Wednesday, October 11, 2017 by Madeleine King | Pedagogy

Nearly every week, I have my students transcribe exercises or excerpts from their College of Piping books (or their theory textbooks) into a music dictation book the old fashioned way: with a pencil. I promise I don't do it to save money on photocopies, and it's not to keep the class quiet while I take a break. I do it because it's the best way to learn as much as possible about written music.

This past week I helped my son with his science homework. Part of his assignment was to collect some bugs from the garden and then draw pictures of them. I was amazed at how many small details I had ignored for insects I've looked at my whole life - until we had to illustrate them! Centipedes with two long back "legs" I'd never noticed. Honeybees with cute little hairy tufts on top of their tiny heads! Music notation is a lot like this. When we limit ourselves to reading, we tend to pay attention only to the obvious things. But there are a lot of little things we to miss - all those little markings and details that seem unimportant as the tune whizzes by.

"But," you might be asking, "I'm already great at reading sheet music; why should I care about the details?"

1. It will make collaboration easier

Even if you are able to sight-read hornpipes at speed - and wow, congrats if you are! - a good musician can both read AND write music accurately and correctly. The easiest way to communicate with other musicians is by writing your ideas down on paper. The ability to write or record your own music or change music on the fly is invaluable at practices, rehearsals, or while learning new music at sessions. Solid musical literacy also improves precision for digital music publishing (using software to "digitize" your sheet music, for example, for use in a band book). In other words, if you are ever working with other musicians - pipers, but also (especially!) non-pipers - this skill is key for speed, clarity, and professionalism.

2. It will make sight-reading easier

For those of us that *aren't* spontaneously sight-reading hornpipes: understanding the subtle conventions of written music can actually improve sight-reading abilities. Music notation actually contains many clues that help you visualise the beat, count bars, and find the beginning and end of a phrase - if you know where to look! By familiarizing yourself with written music, you better grasp how things are arranged, allowing you to read music even faster.

3. It will make memorization easier

Recopying your music will actually help you learn it FASTER and remember it for LONGER. This is because reinforcement is important in how your brain commits things to working memory. Learning an exercise by reading it and then by playing it and then by writing it out will strengthen those pathways in your brain. 

4. You'll need it eventually

Last, but not least: transcription is a required skill for the College of Piping exams, and also all western music theory exams. If you plan on taking them, this weekly torture counts as studying!

For fellow instructors, here are some handy do's and don'ts if you want to incorporate this into your group and private lessons:

DO:
- keep spare staff paper and sharpened pencils on hand (forgetful students waste a lot of time drawing staff lines badly. In pen.)
- use small sections of music rich with embellishments, movements, time-signatures, repeat signs, and any other notation worth practicing
- use short "problem" sections of music, to aid reinforcement
- allow students to play from their own recopied notes
- use the quiet time to track attendance for your class or take notes or prepare the next section of the lesson :)

DO NOT:
- have students recopy excerpts that are more than a couple of bars long - it will get monotonous and waste instruction time
- take shortcuts (like skipping repeated notes, or drawing non-musical symbols in for difficult movements like taorluaths) - it defeats the purpose

Now have fun and get writing!

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