{"id":12984,"date":"2023-02-08T12:18:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T17:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/?p=12984"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:56:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:56:58","slug":"picturing-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/picturing-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Picturing Music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about representation lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, I don\u2019t need a lawyer. I\u2019m talking about how we \u2018picture\u2019 music. As an experiment last week, I asked my kids to draw a picture of rhythms we were working with during the session. I didn\u2019t ask them to use notation. Some of them are too young to know any notation anyway (the older ones have basic reading skills). I just said, \u201cDraw a picture of the two\u2019s on one side and the three\u2019s on the other,\u201d which had been the focus of the day\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few drew groupings of lines or shapes, but most simply drew whatever it is they liked to draw. There were human figures, airplanes, even a well-shaded piece of fruit. I asked them to hold up the side that matched the music they heard, and I improvised music in two or in three. In most cases, I would have been unable to discern which drawing was which by merely looking. I needed an explanation from the artist. When it seemed to me to that there was an identical piece of fruit on both sides of the paper, the student explained to me that the one with more empty space was for the two\u2019s. Of course, the words \u2018draw\u2019 and \u2018picture\u2019 naturally send kids into a particular mindset. Interestingly, this mindset is usually representational in some way. We don\u2019t always draw what we really see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our minds are built to associate meaning with symbol, and musical notation takes advantage of this proclivity. All of the words and symbols on this page are mostly arbitrary. We have agreed on their meaning, and so I am able to communicate with you. It has without question made possible some profound and glorious combinations of sound throughout its history, and yet I find myself wary of placing too much emphasis on it in my teaching. Notation creates a hierarchical grid that is not part of my experience of so much of the music that I make and that is important to me. Making things worse, the names in American English are highly problematic. Four-quarter time? Sure, makes sense. One quarter is 1\/4th<\/sup> of a measure of four beats. So how can one \u201cquarter\u201d note stand in for 1\/3rd<\/sup> of a bar in three-quarter time? And on and on. (In naming their rhythm units after knitting needles, the British have an advantage here.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I experience a rich interplay of pulse levels and even meters when I listen to, for example, a Sonny Rollins recording<\/a>. There is great pleasure to be found in the play of two\u2019s and three\u2019s (on many levels) as my perception shifts from one to another. The musicians communicate through a dynamic, flexible and somehow simultaneously precise and ambiguous rhythmic language. Of course, students learning a Haydn Sonata need to be able to decode the shift from eighths to sixteenths to triplets and then to thirty-seconds, but I am loathe to lock them into that too soon via notation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a quarter becomes the de facto representation of a beat, something is lost. Anything can represent a beat: a quarter, an eighth, an apple… In the Dalcroze classroom I try to split the difference between my natural inclination to avoid reducing music to representation too soon and my responsibility to make sure my students are prepared for their music lessons. I want to create musical experiences that will be solid, tangible, lived, felt and authentic. If I am doing that, I can feel more at ease showing them a quarter note and telling them that it represents\u2014or can<\/em> represent\u2014a beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made the drawings some time ago to help myself visualize a couple poly-meters and cross-rhythms. Some will be easy to see, some less so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019m ok with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been thinking about representation lately. No, I don\u2019t need a lawyer. I\u2019m talking about how we \u2018picture\u2019 music. As an experiment last week, I asked my kids to draw a picture of rhythms we were working with during the session. I didn\u2019t ask them to use notation. Some of them are too young to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[117],"class_list":["post-12984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dalcroze-reference","tag-dalcroze-practice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9ohMj-3nq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":435,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/drawing-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":0},"title":"Drawing Music","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"March 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For the past few weeks, you may have noticed your children leaving the classes clutching drawings. In the spring of the year, I usually begin to focus the children\u2019s attention on ways that musical events and phenomenon can be visually represented. However, the longer I teach, the more I find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dalcroze Reference"","block_context":{"text":"Dalcroze Reference","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/category\/dalcroze-reference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/dalcroze-7-9-year-olds-2717\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":1},"title":"Dalcroze: 7-9-Year-olds, 2\/14\/17","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's what we did: Statue tag All students make a statue. One moves as long as she likes. When she stops, she makes the shape of one of the statues. That statue is free to move. This game is more fun when whoever is making someone else\u2019s shape does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dalcroze Reference"","block_context":{"text":"Dalcroze Reference","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/category\/dalcroze-reference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":482,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/dalcroze-7-9-year-olds-2714\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":2},"title":"Dalcroze: 7-9-Year-olds, 2\/7\/14","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"February 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Back to my own observations... enjoy! \u00a0 Statue tag All students make a statue. One moves as long as she likes. When she stops, she makes the shape of one of the statues. That statue is free to move. This game is more fun when whoever is making someone else\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dalcroze Reference"","block_context":{"text":"Dalcroze Reference","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/category\/dalcroze-reference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10688,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/1st-2nd-grade-skills-and-objectives-associated-with-rhythm-part-2-of-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":3},"title":"1st-2nd Grade Dalcroze Skills and Experiences: Rhythm (Part 2 of 4)","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"September 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Second in a series of posts describing what a typical class might cover during the year. Now we get to the heart of the matter. This is a formidable list, and not all that different from a list I might make for adult classes. Does this mean the children will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dalcroze Reference"","block_context":{"text":"Dalcroze Reference","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/category\/dalcroze-reference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13728,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/rough-sketch\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":4},"title":"Rough Sketch","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"April 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Confession: I frequently have a hard time learning my own music. This is probably not uncommon for composers who primarily write music for others to perform, but I am definitely writing for myself. Lately, when I compose it is usually an attempt to personalize a musical subject that I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dalcroze Reference"","block_context":{"text":"Dalcroze Reference","link":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/category\/dalcroze-reference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/cpsess1042171136\/frontend\/paper_lantern\/filemanager\/2023\/04\/In-the-Rough-visual.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/cpsess1042171136\/frontend\/paper_lantern\/filemanager\/2023\/04\/In-the-Rough-visual.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/cpsess1042171136\/frontend\/paper_lantern\/filemanager\/2023\/04\/In-the-Rough-visual.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":510,"url":"https:\/\/joviala.com\/jovialaworks\/7-9-year-old-dalcroze-4417\/","url_meta":{"origin":12984,"position":5},"title":"7-9 Year-old Dalcroze, 4\/4\/17","author":"Michael Joviala","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This week\u2019s activities: We first reviewed the notation and language for some basic rhythms for compound (ternary) meter: dotted quarters, 3 eighth notes, quarter-eighth. I put the symbols on the board, and asked one student to stand in front of the one he\/she wanted to hear and see moved. 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