Elsewhere throughout the same study the composer has placed dots immediately after the note they prolong. Here, therefore, he seems to have anticipated the objection that he was dotting un-accented notes (see “Notation of Rhythm,” Par. 9), and to refute it by showing that there are in reality two series of accents in each measure, at cross purposes with each other, that, indeed, the alto, and tenor measures are an eighth note behind the treble, though they could not be written with separate bar-lines. This is clear when the whole passage is seen. Observe that the dot to the last note of a measure is placed at the beginning of the next, to make the overlapping clear to the eye. (Also that the dots to the last alto and tenor quarter notes are placed not in the space next, but in the space next-but-one higher than the note they prolong.) Dots are not infrequently placed thus—that is, in or near the part of the measure with which they synchronize—apart from any such purpose as that just explained.
The dot made its first appearance in music about A.D. 1300. Sometimes it had a tail (“punctus caudatus”) and looked not unlike an inverted comma. It did not, however, acquire its present meaning till about a century later.
Stems.
22.—There is no rule as to the length of stems, and they vary greatly. The stems in a single group of notes are as often as not of different lengths, according to the position of the notes and the direction taken by the hook. A common fault is to make them too short, especially when the four hooks of a sixty-fourth note have to be added. This, however, is generally the result of a badly directed hook (see a, Fig. 18).
23.—As to the direction they take there is a definite rule. In open score (when one part only is being written on a stave), the stems of notes above the middle line should be turned down, the stems of those below the middle line should be turned up (see b, Fig. 18). The object of this is to keep the stems within the stave and prevent their sprawling above or below. The ill-equipped writer betrays himself by nothing more often than by sprawling stems.
The stems in a group of notes are generally turned according to the direction of the first note, or the majority. In a group containing a wide skip they are often turned individually according to the rule, involving opposite directions, the hook being drawn between them (see c, Fig. 18).
Five exceptions are common: (1) The stem of a grace note is almost invariably turned upwards, though according to Dr. Hullah it should be turned in the direction contrary to that of the stem of the principal note, for the sake of greater distinctness (see d, Fig. 18). In “copy” for the printer grace-notes are best written in red ink. (2) In piano music when a single part, or row of notes, is to be divided between the hands, one playing one group and the other the next, the stems of the right-hand notes are turned up, and those of the left down (see Fig. 15, latter half of measure). (3) Similarly in some organ music, especially that printed in Germany, pedal notes which are to be played by the right foot have the stems turned up, those by the left, down. (4) In vocal music, when a subsequent verse, though having the same notes, requires different time-values from the first verse, or a translation requires different time-values from the original language, the time-values required by one verse or language have the stems of the notes turned up, those required by the other down (see e, Fig. 18, from Molique's oratorio “Abraham”). (5) In music written on two staves, when the notes of a single group skip from one stave to the other, the hook is placed between the staves, and the stems of the notes on the lower stave are turned up, and of those on the upper stave down, irrespective of their relation to the middle line of the stave (see f, Fig. 18, from the “Moonlight” Sonata).
24.—In short score, that is when two parts have to be written on one stave, the stems belonging to the upper part should be turned upwards, and those to the lower downwards. Only by this means can the course of the parts be made clear to the eye. When the parts cross, the rule must be strictly adhered to: the note belonging to the upper part, not the upper note, must have the upward stem. To make quite clear which note each stem belongs to, it is well in this case to make the notes a little less close together than they otherwise would be (see a, Fig. 19, a well-known case from a chant by Sir John Goss, where the tenor goes below the bass). Sometimes more than two parts are written on one stave; in this case the stems of two parts must be turned the same way, and considerable ingenuity is required to make the course of the parts clear. Usually the middle part varies in the direction of its stems. Simultaneous notes are generally written not quite in a line with each other, to allow of separate stems: the stems are generally rather short, so as not to run into each other, and the hooks of simultaneous eighths and shorter notes do not concur. Two measures from Bach's piano fugues will illustrate these points (b and c, Fig. 19).
25.—The stems of rests are always turned downwards.
26.—There is also a definite rule as to the side of a note at which the stem should be placed: stems turned upwards should be at the right-hand side of the note-head, those downwards, at the left. This rule is observed less in the case of half notes than of shorter notes—for what reason the writer is unable to say.
27.—At one time whole notes and shorter notes were not round, but lozenge-shaped, the longer notes being square, and the stem was then in the middle, thus . These gave way to round notes about the seventeenth century. Playford's well-known Whole Booke of Psalms, published about 1675, was probably one of the earliest books printed wholly with round notes.
28.—It follows from the foregoing rules that even so apparently simple a task as transcribing a part—soprano, alto, tenor, or bass—from a short-score hymn or chant book into a choir part-book is not mere copying. In the hymn or chant book the stems of one part are all turned the same way: in the part-book they must be turned according to their relation to the middle line.
Hooks.
29.—With one exception, hooks should be made at the right-hand side of the stem; they are therefore sometimes at the same side as the note-head, and sometimes not.
30.—The exception is when longer and shorter notes are combined in the same group. In this case the hooks not common to the whole group are invariably turned so as to lie within the group, and, subject to this, if the group contains more than one beat, so as to lie within the beat of which they form part.
31.—Previous to 1660, each eighth or shorter note had a separate hook or hooks. But at the time of the Restoration, John Playford substituted a connecting horizontal line for the separate hooks of two or more eighths belonging to the same division of the measure. The device was copied by the Dutch, French, and Germans. The Italians did not adopt it till later. Thus, Marcello's Psalms, published in Venice as late as 1724–27, have separate hooks. (In an edition in the writer's possession, published in 1757, united hooks are used, but this is probably rather due to the venue than to the later date.)
32.—Hooks in instrumental music must be united in strict accordance with the laws of rhythm (see “Notation of Rhythm,” pars. 8–13). Thus, four eighth notes must not have the same hook in Compound Time: they must be grouped as three and one, or one and three, or two and two, according to the position they occupy in the beat they belong to. In three-four time, six eighth notes may have one hook, but in six-eight time they should preferably have separate hooks of three eighth notes each. Broadly speaking, the notes forming a single beat of the measure should be united in one hook, but very commonly two beats have one hook between them, especially in four-four time.
In the case of sixteenths and shorter notes, the outermost hook often shows the half-measure, and the inner hook or hooks the sub-division into beats (see Fig. 21).
33.—So closely should the hooks follow the rhythm, that where a phrase crosses the measure beginning at the end of one measure, and ending at the beginning of the next, the hook crosses the bar-line too, uniting notes in different measures (see a, Fig. 22). Notes may have the same hook though separated by a rest (see b, Fig. 22).
34.—The hook to a group of notes which ascends or descends may either slant in the direction taken by the notes, or may be straight (see c, Fig. 22). In the writer's opinion slanted hooks are preferable as being a better guide to the eye. In manuscript music, when hooks have to be drawn within the stave, and not above or below it, they should invariably be slanted when this is possible; otherwise they are very apt to coincide with the stave-lines, and fail of distinctness. A common fault is in not making them thick enough. Notes are sometimes “hooked” in accordance, not with the rhythm, but with the hand which is to play them (see d, Fig. 22). This is necessitated by the usage with regard to stems in such cases [see “Stems,” par. 22, exception (2)].
35.—In vocal music notes should not have the same hook which are sung to a different syllable (see “Vocal Music,” par. 37). Subject to these exceptions, notes must be grouped according to their rhythm.
Leger-lines.
36.—The appeal to the eye (see “Notation of Rhythm,” par. 8, and “Placing of Notes,” par. 14) must be maintained as regards the pitch as well as the duration of notes—their perpendicular as well as their horizontal position. Consequently leger-lines must be the same distance from the stave, and from each other, as the stave-lines are one from another. Carelessness in this matter is very common and very confusing. How often a lower note looks as though above a higher one, because leger-lines are cramped together in one case and too wide apart in another (see Fig. 23).
“Two things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other,” as Euclid says: let leger-lines be equidistant with stave-lines, and they will be level with each other.
But accuracy in the number of lines is of more importance than the appeal to the eye, and the appeal to the eye must of course not be made a substitute for it. The context shows the high note in Fig. 24 (which is several times repeated) to have been intended for E, the position of which, on the paper, it about occupies. But, being on the first leger-line, it is A, and would be were it a yard above the stave! (The example is taken from a printed, not a manuscript copy! The first two notes are evidently intended as grace-notes, though the stems are turned down; the stems in the second half of the first measure should have been turned up.)
Vocal Music.
37.—In vocal music the singing of one syllable to two or more notes is shown in the case of whole notes, half notes, and quarters, by a slur (see Fig. 25).
It will be seen from the above that a slur does not dispense with the necessity for tying consecutive notes of the same pitch, occurring in a passage sung to one syllable. For an apparent exception see a passage from Handel's “But who may abide”:
But here, the repeated note occurring on a strong accent preceded by a weak one, is evidently intended not to be tied, but to receive an emphasis. (Similar exceptions may be found in “Every Valley.”)
In modern music, when all the notes of a measure are to be sung to the same syllable, and there is no likelihood of confusion, the slur is often dispensed with. This is especially the case in Mendelssohn's music.
38.—Eighths and shorter notes, to which one syllable is to be sung, should have a united hook, provided that they belong to the same rhythmic group; and separate hooks, though belonging to the same rhythmic group, if sung to separate syllables:
39.—Many writers place a slur over eighth notes, as well as quarters and longer notes, when sung to one syllable. But this is quite unnecessary with hooked notes unless, as in the preceding example, a syllable is sung to a whole group and part of another, or parts of two groups. Redundancy of slurs—very common in old music—is confusing rather than helpful.
Intelligibility depends much upon getting the syllables exactly under or over the notes to which they are to be sung.
40.—Syllables sung to notes extending over more space than themselves should be followed by dots if forming a complete word, and by strokes, or hyphens, if parts of a word. See preceding examples.
Open Score to Short Score.
41.—In transcribing from open score to short score, a single sound sung by two voices simultaneously beginning and ending at the same time, should, if a whole note, be represented by two note-heads linked; if a half note or shorter note, by having two stems, one up and the other down:
42.—Black notes, though of different lengths, may have the same note-head if they begin at the same time, the difference being shown in the hook or hooks:
But a whole note and a half note must have separate note-heads, since a stem would turn a whole note into a half note; and a whole note or half note and a quarter note must have separate note-heads, since a note cannot be white and black at the same time. In this case the note-head of shorter duration must be written first:
The rule is sometimes relaxed, and the longer note written first, when the shorter note is the first of a group.
Albeit a half note and an eighth, or other hooked note, may have the same note-head, provided this be that of the half note, because the hook shows that in one part the note is intended to be read as an eighth note. They cannot have an eighth note-head because there is nothing to distinguish the stem of a half note from that of a quarter:
43.—Notes cannot have the same note-head which begin at different times, even though they end at the same time. This would involve writing one of them in the wrong part of the measure (see “Placing of Notes,” par. 14).
Hence, as a dotted quarter is a sixteenth shorter than two dotted eighths and a sixteenth, and therefore the final note does not begin at the same time (though it ends at the same time) in the treble and alto parts of the last group of Fig. 16 (par. 35), the example is inaccurate. It should have been written thus:
and would be so played were the passage given, say, to two violins.
[The tyro must not mistake the above two final note-heads, the longer of which comes first, for a breach of the rule exemplified in Fig. 31 (par. 42), and which applies to two notes which begin at the same time. Here the longer note begins before the shorter one.]
44.—In part-music all the accidentals in an open score will have to be reproduced in short score. Each performer is only supposed to read his own part, and cannot be assumed to have seen an accidental in another part which, had it been seen, would have rendered one in his own unnecessary. Thus the sharps in Fig. 35
will remain in a transcription to short score,
if intended for part-singers or players. (A pianist or organist would not need the second sharp in each stave, while probably preferring it as a recognition of the part-writing character of the music.)
45.—In music which is not part-writing, the transcriber will have to use his discretion as to the repetition of accidentals which have already appeared in another “part” in the same measure. The guiding principle will be to avoid the likelihood of error on the part of a competent reader.
46.—Care must be taken to turn the stems of half notes and shorter notes according to the principles of short score, and not necessarily as they are in the open score.
Short Score to Open Score.
47.—Co-relatively, in transcribing from short score to open, it will occasionally be necessary to put accidentals in the latter which are not in the former. The commonest form of this is probably in extracting a single part, soprano, alto, tenor, or bass, from an ordinary short score hymn or chant book, and writing it in a part-book for the particular voice. Thus, in transcribing the tenor of the following extract from the hymn-tune “Heathlands” into a part-book, it would be necessary to insert a natural before the A.
48.—Far more often, however, it is necessary to omit naturals used to contradict an accidental occurring in a part which is not being copied. Thus, in the following extract from the tune “Endless Alleluia,” the natural in both the tenor and bass would be unnecessary were these parts written out separately from the other parts and each other.
(The A sharp in the tenor of this extract suggests C sharp so strongly apart from the rest of the harmony, that the natural is almost a necessity even had the previous treble C sharp not been included. Not being required according to rule, however, it should be enclosed in brackets—a not infrequent, and very commendable, device with careful writers, when an accidental is desirable but not necessary according to rule.)
49.—The stems, of course, must be turned up or down according to their position above or below the middle line, and not as in the short score.
Extracting a Single Part.
50.—In copying out a single part from a score, full or short, care must be taken in abbreviating a number of measures' rest. The usual way of doing this is to write the number of measures over a single measure, thus:
But if a pause occurs in any of the other parts of the score this will not do. The number of bars before the pause must be counted, and the pause—or pauses—shown in the abbreviation as follows, assuming it to occur in the thirteenth bar:
Accidentals.
51.—The necessity for inserting accidentals in a part-copy which may not appear in a short-score, has just been pointed out. Yet the musical Hercules is beset with a Charybdis as well as a Scylla. He may be drawn into the bad and very irritating modern habit of using accidentals which are not really called for. Accidentals where unnecessary are doubtless used with the object of making assurance doubly sure. They have precisely the reverse effect, besides being uncomplimentary—to put it mildly—to the intelligence of the performer. Sharps, flats, and naturals which sometimes are foreign to the signature, and sometimes duplicate it, cause confusion where there was previously assurance. Bad enough at all times, they are, when one is transposing at sight, exasperating to the last degree.
An accidental is operative during the bar in which it occurs, and no further, unless it inflects the last note of a bar, and the next bar begins with the same note. It is so usual, however, to contradict an accidental in the bar next to that in which it occurs, that this practice may almost be said to have become a rule, breach of which might cause uncertainty in all but the clearest cases. This is no justification for the absurd practice of some writers, of contradicting an inflection the next time the same note un-inflected occurs, however far off this may be!
As a rule, a natural should only be used where the sharp or flat to be cancelled would not have to be repeated were the inflection intended to continue.
Legibility.
52.—A common cause of illegibility in manuscript music is what may be called a spider-like sameness in the web. Stems and hooks—indeed sometimes stems and note-heads!—are much of the same thickness and blackness. Compare them in printed music, and it will be seen that a dozen, perhaps a score, of stems could be spun out of one hook.
53.—Should it be necessary to erase and rewrite a note, the blurred effect too often resulting may be almost entirely avoided by penciling the correct note before tracing it in ink. This produces a lead-lined groove and prevents the ink from running.
Facility.
54.—Orthography is taught by the careful making—drawing rather than writing—of large letters. The formation of a more rapid and individual hand does not come till later. So with musical phonography. The student, at whatever cost of time and patience, must first acquire accuracy and clearness. Not till these are gained must he think of rapidity and ease. Hence the consideration of facility has been deferred to the last.
Facility is well worthy of consideration, especially on the part of those who have much music to write. A little thought will often show how a character may be made in one stroke, which in any other way will take two or more, and that without any loss of clearness.
Thus a half note can be made in one stroke if begun at the point where the ring joins the stem; that is, at the top of the ring for upward stems, at the under part for downward stems.
Quarter notes may be made in one stroke if the head be begun first when the stem is upward, and the stem first when the stem is downward.
If this very simple expedient were more generally known, the practice of writing downward as well as upward stems at the right-hand side of the note-head—never done in printed music—would not be as common as it is. It should be added that to make a quarter or half note satisfactorily in one stroke, a pliable pen, fine, but spreading under pressure, and rapidly recovering itself, is necessary, otherwise the head will be too thin or the stem too thick.
Eighth notes, especially those with downward stems, are best made in two strokes. They can, however, be made in one if begun at the bottom. That is to say, those with upward stems must be begun at the head, and those with downward stems at the hook. This hook must be drawn thin, if made thick the pen will scratch when making the stem: if the head be made first the pen ends at the wrong side for a downward stem.
Each shorter note requires an additional action.
The G clef can be made in one stroke if begun at the innermost part of the curl, or at the downward extremity. The F clef requires three strokes, owing to the dots, each of which takes one to itself.
The C clef requires four movements, so does a sharp. A flat may be made in one stroke, but is very apt to look like a half note. A natural requires two movements.
Chords may be expeditiously formed, if with downward stem, by making the top note, with stem, first, and then adding the other notes. Chords with upward stems should be begun at the bottom.
(The joinings are purposely left imperfect to show the method. The numbers show the order of the four actions for the four notes.)
Copyright.
55.—A primer on musical orthography is hardly complete without a few words on Copyright. As long as a work is in manuscript and copies are not offered for sale it enjoys the same protection, under the common law, as if properly entered for copyright. It is an infringement of copyright to copy, reprint, publish, or vend the whole or any portion of a copyright work for any purpose whatsoever. It is an infringement to copy a hymn tune, a portion of an anthem, orchestral parts, or to transpose a song; such infringements can be prosecuted and the full penalty exacted. It can be readily understood that such copying deprives the composer or proprietor of his just returns from the sales of his work. To secure a copyright in the United States of America it is necessary to print on each and every copy, Copyright (date) by (name of proprietor), and to send to the Registrar of Copyright, Washington, D. C., two complete copies with a fee of one dollar for registration and a certificate under seal. The copyright is secured for twenty-eight years from the date of first publication with the privilege of a renewal for twenty-eight years, provided that notice of renewal is given the copyright office one year prior to the expiration of the first term. Securing an international copyright is usually undertaken by the publisher, as are also such matters as mechanical rights.
56.—When the finished composition is ready for publication, a fair copy should be made and care exercised to see that it is legible and correct in every particular. A few suggestions as to proofreading and correcting may prove useful. There are certain symbols in universal use which are as follows:
| move over | close up | ||
| take out | space | ||
| turn over | wrong font | ||
| transpose | lower case |
These symbols should be marked on the margin of the proof (see sample page), and no other instructions are necessary. Notes are indicated by their position on the staff not by their names. The value of a note is indicated by a fraction. Slurs are drawn in and indicated by the word “slur.” Dots are encircled with a line to give them prominence.
INDEX
The numbers refer to the Paragraph, not the Page.
| PARAGRAPH | |
|---|---|
| Accidentals | 44–48, 51 |
| Barring | 4 |
| Beat-lines | 14 |
| Bind | 14 |
| Black-notes | 42 |
| Change of Key | 4 |
| Change of Time | 7 |
| Chords | 54 |
| Clefs | 5 |
| Common Faults | 5, 6, 12, 13, 22, 34, 36, 52 |
| Compound Time | 13 |
| Copyright | 55 |
| Crossing Parts | 24 |
| Direct | 5 |
| Dots | 20, 9, 14, 40 |
| Erasures | 53 |
| Extracting a Single Part | 50 |
| Facility | 54 |
| German Quarter Note Rests | 17 |
| Grace-notes | 23 |
| Groups | 13, 23, 30, 32, 35, 38 |
| Half Note Head with Eighth Note Hook | 42 |
| Historical Notes | 7, 14, 21, 27, 31 |
| Hooks | 29, 42 |
| Introductory | 1 |
| Key Signature | 4, 6 |
| Leger-lines | 36 |
| Legibility | 52 |
| Mapping-out | 4 |
| Mercer's Psalter | 4 |
| Morley's Practical Music | 14 |
| Notation of Rhythm | 8, 32 |
| Open Score | 16, 20, 23 |
| Open Score to Short Score | 41 |
| Organ Music | 23 |
| Over-lapping Iteration (Piano) | 11 |
| Paper | 2 |
| Part Writing | 19, 44 |
| Pause | 50 |
| Placing of Notes | 14 |
| Playford's “Whole Booke of Psalms” | 27, 31 |
| Rests | 15–19, 12, 50 |
| Rhythm, Notation of | 8, 32 |
| Scoring | 3 |
| Short Score | 18, 24 |
| Short Score to Open | 42 |
| Sign of Perfection | 7 |
| Signatures | 6, 4, 7 |
| Simple Time | 12 |
| Slur | 37, 39 |
| Sonata Pastorale | 9 |
| Stems | 22 |
| Of Rests | 25, 16, 18 |
| Stroke and Dot | 9 |
| Three Parts on One Stave | 24 |
| Ties | 10, 11, 14, 37 |
| Time Signature | 7 |
| Turn Over | 4, 5 |
| Unnecessary Accidentals | 51 |
| Vocal music | 37, 23 |
| (Exception 4) | 35, 40 |
| Words (See also “Vocal Music”) | 4 |
☞ When a higher number precedes a lower in the above index, it is because it refers to a more important Paragraph.