Hello there,
I am currently writing a piece where the performer has to also pluck and scratch the inside strings for the grand piano. So far I´ve just added a random percussive instrument to mark the strings of the piano inside the partitura, but would there be a more efficient way to notate this? Or just add an extra piano stave above the “normal” ones, indicating the stuff that is being played inside the piano?
Thank you for your thoughts (and prayers, hehe, just kidding!)
Amanda
Have you checked out how John Cage (et al) have been scored for ideas? Just a thought…
I’m not aware of much Cage (if any) that involved that. I think you are thinking of his awesome works for prepared piano (which Nancarrow also used for 1-2 works as I recall). That’s different.
Henry Cowell’s early piano scores, like The Banshee or Aeolian Harp, use his own notational ideas for playing inside the strings, like strumming. In the case of Banshee, he had a variety of text instructions up front, listed by a capital letter that were then displayed (the capital letters) on the next page of the score (the score itself is but a single page). In Aeolian Harp, he used pretty brief text instructions with a few abbreviations that were explained at the top of the page.
@amanda: I suspect there are even better ways to notate your wishes, but in the case of Cowell, text-based instructions with subsequent abbreviations or letters in the score is what worked for him. His late works are meh, since I think his prison time on a ridiculous “morals” charge really scared him into being more conventional (sad, but true), but his early works for piano and also for string quartet are just amazing. And also very difficult to perform well. Good luck with your own work!
Would it work to notate on the normal grand staff but with text instructions / playing techniques above that? Sometimes swapping out the notehead for X noteheads to clarify it is a percussive or non-tonal technique. That’s usually what I do, though I feel like this kind of thing is the wild west in terms of having no real standardization so it’s kinda up to you (and pianists you work with, it might be helpful to ask them what they might expect to see).
Any ‘efficient’ way of notating non-standardised techniques comes very much down to what the actual material is. Can you share a bit more about that?
The good news is that, since you are the composer, it is more or less up to you. But if you are unsure, you should consult a pianist who is experienced (<— that’s the important part) with these kinds of techniques.
wow, thanks, this is extremely helpful!
