ABSTRACT
Notation emerged within an oral Western European musical culture, as a tool that supported memory in a context of familiarity with the same culture. Though analytical music notation was advocated already in medieval times, and widely utilised for at least three centuries in the form of staff notation, there seems to be a ‘side-effect’ of the written score being divorced from aural familiarity with its musical culture. Literacy often appears to work as a hindrance, rather than as an aid to a more vital connection with music. Prioritising music reading seems to result in a largely reproductive approach to the score even by experienced musicians, while premature use of notation has been shown to be detrimental to developing a number of musical competences. Simultaneously, its value in preserving composed music and allowing reflection cannot be doubted, and research indicates that reading skills have positive correlations with other musical abilities. The answer may be found in mixing literate with aural approaches to learning throughout musical development, promoting a more flexible conception of notation in teaching, and in ensuring that aural familiarity with a musical idiom, and the resulting internalisation of musical sound, act as the necessary bases for its use.
