The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #136682 Message #3126369
Posted By: John P
01-Apr-11 - 01:42 PM
Thread Name: No such thing as a B-sharp
Subject: RE: No such thing as a B-sharp
Lox: But I also disagree with the arrogant idea that some music is somehow too mysterious to notate. If you know how, then it is possible.
I agree with Smokey that the score would end up being to complex for anyone but an extreme high level music reader to play. In the example of a Swedish Boda polska, they would also have to have a very finely honed rhythmic sense -- one that would allow them to place a note accurately in a beat that's been divided into 32nd or 64th notes, with the note surrounded by other 32nd or 64th notes with lots of odd dots and ties. And even then, there's the question of the slight lilt. Yes, you can write "with a lilt" or some such thing on the score, but the lilt in a polska is quit different than the lilt in an Irish reel, so the reader wouldn't know how much lilt to apply.
I know a lot about notation and have been writing and transcribing tunes since I was a kid, but I wouldn't want to take this on. No one I actually know would be able to read it -- and if I found someone who could, the "feel" still wouldn't be right.
I'm not being arrogant, and I'm not saying the music is mysterious in any way. As soon as you learn the dance step it all makes perfect sense and is very easy for anyone with good rhythm. For most musicians it would only be mysterious if you tried to score it accurately.