What do We Mean by Musical Notation, Inscription, or Visualization?
Chair(s): Giulia Accornero (Harvard University), Ginger Dellenbaugh (Yale University)
Discussant(s): Giulia Accornero (Harvard University), Ginger Dellenbaugh (Yale University)
Organized by the AMS Musical Notation, Inscription, and Visualization
Notation has held a central position in all branches of music studies: as an historical trace (music history), as the basis for analysis and aesthetic evaluation (music theory and criticism), as the threshold between canonical Western Art music and oral traditions (distinction between musicology vs comparative musicology, now ethnomusicology). This meeting aims to provide a space and set of resources for overcoming these disciplinary divides, approaching notation from new angles in light of forms of music transmission that have been Othered in standard narratives, or are dependent on new technologies whose affordances are still understudied.
The seven ten-minute lightning talks will engage with (but are not limited to) the following questions:
What are the affordances and limits of traditional understandings of “music notation”?
What are examples of notation that challenge the expectations of traditional pedagogies, practices? How can they aid in decentering Western ontologies of analysis and practice?
How can a critique of conventional terminology assist in diversity and inclusion in the field?
How can terms like inscription and visualization expand our concept of written musical systems?
Which epistemological frameworks, methods, practices might assist us in decentering Western canonical understanding of notation?
As music studies have shifted away from the ontological question of “what is music” to focusing to the “how” of music, analogously we suggest that rather than just asking “what is notation” we focus on the innumerable “how” of notation, trusting that the “how” will ultimately guide us toward more inclusive definitions of notation, visualization, inscription.