Conventional music notation evolved to serve the needs of composers, performers, and conductors. By contrast, Music Animation Machine (MAM) is a musical score for listeners.
A musical score without any measures or clefs sounds confusing – until you see it. That’s the idea behind the Music Animation Machine, which sets the work of Bach, Satie, Chopin and other composers to an animated series of colored bars and dots, to visually explain pitch and timing to those who can’t understand conventional music notation. The result is a sort of meditative “Guitar Hero” experience, with each note lighting up as it’s played across a scrolling screen.
Chopin’s Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32 No.1:
A MAM score illustrates the pitch and timing of the notes of a piece. In MAM notation, all the notes are on the same staff, with different voices indicated by color. As in conventional notation, musical events at different points in the piece can be seen at once, allowing recognition of and comparison between patterns. MAM notation shows the actual irregular timings of notes in a performance, not the mathematically exact timings of conventional notation. The MAM notation can be colored to highlight thematic units, instrumentation, harmony, or dynamics.
MAM scores can be understood by very young children: children as young as eighteen months have demonstrated that they recognize the relationship between the sound and the visual display. Many people are visually oriented and more able to pay attention to visual objects than sounds. This may be the reason that a visual analogue to a piece of music makes it more real to children.
The Music Animation Machine is presented here:
http://www.musanim.com
Debussy’s first Arabesque with MAM-inspired piano score
To add another dimension to the MAM-system in order to make it even more useful as a pedagogical tool for piano students, we have created a special MAM-inspired version of the first Arabesque by Debussy. The note heads of the score are colored according to the MAM-video (version 3) which could help improving awarenes of textural stuctures, voice leading and long melody lines.
Suggested method:
Watch the video a few times. Then print out the colored score below and play from it at the piano. Try to differentiate tonal “colors” and to bring out certain voices such as the bass (purple), melody (blue) or some of the middle voices (green) in the middle section.
Debussy Arabesque no 1 – colored score to download and print (free)
New Urtext score with fingering available:
Debussy Arabesque no 1 – sheet music
Please let us know what you think by posting a comment below.
Do you find this system helpful? What other pieces would you find appropriate as MAM-inspired piano scores?
/patrick
May 31st, 2011 at 12:28
What an interesting new way of listening to music! And the coloured sheet music gives some new insights about the piece when playing from it. Thanks!
May 31st, 2011 at 21:59
Thank you for the score and video. Very interesting method. I have printed it and will go and try playing from it now.
May 31st, 2011 at 23:41
Very revealing new way to interpret/understand elements of the score especially since students have varied learning styles. I have a student working on the Debussy and am eager to see how this may enlighten her. Thank you!
June 1st, 2011 at 1:46
I have used a similar thing in teaching students in the past. [Colouring or otherwise indicating several voice parts] I think this method has wide application for younger students and is very interesting to see in operation.
June 1st, 2011 at 2:26
Extraordinaria pieza, y qué mejor manera pedagógica de mostrar esta maravilla. Ojalá pudiera tenerse acceso a la MAM para poder hacer lo mismo con otras piezas, sobre todo, sería utilísimo para los que nos dedicamos a la enseñanza musical. Gracias.
June 1st, 2011 at 4:34
Very interesting, quite beautiful, and augments the music.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m not sufficiently proficient to sight-read music, but I find this new method gives me a more complete appreciation of the performance and the music itself, by helping to focus and follow it more closely.
Thanks for the experience.
June 1st, 2011 at 6:23
Thanks! It is a very nice way to make the music enjoable .pleas try it with Paganini` La campanella -Franz List-
Thanks !
June 1st, 2011 at 8:02
thats a rather unique was of expressing music
i wonder what effects it will have on synaesthete people
June 1st, 2011 at 8:10
Big Big thanks to pianostreet for being committed to satisfying her subscribers. i am really benefiting a lot from piano street and i say continue with ur good works.
June 1st, 2011 at 9:09
Very interesting…
Animation and soud …
Thank you for sending me message about this enjoable music.
June 1st, 2011 at 13:00
It adds an interesting dimension to traditional notation on one hand, but on the other, for someone who has been used to sight-reading since an early age, it can seem to be a distraction. Besides, the concept isn’t new – take a look at how some leading edge modern composers approach conveying their complex music to performers.
June 1st, 2011 at 13:59
Mesmerising to watch and a great way to follow different voices. Wondering what Bach would look like this way!
June 1st, 2011 at 14:27
What a splendid idea! Many other pieces can be more enjoyable through this method. Thanks!
June 1st, 2011 at 15:35
beautiful playing
June 1st, 2011 at 19:18
Beautiful music beautifully performed, very nice.
Thanks for making the sheet available … more please :)
June 1st, 2011 at 19:59
It will be amazing to see Bach’s Fugues animated this way. It would be very helpful for all the pianists, as it will allow us to understand every single theme and voice.
June 2nd, 2011 at 4:36
Fantastic concept! Creates another sense of the music and truly helps understand the flowing stream of the music. Beginning students should benefit greatly from this tool. Congratulations.
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:27
quite interesting. I am an old beginner(in the sixties) and expecting to find soon something alike but of 2 or 3 level which could be very useful for my efforts many thanks
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:36
Fantastic!!!.I want to know as I can obtain all the available
musical works by this MAM. Congratulationes
June 2nd, 2011 at 21:40
“Nice idea!!! perfect performance, bringing out the colors as well as revealing some mathematics relations among all elements involved in this piece. Can’t wait practising MAM this way. Ligth, shape, rythm, sonorous chart, the life of each note, sculpturing every movement of music, a Visual contact with sounds.”
June 3rd, 2011 at 14:54
Genial!!, un método muy pedagógico para “visualizar” la música
June 4th, 2011 at 0:30
Very inteligent. Helps your brain coordinate two diferent systems (visual and auditory) in one task, and easily. I supose that this kind of experience may enhance the “reading scores” ability, by leading to pay attention in both stimuli as one, and in this way, facilitates the third system integration (motor), for music performance. A real pedagogical tool. And it is so nice! Thank you piano street to share.
June 4th, 2011 at 5:58
Wonderful Music!
June 7th, 2011 at 22:44
A refreshing new approach. I think the extra visual components could be a great help, especially to those just starting to learn the piano.
June 15th, 2011 at 4:15
The size of the circle ought to represent how loud a note is, not how long it lasts (which can be inferred from the length of the line following the note anyway).
June 30th, 2011 at 8:21
It’s a wonderfull way of listening to music, this applies more colours, emotions and gives undertanding for how to play the piece. Thank you so much for great experience
July 1st, 2011 at 16:57
It is much like grapheme synesthesia, if you have heard about it . . I can relate; and ears of some people can definitely SEE. I wonder if a synesthete created this amazing machine?