Errors in Music Copying: A Synchronic Examination

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Errors in Music Copying: A Synchronic Examination

George Asabre Maclean, Emmanuel Obed Acquah
^1,2Department of Music Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Abstract: The proliferation of choral groups and the growth of choral musical performances in Ghana have resulted in many gathering of repertoire among the groups, thereby, encouraging music copying practice to create such archives. This practice has exposed the far-reaching effects of errors made in the attempt to write a new musical piece, re-write an existing musical score or score an unwritten tune using either pencil and manuscript or computer technologies. Using exploratory bibliographic research design, 4 musical pieces were purposively and randomly sampled and analysed for wrong placement of pitches on the musical staff, omission of important indications for performance, misleading performance directions or indications and wrong rhythm notation. This phenomenon was examined by using score study in printed sheets and published music books. There is usually direct substitution effect as much as the intention of the composer and performance of the music are concerned. It is therefore recommended that copyists of musical scores take time to verify the originality of the scores in order to reduce errors considerably for distribution, sharing and storage.

Key words: music copying, musical score, transcription.

I. INTRODUCTION

One of the most ways music is shared is the social media where on various platforms, people request for the scores of particular music and quickly, they get a positive response. The widespread of these scripts has resulted in distribution of duplicated scripts which mostly have errors. These errors may show in the text or the lyrics, notes, rhythm, melody and harmony. It may include wrong placement of pitches on the musical staff, omission of important indications for performance, misleading performance directions or indications, wrong rhythm notation, wrong transcription from staff to sol-fa notation, wrong indication of pitches in sol-fa notation, improper text assignment to musical notes as well as misleading text inscription. Indeed, the decision to copy a piece of music arises out of varied reasons. 1. The score of a musical piece may not be in existence and, therefore, a musician or a music copyist may listen to it from a recorded CD or from someone else and notate the music. 2. |The faded and tattered nature of an old musical score can also give cause to the copying of the music to bring it to a more legible and stronger state. 3. The need to orchestrate a musical piece for a different medium; for instance, a choral piece for a symphony orchestra or a military band. 4. The need to transcribe a score from staff notation to tonic sol-fa and vice versa to take care of different music literacy groups. In each of the instances cited, it would be expected that the copying of the music would end up maintaining the music as original as first written or performed by the composer or owner of the work. It does not matter the status of the copyist as amateur or professional, these errors still emanate.

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