Outside the Self – Interpretation

Author: Sarah Christianson – 7 minute read

The final installment in our “Outside the Self” graphic score series is all about interpretation! Earlier in our series, we discussed the artistry involved in transforming musical ideas into visual art and back again, as well as how to flex your creativity muscles as you form your own graphic scores. Interpreting graphic scores involves both artistry and creativity, but it also requires fearlessness, listening, and dedication.

How do you interpret that?

To interpret traditional musical notation, one first needs to know how the language works. Here’s a short excerpt from Beethoven’s Minuet in G Major, WoO 10:

In just a few measures of music, the performer needs to interpret what each note represents, what all the straight lines mean, what the hashtag symbol and curved line tell them to do, and what the numbers and fancy p delineate. Since all of these aspects have clear definitions, the interpretive process is based primarily on prior knowledge. Of course, each individual performer can decide just how much to mind the little p or how best to place each note, which involves artistry and creativity. 

The interpretive process required to read a graphic score is quite different. Take a look at this score I made:

In this example, the performer needs to ask theirself different kinds of interpretive questions. These might include, why are there so many different colors? Should I flip the score upside-down? How can I make a long curvy sound versus a short scribbly sound? Should I perform the colors first, and the lines second?

What’s great about graphic scores is that their interpretation does not have a set ability requirement in order to perform. Of course the interpretation and performance of traditionally notated works is remarkable and inspiring, but a musical work that can be successfully performed by both the concertmaster of a professional orchestra as well as an 8-year old with some toy maracas is quite remarkable in itself. Graphic scores provide a performance platform for anyone who is willing to read them, and in doing so, they provide everyone the opportunity to have fun and experience joy through music.

It gets real

I’ve become so inspired by the accessibility of graphic scores that I wanted to share them with others, so I decided to introduce my 7-year old general music students to graphic notation during summer camp. These students had spent most of their music classes learning the basics of music: how to read and perform rhythms and pitch, and how to make music using their voices and a few percussion instruments. Their classes had mostly focused on basic musical knowledge rather than creativity and innovation, so I had no idea how they would take to graphic scores. 

I showed them a graphic score divided into six different sections, each containing a different formation of lines and circles. And I could not believe how bold and convincing their performances were! The kids performed with instruments, found objects, and their voices in ways beyond what I would have thought to do. Their interpretations were so compelling and ingenious that I could easily tell which section of the score they were reading. These graphic scores were certainly a success!

The next day, figuring that my young students had mastered graphic scores, I wanted to challenge their interpretive skills in a new way: by re-interpreting musical concepts as graphic notation. I assigned my students to imagine musical concepts like dynamics, mood, and tempo (basically just how music sounds and makes you feel) and transform them into graphic notation. Seeing as they had not only studied these concepts thoroughly but also demonstrated great confidence in performance, I figured this exercise was perfect to stretch their brains.

But. I. Was. Sooooo. Wrong. 

After giving my students 10 minutes to create graphic scores by themselves, the finished “scores” were nothing more than smiley faces, various words in plain writing, and sketches of living rooms. And when it came time to present scores to the class, one student, after seeing the graphic score that I had created, quickly grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, made some scribbles with a pencil, and called that his graphic score. The thoughtfulness and courage the kids demonstrated in performance was almost nonexistent in the scores they created.

After this experience, my views of graphic scores had changed. I used to think that this non-traditional notation allowed all people the chance to make high-quality art and music, but maybe it’s not that simple. Two-way interpretive powers––the skill to not only read and create but also to understand and re-create––may not be inherently accessible to all regardless of age or ability. 

But honestly, I think that’s ok. Because if interpretation were easy and natural, how could we find artistry and creativity in a graphic score?

Mmmmk?

What an unexciting conclusion! Let’s try to re-interpret it (see what I did there?)! Rather than viewing graphic scores as simple and available to all, let’s truly apply ourselves to their performance and creation. 

The next time I teach my students about graphic scores, I plan to stretch their interpretive muscles by challenging them to really dig into how they read a graphic score. I plan to ask them questions like “What do these circles mean to you?” and “How does the sound you chose fit with the score?” This way, they’ll be simultaneously reading the music and discovering what it means, and one day way down the road when I give them the opportunity to create scores, they’ll have a knowledge base from which to work.

And for myself as a musician, I’m curious to study graphic scores similarly to how I practice score-study when preparing to play with an orchestra. Rather than just playing what I see, I want to understand how each note fits within a greater whole.

So I guess graphic scores really are available to all, so long as we have the encouragement to dig deeper. And how does this relate to thinking outside the self? Graphic scores remind us that artistic and creative success isn’t found in just solving the problem but in building a solution. When we hone in on one side of doing something, our success is limited. But after questioning and learning by taking a step outside your head into a new world with new possibilities, we develop tools to build effective and lasting results. 

Whether or not you’re a trained musician, and if you are a trained musician, regardless of your ability: take a chance on graphic scores. Try performing some of the ones on our blog and social media, or maybe create your own, and always ask yourself why you did what you did. The more you question your ways and what’s around you, the more vulnerable you can be with yourself and with others, and the more equipped you will be to interact with the world outside you.