Colour notation
The sound of colour - A unique musical notation system that makes music accessible to all.
- Why is musical notation needed?
- When playing music as a group or in an orchestra, it is usually possible to teach someone a melody by singing it or by playing it. No sheet music is needed for this.
- Why the traditional notation?
- The evolution of the traditional staff notation as we know it has in our society developed into a system that enables the perfect registration of music.
- Why add colours?
- Reading and writing is difficult for many young children, partially sighted and mentally handicapped. Even if they succeed, they still do not always understand everything that is written.
- Which colours are used and why?
- The colours used for the JostiBand musical notation are clear and unambiguous.
- Is the position of the colour important?
- In addition to choosing distinctive, recognizable colours, the position of the colours on a keyboard instrument is important.
- Is notation in different keys possible?
- The coloured circles under the sharps and flats in the musical notation, and the coloured circles attached to the black keys of the keyboard instrument where necessary, are made up of two colours
- How to begin?
- It is important for the pupils to learn that they should sit still for a moment and listen. Almost anyone who can sit still and listen is able to learn how to play an instrument.
- PIeces to start with
- In our opinion, pieces A (figure 6) and B (figure 7) are a suitable introduction to musical notation with colours. For these pieces, we need to stick 5 stickers on the instruments; the yellow C, the blue D, the brown E, the green F and the red G.
- How is pitch indicated?
- In our musical notation system, the correct pitch must be deduced from the staff. As there are only seven colours available, the colour alone is not sufficient to indicate pitch. The concepts of high and low now come into play, both visually and aurally.
- Is it possible to play chords and harmonies?
- A so-called second voice is often available when playing music as a group. This is written out on a separate sheet of manuscript paper, in the same way as the first voice and using the same colour coding.
- Can the system be simplified?
- The JostiBand Orchestra's colour notation system is a basic notation. It contains primarily the minimum elements needed to make music. It is sometimes useful to develop or adapt the colour notation if this proves necessary.
- In conclusion!
- At present the colour notation system of the JostiBand Orchestra comprises almost 100 pieces of music, written with several different parts.
