural and visual recognition of music as you actively combine this practice with other foundational musical skills such as listening, reading and composition.
Even if you are unsure of the correct notation, attempt to see the manuscript in your minds eye with increasingly vivid and lively detail.
Technique #5 - Cultivating synesthesia.
Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which the experience of one sense is associated with another. In my case, when I hear sounds I associate them with shapes and colours. Not until my teenage years did I learn that not everybody experiences synesthesia.
A concert pianist friend of mine who experiences very vivid synesthesia told me that he believes synesthesia can be cultivated. I believe this to be true based on the results I have witnessed in being able to experience my own synesthesia becoming more vivid.
Simple exercise:
Write a short passage of music. Think of your favourite colour, imagine that you can hear the passage and see the colour as you hear it.
Try to see the colour more clearly. As you continue to hear the passage and see the colour, ask yourself what shapes could represent the sound, imagine the shapes accordingly.
Examine the notes, intervals, chords, scales, melodies and rhythms in isolation. Use your imagination to hear and see them represented with the choices of shapes and colours that you see fit.
Examining the same passage and its elements, begin to imagine different shapes and colours to the ones you have already thought of.
There are no objective standards on what to imagine these sounds look like. A G major chord could look like a large purple cloud one day, the next day you may see it as a gravelly texture of navy blue, and to another person it may seem like a stream of white and red streaks.
Technique #6 - Imagery, symbolism and fantasy.
It was the same concert pianist that I previously mentioned who suggested to "look past the notes, see what story the composer is trying to tell". This is what really transforms what might initially seem to be just a song into a captivating story and insight into one's imagination and creativity.
Symbolism can be very personal, intangible and mysterious. It is a powerful, insightful, and creative tool in developing understanding and expression of particular concepts in any given art form. Understanding somebody else's use of symbols and imagery helps to decipher thoughts and intentions they may otherwise find difficulty in expressing by other means.
Whenever I am creating, reading or listening to music I am always seeking to experience more than just mere sounds. I need to discover things about myself that I haven't yet discovered, revealed by examining and reflecting on the thoughts and emotions I have in reaction to music being created, studied and enjoyed.
Simple exercise 1:
This is similar to exercise 1 in cultivating synaesthesia but instead of imagining shapes and colours we will imagine themes like objects, scenarios, memories, words or characters.
Write a short musical passage, and imagine anything that seems meaningful to you. Ask yourself "what does this mean to me?". Particular objects might represent a particular use, or you may find that you attach particular depth of meaning and context or emotion into a given word. Reflect and explore your conscience.
Isolate and examine the elements of the passage and conjour more ideas to mentally assign to the various rhythms, intervals, chords etc. Think about how these new ideas may relate to the passage's primary theme.
This creative process can lead to very deep introspection and creative output. It is worthwhile to maintain a dedicated journal to record your thoughts in handwriting, and speak with your artistically-inclined peers about the fruits and endeavours of your creative process.
While we are on the topic of symbolism and fantasy, I'll have you know I've been working on a concept album. It is my musical representation of a series of short stories I am writing. The project is called "Everlasting". Each track of the album will musically correlate with each successive chapter in the story. The first chapter "The Young Boy and the Little Muse" has been written along with the majority of composition related to it. You can read chapter one here.
I use very simple and common symbolic, situational and character archetypes in Everlasting, in the hopes that even a casual reader may relate and reflect on parallels they may see between the story and their own way of thinking. It is a story meant to inspire creativity and introspection.
That is the end of part 2 in my 4 part series on music notation.
The emphasis of part 2 was to develop useful mental habits that augment skills and engagement in the expression and interpretation of music notation. Part 3 will cover practical composition methods in which you can integrate the techniques you learned about in part 2.
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