The Evolution of Musical Notation

Paper Summary:

A review of the history of musical notation, the way that musical compositions can be passed from one generation of performers to the next generation of performers. According to the paper, musical notation makes musical training both more diverse as well as more practical. This paper discusses the development of classical and jazz musical notation.

From the Paper:

"Fake books and jazz notation originated with illegal transcriptions of overheard music, although most fake books today copyrighted with the permission of the artist. The original fake book transcribers were not trained musicians, however, merely persons who had overheard or played a particular song they liked and wished to improvise from the tune's base. The books began with music 'of the people' and were designed for musicians who were not often formally trained themselves, perhaps could not even read music very well, but knew enough to use the notes and skeletal information to create music in the context of a performance. Unlike a large orchestra, the musicians knew one another well, and could communicate with one another musically during a performance, unlike musicians across a large concert hall."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Fake Book." Wikipedia. [6 Jun 2006] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_book
• Marsalis, Wynton. "On a slave's need for improvisation." From Jazz: A PBS documentary by Ken Burns.2001. Companion Website. [6 Jun 2006] http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_slavery.htm
• "Musical notation." Wikipedia. [6 Jun 2006] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_notation

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