Graphic Score:

What is a graphic score?:

Graphic scores are another way of notating music. During the 1950's composers started to experiment with new sounds and musical ideas. The way of visualising this music was made by using symbols, shapes and textures to create a piece of music that is able to be read and interpreted by anyone.

The abstract nature of graphic scores is designed to free composers and performers from the 'constraints of traditional notation'. However there are often features that appear across many scores. E.g. time stamps that tell the performer when they should play a certain sound. Graphic scores might also include text to indicate sound effects. Two famous examples of this are Water walk by John Cage and Stripsody by Cathy Berberian (see below).

How to read graphic scores?:

Here is an example of a very short and simple graphic score. Below are three different ways I have interpreted it on the guitar. I did this by looking at the shapes and seeing how I could create the texture of the shapes. There is no obvious pitch indicator, however by looking at how the two lines are placed I thought that the first note should be higher than the second one. Along with this I saw a single line and also thought that I would interpret it as a single note.

Idea 2.MOV

Idea 3.MOV

Idea 1.MOV

In this example I interpreted the position of the lines as the pitch of the notes, so I used I high note followed by a lower note and then followed it by bends so show the changing pitch in the final shape.

In this example I interpreted the score in a similar way to the video on the left. I changed the pitch of the notes in relation to the position of the lines on the score. However, I played it with a faster tempo and I played alternating frets rather than bending the string to show the changing pitch in the final 'spikey' line.

In this example I interpreted the final 'spikey' line as a strumming pattern so I played a chord on the final line. I also tried to use a distorted tone on the guitar to create a sharp, grating sound similar to the final line/shape.

The lack of standardization in graphic scores helps both the performer and composer to creatively use their knowlage of music. Even someone who has very little music ability would be able to read this score and come up with some way of playing it.

Why do we use graphic scores?:

Often graphic scores are used to create moods and atmospheres. A famous example is the album 'Music for Airports' by Brain Eno. The album features tracks that are designed to create an ambient atmosphere to help diffuse the anxiety and tension that is often felt in airports. They can also be used to tell a story through sound effects. Overall they provide a creative way for musicians of any level to compose and perform music that is open to their interpretation.