• 4.4 demonstrates an understanding of musical concepts through exploring, experimenting, improvising, organising, arranging and composing.
• 4.5 notates compositions using traditional and/or non-traditional notation.
• 4.9 demonstrates musical literacy through the use of notation, terminology, and the reading and interpreting of scores used in the music selected for study.

• Numeracy
• Literacy.

Introduce students to the concept of graphic notation by giving them the graphic notation handout (PDF 4.46 MB).

In pairs, students will:

• discuss and explain how they interpreted the scores
• perform the scores to their classmates
• justify the reasons they performed how they did.

Score One

Score two

• watch and analyse the video Thunderstorm: a graphic notation by Alex Chorley, age 12 (00:01:11)
• answer the following questions:
  • What elements of a storm are present?
  • What sounds/instruments have the composer used to represent these elements of the storm?
  • What do each of the symbols on the score mean?
  • How is duration depicted?
  • How is pitch depicted?
  • How are dynamics depicted?

Unless specified, the concepts of music present in a graphic score (particularly pitch and duration) are approximations, left to the interpretation of the performer. There are no set rules for graphic notation and there are any number of examples present. Three common ideas exist using any type of symbol:

• length determines duration

• height determines pitch

• size determines dynamics (volume)

Some examples of graphic scores that have been produced as visual representations of famous composers? repertoire can be viewed on YouTube and are used as examples in the next activity.

Students will:

• watch the following clips
  • Debussy, Clair de Lune, piano solo (05:11)
  • Tchaikovsky, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy (02:13)
  • Frog round (ver. 2) (02:46)
  • Pachelbel, Canon in D (ChromaDepth 3D) (04:22).
• watch the clips again and write in their book how each clip addresses the following areas:
  • pitch
  • duration
  • texture.

Handout a copy of the template below (this is on the second page of the Graphic notation handout). Completing the template, students will:

• notate a graphic score for vocals and body percussion.
• swap their compositions to see if they can understand and or perform each other's work.

Students will:

• research the graphic scores of composers
  • Krzysztof Penderecki
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen
• describe how each composer expresses the musical concepts of duration, pitch and dynamics.

Expressive techniques manipulate the other concepts of music. For example:

• crescendo (classed as an expressive technique) manipulates dynamics by gradually making the volume louder
• staccato manipulates the duration of a note by making it sound short and crisp
• vibrato manipulates the quality of a sound so that it becomes warmer and richer in tone colour
• muting an instrument changes its tone colour from a clear sound to a more muffled sound.

Students will:

• work in small groups to (sensibly) explore and experiment with expressive techniques on classroom or personal instruments
• document the tone colours of the instruments used above
• invent symbols to match each sound they discover
• catalogue their findings and ideas in a table. See example below.

Students will compose a soundscape (a composition of sounds that depict a 'scene'), notate it as a graphic score and perform it for the class. In groups of 3-4, students will:

• select a theme from the list below
  • thunderstorm
  • rainforest
  • shopping centre
  • motorway
  • schoolyard
  • construction site
• create a table of different sounds they would hear, how these sounds could be produced (using only three to four instruments available) and how they could be notated
• create a composition following the criteria below
  • approximately one minute long
  • written for three to four different parts (one instrument can make more than one type of sound) - labelled down the left side of the score. A copy of the soundscape score template (PDF 4.35 MB)can be located in the resource section.
  • vocal sounds (not lyrics) may be included
  • at least one instrument must be pitched
  • the score must be notated IN PENCIL
  • the concepts of pitch, duration, dynamics and texture must be evident
  • a legend and/or performance instructions explaining symbols (especially regarding expressive techniques) may be included or attached to the score
  • the composition needs to be named.

Students will:

• use adjectives to describe tone colour
• interpret length, height and size in a musical context
• read graphic scores
• catalogue sounds in a table.

• Thunderstorm: a graphic notation
• Debussy, Clair de lune
• Tchaikovsky, Dance of the sugarplum fairy
• Frog round
• Pachelbel, Canon in D