Gallery of Graphic Musical Notation

Here's 24 examples of unusual or graphic musical notation, from the cuneiform markings of the oldest song in the world, to the graphic notation of Stockhausen, Crumb, Cage and Eno, to the painted musical inventions of Adolph Wolfli. Click each picture for a larger image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key to composers of above works, arranged by row, left to right:

Row 1: Bernard Rands, John Cage, Adolph Wolfli

Row 2: John Cage, Unknown, Cornelius Cardew

Row 3: George Crumb, Earle Brown, Earle Brown

Row 4: Brian Eno, Unknown, Hermeto Pascoal

Row 5: Iannis Xenakis, John Stump, Unknown

Row 6: Unknown (oldest song in the world), Unknown, Unknown

Row 7: Krzysztof Penderecki,  Krzysztof Penderecki, Hans Christoph Steiner

Row 8: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Unknown

Comments

[A Chair]

I love graphic notation; I'm familiar with many of these. John Cage compiled all sorts of these in a book called 'Notations', which I believe is out of print, but my local library has a copy. One notable score was a single sheet of manuscript paper that had been violently scribbled on, obscuring what music had been written on it.

[lee]

i just sold a copy of the Cage book for $300. tell your library to put it in special collections or it will disappear! it is an amazing book. Anthony Braxton books are quite complex and dense, as well, if you think you can handle it. Butch Morris [trmpt, conductor/arranger] developed his own notation. he is now a foriegn visiting minister of culture in Turkey!!! thanks Ken!

[Emma]

Here's a playlist that is related to this article:

http://www.seeqpod.com/music/?plid=8ae5018c64c5287c2c44d081b054cb0cbf0b3515

[carmina escobar]

Wiky info for your hand picture that you named unknown!

IN Medieval music, the Guidonian hand was a mnemonic device used to assist singers in learning to sight sing. Some form of the device may have been used by Guido of Arezzo, a medieval music theorist who wrote a number of treatises, including one instructing singers in sightreading. The hand occurs in some manuscripts before Guido's time as a tool to find the semitone, it does have the depicted form until the 12th century. Sigebertus Gemblacensis (c1105–10) did describe Guido using the joints of the hand to aid in teaching his hexachord. The Guidonian hand is closely linked with Guido's new ideas about how to learn music, including the use of hexachords, and the first known use of solfege.

Awesome page!

cheers,

Carmina